9.0Move over Black Myth: Wukong and Stellar Blade, here comes the game of the year
Ok, maybe not really, but it's the most fun I've had with a game in a long time.
Yeah, I sorta didn't come around to write a review for this one last week after finishing it, so I apologize if this review feels a bit rushed.
For those unaware: Astro Bot is a sequel (or I guess full game treatment) of Astro's Playroom, which comes pre-installed with every PS5 serving as both a tech-demo for the new PS controller, as well as a surprisingly packed free game to experience the new generation of gaming.
It might appear as a cashgrab to do a 60-buck game out of what was initially a free-to-play experience, but I'd argue it's worth it.
That's right Astro Bot is basically the Super Mario Odyssey for Playstation's new console. It's simple to pick up, plays like a charm, addicting as heck and in despite it's simplicity in its own ways quite impressive.
Despite taking Astro's Playroom as its base, I am happy to say the developers didn't cut any corners, when it came to building the rest of the game around it. Sure, Astro feels mostly the same and the overall aesthetic is essentially the same, but everything around that is a whole new experience. No copy/paste levels, the power ups to switch up gameplay are almost entirely new (with the exception of the monkey climbing suit, that is. which credit where credit is due, Playstation can pat itself on the back for. I think it's the one truly unique mechanic the Astro games created, thanks to the controller's motion sensors. And to top it off, they even updated it here with a throw function.). That's right no rocket ship landing, more tedious than fun jumping levels and monkey ball is now part of a different power up, but there is a lot new added on top.
Anyway, to get to the actual game: You play as Astro Bot, whose Playstation 5 shaped space ship is crashed into and taken apart by generic looking virus-like aliens. Various parts of the playstation are scattered around different universes and you're tasked with collecting them all. On the side Astro and his buddies take shelter on a crash site, where they regather their civilzation and build a new home.
Main gameplay and progression is very reminiscent of the 3D Mario games 3D World and 3D Land, where you just go for a universe, fly towards a level and after completing 5 of them, if you have collected enough collectables you can crash through the lock of the final level and fight its boss. Speaking of bosses: There is more than just the final bosses. Often times you will have to fight them just to get through the normal levels. The creativity they put in creating them is honestly quite charming: There's a giant pirate robot you have to climb up, while another one is 3 bird chicks build together like a totem pole, who will spin around and vomit projectiles at you. The mini bosses are of course a bit easier and shorter, so you won't get 3 lives and often times no power up to defeat them. Unlike the final bosses, of course. One charming (or maybe annoying, if you struggle) thing about the FINAL final boss is that the battle is not fully predictable. A mid-battle event will determine which segments of the boss battle you will have to complete to ultimately win the fight.
The core gameplay remains the same as in Astro's Playground: you platform, you punch and jetpack around, but as mentioned the power ups are a whole new deal: monkey climbing arms return, but you also get boxing gloves reminiscent of Nintendo's Arms game, a doggy booster allowing you charge and crash into what is in front of you, a metal ball mode, a time stopper like in Crash Bandicoot 4, a swim booster, even one power up where you are blown up like a balloon. Likely I even missed a few. Not to mention, after beating each final boss level, a fan service level dedicated to some of Playstation's most beloved franchises follows. There Sony did they darndest to emulate those games' gameplay by giving you level-exclusive power ups reminiscent of those games' mechanics.
One more thing to mention about the gameplay is the crash site base building, which is surprisingly fun. Basically, in the main levels one type of collectibles are Astro's little bot friends. The more friends you collect, the more fun things you can do at the crash site. You will build new facilities and even access more areas and the best part: all your little friends are there in real time helping you out. I would say it's a bit like what I imagine Pikmin to be - if I had played Pikmin. To boot while probably about a half or 2/3s of other bots are generic little guys, the rest are references to other game franchises characters: There's Kratos Astro Bot, Ryu from Street Fighter, Parapa the Rapper, even the Loco Roco blobs and some Resident Evil characters. Collect money in-game and spend it in the Gacha machine to make them do funny gallery shenanigens at the crash site! There's a total 300 of them. Unlike other games I might actually attempt to collect them all.
Anyway, graphics I can't complain about. They're cartoony and charming, soundtrack is as great as it was in Astro's Playroom, if not better.
Now, I might have to retract the click-bait title above. I don't know to what extent Astro Bot qualifies as the game of the year. By all means I can imagine more ambitious projects looming about in 2024. While Astro Bot executes what it sets out to do perfectly, there is the obvious criticism that the mechanics are noticably similar to other platformers. Personally I'd say unless you were aiming to be Game of the Year, there is nothing wrong with that.
It's also worth noting that a lot of the game is Playstation celebrating it's own history and plugging various references to older products. Again, it's done well, but if obvious consumerism celebration bothers you, yeah this game does it a lot.
Last but not least criticism: Astro Bot was not the most challenging platformer to complete. In fact it's overall relatively easy. It's obviously no Crash Bandicoot 4, not even a Super Mario Odyssey or Luigi's Mansion 3. But I guess it's not non-tricky. It is however definitely harder than the lego games. You won't repeat some sections a 100 times, but you also won't just get through a level without trying.
But yeah, overall excellent game. Would recommend for fans of the platforming genre. Not the most original, but well executed and extremely fun to play.
