Astro Bot Review

Introduction:

Allow me this metaphor if you will:

The PlayStation brand is like an enormous ship sailing the ocean, hunting for vast fortunes. During the past decade plus, they hit an incredible streak of obtaining said fortune. But they soon moved their targets towards a treasure so rare, very few have ever obtained it: a successful live service game. And so, at the very end of their fourth generation, they turned their ship 180 degrees to hunt for it. But they learnt that the live service fortune is extremely difficult to find. And it’s cost them more money and layoffs than they imagined. After years of trying, it seems like the PlayStation ship is doing another 180, back to their old habit of making high quality first party games. The only problem is, doing a 360 on the open seas takes a very long time.

Sorry, that was a little longwinded.

While I don’t think Sony is going to be dropping their live service ambitions, it does seem like they’ve realized why the PS4 worked so well for them. We just witnessed a historic flop for the brand in Concord. Ironically, we got a new first-party game the day Concords servers shut down.

And it’s literally a perfect video game.

Gameplay:

I’ve been lamenting for years that 3D platformers have pretty much gone extinct except for two options:

Lower budget (but still good) indie games, or the fantastic Mario games (which we only get once a generation). Finally, Sony has answered my prayers.

The first thing I noticed was Astro’s lack of inherent moves. Even Super Mario 64 back in 1996 had more mobility options for the player. You could triple jump, backflip, long jump and dive. With Astro, he can only spin attack and shoot lasers out of his feet for about two seconds. This works much like F.L.U.D.D in Super Mario Sunshine, allowing the player a little more air time. Of course, Astro can also wall jump when applicable.

And yet, I didn’t really see the lack of moves as a downside. Because unlike Super Mario 64 (and many other platformers sadly), the level design pulls maximum usage out of Astro’s limited moveset. And most levels offer a specific power-up used to its fullest extent thanks to the impeccable design. These range from spring-loaded boxing gloves, a high-powered jetpack, and even time manipulation. I thought I would be disappointed that the power-ups weren’t permanent. But I found that enough levels used them so well that they felt like a memorable part of the overall experience regardless.

Because the game takes place in space, Astro Bot leans heavily on the level styling of Super Mario Galaxy. I’ve said this in some of my videos; the planet-to-planet nature of the Galaxy games (and Astro Bot) allows the developers to sequence their levels however they want. There’s no need to make your levels make sense in a linear fashion like we saw in Banjo-Kazooie or Super Mario Sunshine. These aren’t really places, just a series of miniature challenges. And that’s awesome for a platformer.

I can’t praise the level design enough. I’m tired of the typical fire, ice and grass levels. There’s very few of those in Astro Bot. Instead, we get cool levels like a Japanese bathhouse themed one, or a space casino! I’m also happy to report that the game is extremely fun to 100% complete. This is mostly because of a mechanic where the player can buy a mechanical bird for 200 coins. This bird acts like a tracker for collectibles you didn’t find the first time.

Lastly, about a month after buying my PS5, I turned off all DualSense features. No more haptic triggers or vibration for me. But for this game I felt like I had to turn them back on. And I’m glad I did! I ended up shutting them off again for the last few hours, but I’m happy I experienced these features for the majority of my playtime. Feeling Astro’s footsteps or raindrops through the controller added a lot towards the games special vibe.

Presentation:

If you’ve never played an Astro Bot game before, the first thing you’ll be hit in the face with is an undeniable cuteness. Astro Bot itself is an adorable mascot, and all the extra bots you find in the levels are just as cute. They give off a Pikmin-esque vibe with their high pitched voices and funny antics. This game is drenched in nostalgia. You’ll find many bots wearing clothes reminiscent of old PlayStation icons and even third party icons such as Dante from Devil May Cry. In most cases it makes sense; the original DMC trilogy was a PS2 exclusive. But some choices were a little odd to me. Like Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter. When I think of Street Fighter, I either think of the arcade or the Super Nintendo. Nonetheless, it’s fun to see everybody here. I also loved seeing all the deep cuts like Rudy from Wild Arms.

As for the music, Kenneth C. M Young’s fantastic score compliments the game perfectly. Right now in my head I can hear the western theme of the Crash Site. Or the chill music you hear while surfing the galaxies trying to pick a new level to play. And of course, the title theme is just as catchy as well. I don’t think the score hits quite the same levels as iconic or memorable as the Banjo or Mario games, but it’s still great.

Astro Bot should be a serious lesson for Sony first party that you don’t need photorealism to provide the player an addictively fun adventure.

Story:

It’s a 3D platformer starring a robot in outer space. Nothing much to note here. A group of bots are riding their PlayStation 5 spaceship when they get attacked by an alien. This alien takes the five key components of their ship, and it’s up to Astro to go get them back. It sets the game up well enough and very fast.

Overall:

Astro Bot is easily my favorite PlayStation first-party game in the past four years. The last time I felt this good about being a Sony fan was when The Last of Us Part II released. There’s a lot to discuss regarding this game aside from the actual game itself. Is Sony realizing they need to do more than just the gritty games they’re known for? Are they realizing that a game with a smaller budget and team can be worthwhile? And for Astro Bot itself, can the series continue primarily riding the coattails of nostalgia? Yes, it worked the first two times, but can they do it again?

To use my sailboat metaphor one last time; it’s up to Sony to decide if Astro Bot is going to be wind to power their sails, or simply a fart in the wind.

I can’t stop thinking about Astro Bot.

(In an effort to move away from traditional numerical scores, I will use the following metric: Hated, Felt Neutral, Liked, Loved, Can’t Stop Thinking About)