Astro Bot should feel cynical, a by-the-numbers 3D platformer designed to tap into the nostalgia people have for the now 30-year-old PlayStation – the Deadpool & Wolverine of the video game world. A cash-in, lifting the ideas of other games and throwing some iconic decoration on top, like a bog standard Victoria Sponge with yellow Minion icing fondant slapped over it. Enjoy this cake an extra amount because you bloody love Minions, don’t you, Timmy! Gorge yourself on the things you love and then spoil it all on social media!
And yet, Astro Bot absolutely isn’t any of those things. It’s a colourful, joyful leap through the past and present of PlayStation, and it exudes the kind of love for the medium that is usually only experienced in the best from Nintendo or, dare I say it, Sega during its blue skies peak.
As a modern 3D platformer, the absolute basics here are just as you’d expect and as tight as Nathan Drake’s eyelids in a sandstorm. Jump and punch through levels, but also jet hover (with added death to anything beneath the hover blast), spin, and use whichever power-ups offered that the level is designed around. Astro Bot is most similar to, if you are desperate for a comparison, Mario Odyssey, rather than the more action-oriented Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart – although it has its moments. You might struggle to convince someone developer Team Asobi has created a pure platformer given the array of gadgets on show, but it’s about as close as we’re likely to get these days.
To extend the comparison even further, I’ll say that Astro Bot’s hidden bots (actual little robots that are modelled on famous PlayStation characters about 50% of the time) are not a million miles from Odyssey’s moons. There aren’t as many here, so they don’t come as thick and fast, but they are often found by completing little challenges or hunting down secret areas. These bots then let you unlock new zones from within a ‘home’ area that also serves as the location you store the game’s many other unlockables – the gacha machine from Playroom is back, and it’s a fun way to use the coins you liberally obtain during general play, plus picture pieces unlock new buildings and functionality.
It’s easy to spoil what Astro Bot dishes up, especially if you’re well-versed in PlayStation history. There are multiple neat uses of classic franchises here, putting to shame the ‘guest character’ and ‘classic skin’ fan service you might find in other games. There’s actual gameplay in Astro Bot, not just a knowing wink or a doff of a cap designed to tickle your history receptors and make you feel something without actually being anything. Importantly, Astro treats fans brilliantly, but also doesn’t rely on players wearing rose-tinted spectacles.
If you’re reading this and getting an eye twitch as you desperately try not to Google what classic games Astro Bot turns to for some of its most memorable moments, I strongly suggest you don’t do it. Go in knowing you’re in for a fun ride, and find out nothing more than what’s said in the rest of this review. This is the kind of game you talk to your friends about in vague questions: “Have you got to the bit with classic franchise and the cool mechanic?” “Did you do the big guy bit yet?” “Yeah, when that Bot appeared and I knew what was coming next I couldn’t stop grinning.”
It would be unfair to put all of Astro Bot’s success on it being an extended homage to PlayStation history, as the bulk of what we’ve got here isn’t that. It’s also, deliberately or not, showing an awful lot of respect to the platforming genre. The joyless, cold-hearted, and downright blinkered might claim Astro Bot rips too much from genre greats, but it doesn’t. It all feels like it belongs rather than being a collection of classic ideas slapped together and called Ready Player One. This is a game for all ages and experience levels to enjoy and find wonder in, so don’t let anyone tell you you need encyclopaedic knowledge of PS history.
Slight counterpoint that definitely doesn’t undermine that previous statement: Astro Bot has its share of challenging levels that will test you. For the most part I found the core stages to be a lovely, jolly jaunt, but the special zones can throw some cats amongst the robotic pigeons. There’s no requirement to complete these tougher special stages, with most handing over just a single bot upon completion, but they add an excellent bit of end-game value if you want to mop up everything Astro Bot is offering – indeed, unlocking some of these levels can be a challenge itself.
Despite my enthusiasm for the DualSense controller at the launch of the PS5 I’ve soured on it a little over the years since, but it’s a wonder in Astro Bot. It’s as if the controller was made for the game, connecting you to the world and the experience rather exquisitely. It’s top notch stuff, and does about as much as the bold visuals and bopping soundtrack do to sell the whole package.
Astro Bot isn’t really about pushing the boundaries of visuals, but its levels are filled with character, with little details packed in all over, plus just the right amount of spectacle when it’s needed.
I’m not as down on the PS5’s games line-up as some people seem to be, largely enjoying most of what Sony has published, but I won’t deny I’ve felt a lack of unbridled excitement. Part of this is down to getting older and games struggling to do anything truly unique, but a lot of it is down to the baggage triple-A games carry these days.
Take God of War: Ragnarok as the perfect example: a marvellous accomplishment, packed to the gills with a layered story, brilliant performances, top-notch combat, and content for days… but it’s also a proper slog at times – something that can be said about a lot of BIG with three-A‘s games. As a counter to this, Astro Bot serves as a soothing balm.
Astro Bot doesn’t care about such baggage, but if it did you’d probably use your mechanical arms to throw it at a giant robotic ape before smashing in said ape’s teeth and propelling yourself into its soon-to-be exploded head. Astro Bot only cares about fun, and I genuinely can’t think of a single moment it made me wish something had been handled differently, tweaked to be easier, or expanded upon. It’s just perfect.
Astro Bot is out exclusively on PS5 on September 6, 2024. A PS5 review copy provided by publisher.