Astro Bot review: reaching new heights

Setting a new benchmark that all 3D platformers now have to reach

Astro Bot / Sony Interactive Entertainment

I’m as cynical as the next person when it comes to games referencing other things as a replacement for entertainment. Not only does Astro Bot have 170 characters for you to remember from old PlayStation games, but it is smothered with nostalgic PlayStation signposting. Triangles, circles, squares, and crosses can be found everywhere, not to mention that the driving force behind the story is that your PS5 has broken. 

On the surface, Astro Bot seems like a shallow cash grab benefiting from the best games in PlayStation’s 30-year history. However, what Team Asobi has created is not only excellent in its own right but even surpasses the vast majority of the references it contains.

Astro Bot / Sony Interactive Entertainment

Astro Bot’s story is a simple one. A UFO crashes into a PS5 carrying more than 300 bots, and our protagonist Astro Bot is the only one left unscathed. They travel on the smaller jet of the PS5 controller to different planets to save all of the bots that have crash-landed, and to retrieve the parts that have broken off the console.

The more bots that you rescue, the more you can do on your hub planet. Teamwork will help you open up new areas and rescue bots in tricky situations. It’s a simple premise, but this is just the vehicle for Astro Bot to explore numerous innovative worlds.

Astro Bot contains about 80 planets for you to explore, and while concepts are repeated, they are mixed with new ideas so that no two levels feel the same. Some levels are linear, others are almost completely open, and there are various power-ups you can find that completely change how the little bot controls. Levels also come in three different lengths and three levels of difficulty, so you never feel fatigued by a certain type.

Astro Bot / Sony Interactive Entertainment

Overall, the worlds are beautiful, and there is something thrilling about how even the tiniest details are considered. Yes, I squealed with excitement when I found the bot shaped like the cube from IQ: Intelligence Qube, but I was equally delighted when I realized that the fireballs that the reptilian enemies spit are shaped like little lizard heads.

Another thing that sets Astro Bot apart from every other character 3D puzzle platformer is the sound design. Every single track is an all-timer, and even on the most difficult levels where you die over and over again, you’ll be kept perky by the banging soundtrack. There is also a massive benefit to it being a PS5 exclusive as it uses the unique functions of the controller masterfully.

Astro Bot / Sony Interactive Entertainment

While music comes from your TV, all of Astro Bot’s sounds come from the controller. It makes the sound design dynamic, giving a more immersive feel, and the haptic feedback lets you feel every tiny tippy tap of Astro Bot’s little feet.

What brings everything together is the controls. While half of the gameplay focuses on exploration and the secrets hidden in every corner of each level, you have to master the platforming if you want to complete everything. Astro Bot jumps and hovers with Cross, attacks and spins with Square, and uses their power-ups with L2 or R2. That’s it.

Astro Bot / Sony Interactive Entertainment

You essentially use just three buttons, and it’s the simplicity of the design, mixed with the precision on the tougher platforming sections that makes everything so satisfying. Astro Bot is the only game I’ve played when I’m excited by a section that has skiddy ice physics. They control so smoothly that even gliding on ice feels good.

The difficulty curve is masterful. Main story levels are littered with checkpoints, so you never feel too defeated, and levels increase in difficulty so steadily that you hardly notice until you look back. The optional stages increase the challenge, but even when you fail over and over you can see the improvements you’ve made.

Astro Bot / Sony Interactive Entertainment

Even when you complete an especially demanding level only to see another on the horizon, it doesn’t feel as if Astro Bot is punishing you. Instead, they’re giving you an encouraging push, as if they’re saying, “You did so well. Try this. I know you can do it!”

Astro Bot Rescue Mission was one of the best games of 2018, and I always thought it was a shame that no one played it as it was shackled to VR. Not only is Astro Bot free from this constraint, but it’s even better than the original in a way that I thought impossible without the immersion that VR offered.

You may have noticed that I barely mentioned all of the PlayStation cameos and that’s because it stands solidly without them. After completing a challenging level, or finding a well-hidden secret, the fact that you unlocked Sly Cooper is just the icing on the cake. Astro Bot has set a new benchmark that all 3D platformers now have to reach, and I’ll be waiting excitedly while they try.

Score: 10/10

Version tested: PS5