Astro Bot Review – A Bundle of Delight
Astro Bot has only appeared in four games in the ten years since his introduction, but he’s already climbing up the ranks of classic PlayStation characters to represent the brand as its mascot. The little robot has always been at the forefront of showcasing PlayStation’s unique hardware decisions, starting out with AR and VR, then a tech demo for the PS5, and now starring in his own full-length video game. After playing Astro Bot, there’s no other way of saying it: this little guy is the face of the PS5, and he’s got one of the best games on the platform.
Team Asobi has managed to take inspiration from classic Mario platformers and put its unique take on the formula, one that perfectly falls in line with what you’d expect from Astro. Sure, the cynical gamers among us can look at Astro Bot and call it a machine for marketing other franchises while mining nostalgia, but I choose to view it from a different side. Astro Bot, like Astro’s Playroom before it, is a celebration of PlayStation’s legacy, but it also does more than enough to stand on its own.
Astro Bot’s story is simple: an alien has abducted your mothership PS5’s core unit, and stranded you in the middle of the galaxy on a barren planet. It’s Astro’s job to traverse the stars in hopes of reuniting all his companion bots and fixing the PS5. Along the way, you’ll land on 80 planets across six galaxies, collecting power-ups, rescuing bots, and meeting various PlayStation legacy characters. The game world is connected through a hub planet, where you’ll slowly build back the parts required to fix the PS5 console and unlock arenas to find new collectibles and customize your DualSense ship.
The best platformers follow the same core principles: keep the controls easy and escalate the difficulty of the levels gradually while drip-feeding the player with game-changing mechanics. Astro Bot does that in spades across all 80 levels. Those who’ve played Astro’s Playroom will be instantly familiar with the controls and mechanics, but there are plenty of surprises. On one level, you turn into a minuscule mouse to creep through cracks, and on another, you momentarily become an inflatable balloon to bounce across tall structures. One level gives you boxing gloves to face off against heavyweight opponents, while another gives you Kratos’ Leviathan Axe to freeze enemies in their place.
Each galaxy concludes with an epic boss battle against a giant that will ask you to learn and apply that level’s power-ups. Following that, an extra level unlocks that pays homage to classic PlayStation titles, often bestowing upon you the powers and abilities of those franchise’s protagonists. One of them has you capturing apes with a time net, and I won’t spoil the others. There are plenty of secrets to uncover as well, with lost galaxies, VIP bots, and puzzle pieces.
Of course, the real star of the show is the usage of haptic feedback and adaptive triggers on the DualSense, which constantly exposes how they’re woefully underutilized by other developers. Be it skating across ice, climbing mountains with elongated arms, or jumping over a burst of lava, each sensation is recreated by vibrations on the controller accurately. Beeps and boops of Astro and his movements from the controller’s speakers connect me to the robot emotionally, and of course, the 3D audio creates a fantastic soundscape.
With all that said, I can’t skip over Kenneth Young’s music. Each track perfectly captures the essence of a level’s habitat, with a comforting tune that I could listen to for hours when cruising across the galaxy map. The Astro Bot soundtrack will play on loop on my phone for weeks to come.
Of course, the cameo appearances from other characters are cool, but Team Asobi goes the extra mile in their attention to detail. Take Kratos for example: when wielding his axe, Astro won’t respond to your commands to dance on the spot. A raging Spartan god dancing? Outrageous, but maybe that would’ve looked just as hilarious as it does on Fortnite. There are tons of such examples throughout the game, with some that even hardcore gaming veterans will have trouble spotting. Ultimately, Astro Bot rises above the nostalgia and joins the ranks of the truly great games of the generation.
Astro Bot Technical Performance
It runs at a flawless 60fps and has a costume from Bloodborne. What more could you want?
Sony Interactive Entertainment
On PS5, Astro Bot does not offer any options to change its visual settings or performance. The game runs at 60fps targeting 4K displays, and to my eyes, it looks as close to native 4K as possible. It’s the same underlying technology used in Astro’s Playroom but expanded to support bigger worlds, load more data faster, and pack more haptic feedback into the DualSense controller.
Astro Bot Score & Verdict
Astro Bot is one of the best PS5 games I’ve played since its launch, and it easily ranks high among the many platformers that have defined gaming as a whole. Do not skip Astro Bot. If you’ve ever owned a PlayStation console, there are a plethora of delightful surprises waiting for you in the game. And for those who haven’t owned a PlayStation, you may be tempted to buy one for yourself after experiencing this at a friend’s place, just like those classic PS1 and PS2 titles back in the day.
Score: 10/10
Version tested: PS5
Astro Bot releases on September 6, 2024, exclusively on PS5.
