After first appearing in a mini-game within the PlayStation 4 pack-in demo, The Playroom, a little blue and white robot has become one of the most talked about characters in gaming. Of course, this was helped by an incredibly fun, heartwarming, immersive and easy-to-love appearance in yet another free console pack-in game: Astro’s Playroom for the PlayStation 5. To say that it was a nice, welcomed and thoroughly enjoyed surprise would be an understatement.
Now, fast-forward to this fall, and Astro Bot is back in his first, full-length, outing, which is appropriately self-titled. Launching alongside a very nice-looking special edition controller, it seems poised to be one of the biggest releases of this holiday season. That is, based on online chatter and folks’ obvious excitement on social media.
Having had the opportunity to spend the last several days in Astro Bot’s stunning, creative, colourful and smartly-crafted world, I now have the chance to share my thoughts. However, based on that last sentence, you surely know what to expect from the rest of this review.
Things begin in outer space, where our beloved tiny robot is piloting his massive, PlayStation 5, ship. The proverbial shit hits the fan, though, as an alien space bully’s efforts lead to the craft crashing on a desert planet, and its all important processor being stolen. Other parts also go missing, causing players to have to explore different galaxies (or worlds, in classic platforming terms), in order to get them back. These new areas are only accessible, though, by finding and launching satellites from within the crashed upon planet. Not only is it quite large, but it has different regions, secrets and collectibles, while also acting as a kind of home base. A hub, of sorts, where friendly bots can group, large puzzles can be completed (using pieces picked up along the way), and different customization shops can open up, alongside the series’ addictive gacha machine.
In true platformer fashion, you’ll go from galaxy to galaxy, wherein you’ll complete several unique levels prior to challenging a boss. Doing so will unlock a familiar looking hero bot, which you’ll recognize from some of PlayStation’s biggest franchises. Following that, you’ll get a surprise level to enjoy. It’s a nice nod to PlayStation history, and it comes in several different flavours. However, we won’t spoil any of it here. You should experience those surprises for yourself.
Those who’ve played Astro’s Playroom will have a good idea of what to expect, but Team ASOBI has definitely upped its game and proven how talented it is with this release. Astro Bot is a wonder to play and behold, and it simply oozes love, charm and creativity. Its stages are not only colourful, but also well-designed, and there’s no end to their creativity. Just when you think you’ve seen everything this game has up its sleeve, the final boss stage occurs and the credits roll afterwards, showing off some power-ups that seemingly didn’t make it into the campaign. Then again, I must admit that I only found one of the hidden stages, and didn’t know that they existed until around the third galaxy. I thought I was doing a good job of exploring, too!
Whereas a lot of platformers (like the Super Mario games) tend to have thematic worlds, such as one being full of desert stages and the next one being made up of water ones, Astro Bot doesn’t restrict itself like that. As such, you never truly know what each stage will be themed after until you unlock it. This allows every level to be and feel different, and there are some really fun and creative ones, alongside some familiar location types. For instance, one is set in a casino, another requires you to shrink to the size of a bug, and a third stage has you switching between day and night in interesting fashion. These are intermingled with a rainy beach, wherein Astro dons a cute umbrella to protect his circuitry, a frozen snowscape, and some pretty forest areas.
As you jump, hover (with lasers shooting out of your feet), and run through these levels, you’ll find and equip different abilities. One such ‘power-up’ gives Astro two extendable arms and boxing gloves to punch with, using the triggers. Then, another gives him the chance to turn into a metal ball, to enter small spaces, avoid being crushed, clog enemies’ vacuums (or volcanoes) and frustrate foes in other ways. Others include a clucking boost pack, a way to become miniscule and a way to soak up water and become massive after doing so. These add variety to the game’s already well-crafted levels, not to mention its large-scale, inventive and memorable bosses.
Astro can generally only get hit once, though, so be careful. That said, I found that a couple of the latter boss battles provided two extra hearts. The game also did that once, automatically, after I died a few times in one area.
Along the way, and during your epic adventure, you’ll come across secrets and collectibles. These begin with the friendly (and sometimes familiarly designed to resemble both iconic and obscure PlayStation characters) bots, of which several are hidden in most stages. There are also a few puzzle pieces to find in each, alongside the aforementioned routes to a hidden galaxy with special planets (levels). Each galaxy also has constellations and comets to fly your DualSense controller ship through or into, leading to challenges based around its face buttons (circle, square, cross and triangle), combat challenges and more.
It’s also important to mention that, like its popular predecessor, Astro Bot uses the ever present DualSense controller’s capabilities in smart, inventive and interesting ways. From moving the controller to steer its lookalike ship, tilting it to climb and shaking it to, well, shake things, all the basics are covered. You’ll also need to blow into the microphone (something I’ll never be a big fan of, although it’s neat), hammer with physical movement and actually move the controller in other ways. It’s not always perfect, but it’s probably the best implementation of such things since Astro’s Playroom.
Unsurprisingly, all of the above culminates in a game that is thoroughly enjoyable to play through, and will stick in your mind after its credits conclude. It’s the type of game that people will have lots of fun returning to in the months and years to come, as it’s an instant classic and deserving of that recognition. It’s not the longest game in its genre, but it doesn’t waste any time with mediocre fluff or filler. Even the bonus levels are of quality, while the shape based challenges can be quite tough (and occasionally a little frustrating).
On the presentation side of things, Team ASOBI’s latest effort is a treat for both the eyes and ears. Its look and sound are both as magical as its gameplay, and as wondrous as its varied world. This game practically pops off the screen, and oozes with creativity, colour and detail. It’s one of the better looking titles I’ve ever played.
You’ll notice that a lot of the sound comes through the DualSense’s speaker, so be warned that you may want to turn its volume down a bit before starting. It’s an immersive way to listen to sound effects, and the core soundscape is really wonderful. Although I can’t say the music was as memorable as what I heard in Sackboy, this game’s mixture of music and sound is of rather high quality. There is, of course, no voice acting to speak of, and that’s part of the design. There needn’t be any.
Astro Bot is an instant classic, and another slam dunk PlayStation exclusive. Fans of platformers are in for a treat, which is as welcoming and accessible as it can be challenging. Make sure not to miss this one!
This review is based on the PS5 exclusive, which we were provided with.