Genre: Platformer
Modes: Single Player
Developed by: Team Asobi
Published by: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Release Date: September 6th 2024
Platforms: PlayStation 5
In today's gaming culture, it is rare that a game releases and feels like a sea change amongst the community. A game with a tremendous amount of anticipation that ends up delivering more than the preconceived excitement is uncommon. To my mind, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring are the best examples of the past 10 years. Games that reinvented the wheel and redefined a genre. Astro Bot, to me, is the latest example of a rebirth, not just for PlayStation but for the 3D platformer. Team Asobi has taken the brilliance and simplicity of Astro's Playroom and added more depth, charm and variety, making Astro Bot not just one of the best PS5 games ever made but arguably one of the best 3D platformers of all time.
CRASH LANDING:
Nebulax, a space alien who is the game's primary antagonist, has compromised the PS5 mothership. The ship crash lands on a desert planet, and the passengers are scattered across different galaxies. Astro (aboard the ship on impact) awakens to find his ship beyond repair. Luckily, the DualSense speeder, a flying device resembling the PS5 controller, is still operational. Astro sets off to retrieve the ship's missing parts and all the passengers lost during the event. The story captures the same sense of adventure when you journey to save Princess Peach from Bowser in Mario.
Visually, Astro Bot is a feast for the eyes. The game takes you on a journey through unique designs and visual styles across different planets. While it covers the stereotypical landscapes of a 3D platformer, such as deserts, forests, and snowy mountains, it also introduces unique world designs like casinos and Japanese bathhouses, and a world that transitions between daylight and nighttime. With its fabulous lighting and colour schemes, each level is a visual masterpiece. The game's adorable character designs and unique animations of each cameo and enemy keep the game feeling fresh and exciting. I found myself eagerly anticipating the next visual design, often surprised by the theme of the next area.
Astro's standard control scheme is the same as Astro's Playroom’s, where you can run, punch, spin, jump, and hover across platforms. Like Playroom, Astro has several power-ups that come to him at different points during a level and throughout his adventure. The Monkey Climb returns, where you must angle the DualSense to climb up a cliff face. But it is Astro's new power-ups that are a testament to the unparalleled creativity of Team Asobi.
The first power-up you come across is the Squid Balloon, which inflates Astro like a helium balloon so he can reach high, out-of-reach platforms. Leave Astro inflated for too long, and he will deflate. The Sponge power-up lets Astro soak up water and temporarily increase his size and attacking ability. Rampaging through the Japanese-themed level, terrorising enemies and leaving a pile of rubble in your path is unbelievably satisfying. Another favourite of mine is the Frog Punch, which acts as extended punching gloves for Astro, letting him attack distant enemies, punch through doors in specific areas and even attach to objects to propel yourself to the next area. These examples are just a morsel of the different power-ups in the game, and everyone is creative and satisfying to execute. The game repeats some power-ups across the 80 levels, but they always uphold their welcome and are a privilege to revisit.
The bosses in Astro Bot are a testament to the game's variety and creativity. The game features bosses at the end of each world, and they take the form of humongous animals ready to pit themselves against Astro. Each boss is a platforming challenge that tests everything you have learned so far, but also a callback to the huge spectacles of bosses from God of War or Shadow of the Colossus. The final boss against Nebulax is a fantastic conclusion to the game, making all of your progress rewarding. You will know what I mean if you have played the final boss.
LEVELS OF DETAIL:
The levels themselves (for the most part) are linear; you jettison to a level and make your way to the very end through a myriad of different enemies and platforming challenges. Some involve standard traversal, and others are more open-ended, like the swimming areas that make a return from Astro Bot: Rescue Mission. The two main collectibles to find are bots (the passengers from the mothership) and puzzle pieces. The bots are the main collectibles to find, and you will need them to progress to the boss or the next Galaxy; this progression is like collecting Moons in Super Mario Odyssey. The level design of the primary levels may seem simple on the offset, but intertwined with the collectathon elements of the game, you have a delightful and rewarding game that never feels like nostalgia bait.
The bots are the main talking point of Astro Bot. Some of these faces will be familiar if you're a casual gamer. They may invoke an act of recognition. But seeing characters from existing and dormant franchises is sublime if you are a longtime PlayStation fan (like myself). Each main level has seven bots to find, and around two to three of them are characters from a Sony franchise. I do not wish to spoil some of the characters you will encounter, but I will share a few that sparked a feeling of happiness in my heart.
The puzzle pieces have returned from Astro's Playroom, and Team Asobi has given them more attention. Instead of being a collectible that decorates the mural wall of the hub world, the puzzle pieces unlock new features available in the hub world after you gain a certain amount of them. Firstly, you have the Gatcha Lab, which lets you spend the coins you have gathered on new unlockables and added features to the bots you have uncovered. Yes, the DualSense controller is still magical throughout this feature, and the adaptive triggers never fail to be a joy. Collect more puzzle pieces and open a new feature that gives Astro interchangeable costumes. Costumes from Sly Cooper, Bloodborne, PaRappa the Rapper, Jak & Daxter, Shadow of the Colossus, and much more are here for you to suit up. Collect even more puzzle pieces and you can change the colour of your DualSense speeder, unlock photo mode and more. By the end of my time with Astro Bot, I had collected 278 of 301 bots and 105 of 120 puzzle pieces and completed the main story. My playthrough equated to 13 hours of playtime, but I cannot wait to see what I missed and finish the game for completion.
MORE THAN JUST A PLATFORMER:
Most 3D platformers have memorable soundtracks. Crash Bandicoot is a multi-instrumental extravaganza with the soundtrack reflecting each level's theme. Super Mario Galaxy is operatic in its scale, and the use of a full orchestra elevates it to one of the greatest platformer soundtracks of all time. Astro Bot's music, while not as dramatic and grand as Galaxy, is fantastic. The soundtrack particularly shines in the unique character stages, which occur after beating the final boss of a galaxy. After defeating the final boss of a galaxy, you will save a particular bot and then, in the following level, you will be able to play as that character in a unique level based on their respective franchise. I will only discuss one of these bots in this review (I do not wish to spoil the surprise), and Team Asobi has already confirmed this character. Playing as Kratos from God of War in a level directly inspired by God of War: Ragnarok, but stylised to fit the platforming style of Astro, is more of a joy than I could ever imagine. The moves of Kratos and every other unique bot translate perfectly into Astro Bot, and it made me consider what other franchises could have appeared in this game. I would love a full game of Astro Bot-style reimaginings of Sony franchises.
The special bot stages are not the only bonus levels in the game. Two levels of each Galaxy contain a secret portal. These portals are well hidden and often require you to traverse well away from the beaten path to find them. Once you find this portal, you unlock a secret level in the Lost Galaxy, the post-game world with more levels to explore. The portals add another layer to the level design, and although there are only two to find in every world, you feel an immense sense of achievement if you find them.
It is not only secret collectibles hidden within the game but also secret levels for you to unveil. You will find these secret levels if you interact with the environment around the level selection screens. These levels are much shorter than Astro Bot's standard platforming affairs and often feature only a few bots to collect. However, what these levels lack in collectibles more than makes up for in difficulty. As a whole, Astro Bot is not a challenging game, nor is it an easy game. The difficulty spike in these secret levels is initially slight, but when you reach the Lost Void levels of future worlds, you will make mistakes and die often. Astro Bot's infinite lives system makes these levels never feel like a misstep, and the SSD of the PS5 makes the gaps between dying and a retry instantaneous, maintaining a perfect pace.
Astro Bot, in a philosophical way, is more than just a video game. For anybody who did not grow up with a PS1 or a PS2 in their household, Astro Bot is simply an incredible 3D platformer. However, if PlayStation is part of your identity and you have grown up with one of their consoles, this game is Sony, reflecting on their achievements. Starting from humble beginnings with the PS1, the console became home to some of the most era-defining games of the 1990s, like Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil and Final Fantasy VII. The PS2 is still the best-selling console ever and gave birth to PlayStation royalty like Jak & Daxter, Sly Cooper, Kratos, Ratchet & Clank and Dante. The PS3 gave us Uncharted and The Last of Us, and the PS4 graced us with Bloodborne, Ghost of Tsushima, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Spider-Man. Sony is the only other gaming company that can rival the gargantuan success of Nintendo. Now, though, we can add a new character to the echelon of PlayStation royalty. This character is gearing up to become the new face of PlayStation. This character single-handedly brings Sony back into the race of mascot platformers. That character is Astro Bot.
VERDICT:
Astro Bot will stand the test of time as one of the greatest 3D platformers PlayStation have ever made. The game is more than worthy of standing alongside other notable Sony mascots like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro and other greats like Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog. The game masterfully blends platforming challenges with jaw-dropping visuals and maintains a balanced difficulty. Top that off with fantastic bosses, beautiful controls and memorable music, Astro Bot is a platformer with the potential to be helmed as a future classic.
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