Astro Bot Review – A Work of Art, Not A Relic

You likely have incorrect expectations regarding Astro Bot. Yes, mine definitely were. I anticipated it being an enjoyable cartoon adventure where the highlight would be pointing at the screen and exclaiming “Check this out! “It is Nathan Drake!”

The highest praise I can give Astro Bot is that you become completely immersed in the game and ignore everything else related to PlayStation. It’s great to see some old favorites included (Wild Arms is a nice surprise), but removing the Kratos costumes wouldn’t change how amazing the game is. While some fans may find excitement in the nostalgia or love for PlayStation in Astro Bot, it is not a central element of the game and will not be the main reason fans continue to play it in the future.

Astro Bot excels in its level design.

Astro Bot exudes a confidence that allows it to stand out. It is equipped with numerous abilities, yet they never seem to be used excessively. There are four abilities that appear only in one level each. A set of cymbals is able to shift the foundations of the world in order for smaller games to construct their entire universe. Astro Bot saves it for the last reward that you can only access after completing all previous levels, including the numerous secret ones.

Just like It Takes Two, it constantly introduces new ideas, allowing you to appreciate them before moving on to avoid tedium. However, Astro Bot, unlike It Takes Two (a great game as well), does not have any flaws. Each power is captivating, influences its respective level significantly, and introduces a fresh approach to gameplay. While some come back from earlier space adventures and others are ordinary, there is a distinct touch to how they contribute to the level layout in this game.

Astro Bot excels at certain tasks that I have not witnessed in any other games. The smooth transition from using a gyro to control your rocket ship to traditional gameplay in newer PS4 titles is a huge improvement over the clunky trackpad controls seen in earlier games. Creating bubbles or sounding a horn by blowing into the controller, while clearly a gimmick, seamlessly integrates into each level Astro Bot uses them in.

Players have the option to deactivate Gyro as an accessibility feature if they choose to.

That is the genuine special ingredient that turns this into a masterpiece. The powers aren’t the only cool thing; it’s also enjoyable to blow into your controller and meet Aloy. Every bit of Astro Bot is carefully crafted to provide a unique adventure. No random additions are made. Everything fits together flawlessly, with levels revealing unexpected secrets that motivate exploration and consistently provide answers for inquisitive minds. Astro Bot could also be considered the ultimate ASMR game due to its flawless sound design that responds to all surfaces in a way unlike any other game. If you thought Playroom was a demonstration for the DualSense, you haven’t witnessed anything yet.

Astro Bot allows you to take on the role of renowned characters from PlayStation’s most iconic games.

I was worried it might just be a commercial for PlayStation disguised as a video game – Sony’s version of Pepsiman created for internet jokes and not much more. Even when Astro Bot focuses on this aspect of the series, it is brilliant. One stage requires you to become Kratos, wielding the Leviathan Axe, to solve puzzles and rescue Thor and Freya from snowy dangers. Becoming Drake means receiving a pop gun to explore a new level, where you discover hidden relics, climb trees, and fight pirate skeletons to rescue Sully and Sam.

It guides you across deserts, over volcanos, into dojos, to outer space, up mountains, down rivers, providing a fresh experience every time that is always successful both visually and mechanically. Bosses show up at the end of every group of levels and occasionally in the middle, each time introducing a unique attack strategy that requires you to utilize your powers differently, approach the situation from a new perspective, and view the level in a different way. Platformers were once daring but now appear to have abandoned that boldness in order to stick to familiar territory. Despite serving as a showcase of Sony’s history, Astro Bot focuses on the future rather than the past.

If there is a problem with Astro Bot – and it’s a big if – it might be in how the enemies are designed. There are only a few villains to combat besides the main bosses, and although they become slightly more challenging with adjustments to their attacks, this is the only aspect that could become boring. Nevertheless, Team Asobi could claim that its smaller number of enemies, which become more intricate, are what maintain its overall coherence. It’s a move straight from Mario’s playbook, and in the world of platforming, the plumber is still the top dog even as a new challenger rises to the top.

These sometimes repeated enemies play a significant role in the challenge of Astro Bot. The primary stages are not overly difficult – the true test lies in locating all the bots and collectibles – yet there are hidden levels that require advanced skills. These do not have any checkpoints, making them unsuitable for those who are easily scared. Still, they manage to avoid the common mistake of increasing the difficulty to unreasonable levels and altering the core of the game, as many platformers do. Astro Bot can present a challenging experience, particularly during the final gauntlet when you have obtained all collectibles, yet it never seems unjust.

Throughout my 25 hours of playing the game and achieving the Platinum trophy (with 11 hours spent reaching the main ending), I could only recall a few instances where I died and believed it was due to the game’s mechanics, not my own skills. I am most likely deceiving myself.

Reconnect with former companions in Astro Bot.

Assessing the quality of a platformer can sometimes be challenging. Except for the really terrible ones, most of them reach a satisfactory level of entertainment as fun is their main goal. You can savor them at the time, only to realize later that it’s just a fleeting sugar rush. However, I believe that Astro Bot is not the same thing. I have a strong preference for platformers in gaming, having played all the mainline Mario, Crash, Spyro, Jak, Ratchet, and Rayman games (excluding Sonic), as well as other titles like Ori, Croc, Jumping Flash, Bubsy, and Klonoa. Throughout that journey of life, I believe Astro Bot deserves a medal.

When putting together a review, you often find yourself composing sentences mentally. One that resonated with me right away was dubbing Astro Bot as ‘the top platformer since Super Mario Odyssey’. Afterward, I continued playing and began considering whether it might be superior. I’m unsure about what I should write next following ‘since’ at the moment. I only know that Astro Bot is a strong candidate for the ultimate title in a genre that has been somewhat overlooked, particularly by Sony, who previously helped it thrive. Astro Bot goes beyond just a lesson on PlayStation history, making it a part of PlayStation history itself on the PS5.