I remembered why games were so important to me growing up and how they shaped my creativity. F168 will say that no childhood memory comes from sitting in front of a TV, but that was never true for me. Astro Bot still takes advantage of the console’s power too, but not by dipping into photorealism or needlessly flashy spectacle.
Sony proves with Astro Bot that the company can still put out charming action platformers, but the love letter to PlayStation fans fails to include features that made previous games of the genre so fun to replay. Even within a level, an ability is used in several different and creative ways, but always stemming from its singular mechanic featured in that level. It ramps up the platforming and combat sequences via an approachable but challenging incline and chains these little moments together in such a way that there’s never a lull in any level. Whereas many platformers may drill down on a key feature or small set of features, Astro Bot displays confidence by often disposing of exciting new tools shortly after introducing them.
Astro Bot Rescue Mission was a VR game that had players explore multiple worlds in search of Astro’s lost crew. It became one of the highest-rated VR games, so naturally, the franchise did not stop there. Astro’s Playroom would launch in 2020 pre-installed on every PS5, and once again served as a tech demo for the studio’s latest controller. Then, in 2024, players were treated to the full-length critically acclaimed platformer Astro Bot. Some platformers are really safe in their level design/movesets so you bet I’m critical.
It’s not brand-new for the series at this point, but still hits all the right spots. If 2020’s Astro’s Playroom was like a museum – albeit one with fun playable exhibits – Astro Bot is like a theme park, throwing a new thrill at you around every corner and after every double-jumped gap. It doesn’t always deliver the bonkers creativity that drives the likes of Super Mario Galaxy and Odyssey, but that’s hardly damning criticism when swings of that size are rarely taken outside of Nintendo’s walls. What developer Team Asobi has designed here, though, does successfully evoke the spirit of those great platformers by birthing novel stages full of visual flourish that never cross the line into becoming mere novelties. Unlike ASTRO’s Playroom, ASTRO BOT is a standalone, full-sized adventure that offers over four times more worlds, 300 bots to rescue and dozens of new powers and features to discover.
It takes you through deserts, across volcanos, inside dojos, to outer space, up mountains, down rivers, and both visually and mechanically, offers something new every time that always hits the mark. Bosses appear at the end of each cluster of levels and randomly in the middle, always with a new way of attacking that forces you to use powers in new ways, think differently, and experience the level in a fresh light. Platformers used to be this bold and seemed to shed that personality in favour of retreading safe old ground. But despite being a museum to Sony’s past, Astro Bot is more concerned with looking forward, not backwards. I expected it to be a pretty fun little cartoon romp where the main draw would be pointing at the screen and going “Look! It’s Nathan Drake!”.
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I played through nearly the entire game while covering it and found exactly one moment in which the frame-rate saw a minor hiccup where physics and effects monetarily overwhelm the engine, but that’s it. Again, it’s virtually flawless and I didn’t encounter a single drop anywhere else in the game. Preorders also let you immediately unlock the Lovestruck Lyricist in-game outfit for Astro, which is based on Parappa The Rapper, immediately at launch. You’ll receive two PSN avatars–one of Astro in his normal outfit and another of him wearing the Parappa getup–and the Glorious Graffiti skin for Astro’s Dual Speeder vehicle. These items can be unlocked in the game without preordering, but buying one of the physical or digital editions early lets you access the outfits and avatars from the jump.
It also looks and plays very much like a Nintendo game, which is the highest praise you could give any 3D platformer. Use the whistle (Triangle) to all call bots, then use Camera Mode (D-Pad Up) and move the camera around until you’ve found both explorers. You can try taking a picture as you may get lucky and they’re already close together, but if not walk over to either one and punch and kick them in the direction of the other. Once the two characters are near each other, snap a picture in Photo Mode (not the built-in PS5 screen capture) and unlock the Thick As Thieves trophy.
What Are All Special Bots In Astro Bot? Rez – Rhythmic Hacker
Like everyone else, I was thoroughly impressed with the game itself, not to mention all the free content it’s gotten since launch. But even if I think Astro Bot was every bit as deserving, I had my proverbial money on Elden Ring being the first game to win GOTY twice, with secret hopes for Balatro to pull an indie upset and turn the Game Awards on its head. Still, I can’t deny that Astro Bot deserves every bit of praise it gets. Instead of leaping to the boss fight, approach the large snowball that’s being nurtured by two penguins — after you defeat all the enemies. Grab the snowball from them and roll it around until it gets nice and big.
They fit in perfectly with the game’s vibe and atmosphere, which is really hard to find a fault as it even uses the DualSense speakers impeccably. Astro Bot is PlayStation’s exclusive 3D adventure platformer that features Astro’s journey to rescue his fellow crewmates and fix up the mothership. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn’t do well, and if it’s worth buying. Last year saw the release of Astro Bot, our biggest game to date. As well as picking several game awards, we have been blessed with countless comments and lovely words from you, the players.
However, collecting all 300 bots, finding all secrets, and achieving 100% completion can extend playtime to 18+ hours. Unlike ASTRO’s Playroom, ASTRO BOT is a standalone, full-sized adventure that offers over four times more worlds, 300 bots to rescue and dozens of new powers and features to discover. And now, four years later, Sony released a full sequel simply titled “Astro Bot” — and it just won the Game Award for Game of the Year. These lovely gizmos are realized with a gift for tactility — for creating a toylike world you feel like you can reach out and touch, click, pop, squash, smash, crack, and squeeze — that is second only to Nintendo’s. Some of this stems from Team Asobi’s enthusiastic use of the DualSense’s rumble, haptic triggers, and speaker. Some is rendered by Team Asobi’s astonishing, virtuosic command of the PlayStation 5 itself; Astro Bot is a tech marvel, perhaps the best-looking PS5 game to date.
While the former may be alleviated with its already announced free DLC challenge levels and speedrun mode, the latter may be something that might not be addressed. Everyone should be able to play this masterpiece, but maybe the PS5 should actually get more games to play. Speaking of the use of DualSense, the game uses all of the controller’s features to the max. It adds so much to the in-game experience that this game might actually be the perfect demo to showcase what a PS5 and DualSense can do.
Psycho Mantis – Metal Gear
This is a huge win given just last year, it was mentioned how the publisher didn’t want to include FF7 characters in the game as bots even if they are part of PlayStation history. The last one is a secret that you’ll want to uncover yourself. Of course, this new DLC won’t be complete without new bots to save. Once you’ve hit every piece of the edge, the disco ball will appear. Take the secret exit to unlock the Danger Dojo level in the Lost Galaxy. Take out the enemy and use the secret exit to unlock the Furnace Fever level.
You unlock Photo Mode at the same time you unlock Safari Park at the Crash Site, by picking up the camera as soon as you enter the building. This will take a total of 64 Puzzle Pieces, or four groups of 16. Many of us with backlogs probably don’t feel it that’s the thing. We are happy playing PS4, other PS5 or any older gen games, coming up to a compelling PS5/Series/Switch/PC/mobile game and then going back to the other or moving on to the next. The creativity is there no doubt and people wanting a break or something to mix in from the cinematic games or just something to play in depseration.
