Astro Bot Review: A Spectacular Celebration of PlayStation’s Legacy

It’s been almost a year since PlayStation launched its last first-party single-player title, Marvel's Spider-Man 2. While there have been plenty of notable second and third-party releases since then like Stellar Blade and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, nothing has come close to matching the sheer quality of PlayStation’s very own production, until Astro Bot. 

Team Asobi’s latest release comes at the precipice of PS5’s life cycle, where its current and future portfolios include questionable multiplayer live-service titles and a continued silence from its major first-party studios. 

Given PlayStation’s current state, it’s easy to be concerned about its future, and Astro Bot is here to gently punch you in the face and rescue your mind from all the skepticism that may have been residing there. It’s an absurdly good platformer that excels in every area, be it visuals, soundtrack, gameplay, or pacing. 

Even more importantly, it’s a heartfelt celebration of PlayStation’s biggest and smallest franchises, something I didn't know we needed until now. 

Astro Bot Perfectly Blends Innovation and Nostalgia

Your Astro Bot journey begins after the PS5 mothership gets attacked by a vicious alien and all the bots and the mothership parts get scattered across the galaxies. It’s your job to hop on to your little DualSense speeder and visit neighboring planets to rescue the bots and assemble the ship’s parts. 

Despite the game’s light-hearted nature, this task feels cardinal. Symbolically, it’s like overcoming grave obstacles to reconnect with your favorite PlayStation characters and thoroughly cleaning your PS5. 

Astro Bot plays with that notion, constantly putting you into situations where you are bound to feel sentimental. I was always eager to hop onto another planet and reunite with one of my favorite PlayStation characters or bump into someone completely unexpected that would have me go, 'Oh, I haven’t thought about you in a while!' 

These moments are plentiful in Astro Bot because there are plentiful VIP bots to discover and rescue. From obvious ones like Kratos and Atreus from God of War to surprising ones like Joker from Persona 5.

Every such encounter with these VIP bots is brimming with nostalgia and excitement that never fades away. It's like meeting an old friend or acquaintance and remembering all your favorite memories of them.  

Many of PlayStation’s franchises have long been dormant or met untimely ends, but by adding characters from these titles and putting its own endearing twist to them, Astro Bot revitalizes them in the best possible way. 

Like its predecessor, Astro’s Playroom, Astro Bot is unprecedentedly charming. From the bots’ movement to the art style of the environments, and even the name & description of VIP bots. Everything is gleeful and contributes to a positive vibe overall. For instance, there’s an Uncharted-themed level called “Dude Raiding,” which had me laughing nonstop for at least a minute. 

It’s also incredibly detailed, like most first-party PlayStation titles, and it’s easy to miss out on the tiny details. For instance, if you leave Astro idly on a spooky planet, it will start to tremble and nervously look around. Whereas if you leave it idle on a snow-capped planet, Astro will start shivering. Additionally, enemies that appear normally in most levels would be covered in bandages in a spooky level. 

While meeting familiar faces in their delightful bot form is a highlight, it’s not Astro Bot’s defining feature. This is an absurdly good platformer with plenty of refreshing ideas which makes it an absolute joy to play through. 

Every level feels unique and handcrafted, both thematically and design-wise. Astro gains access to a different ability in each level which can be used to overcome all the platforming puzzles of that area. There’s only a handful of these abilities, but I never got tired of using any in particular because they all function differently and are incredibly satisfying to use.

The abilities aren’t necessarily original but the way they are used certainly feels so. For instance, one ability can slow time and a puzzles associated with it involves halting a bunch of coins in mid-air to make a zig-zag pattern which you can use to reach the other side. I was constantly surprised by the game's use of its vertical spaces to create these unique and memorable platforming sections. 

Aside from the standard levels where you rescue bots, collect gold coins, and find pieces of puzzles, each planet has a VIP bot themed level and a boss level. 

Boss fights are surprisingly intricate encounters, each with multiple phases that require you to intuitively use your ability and movements to prevail. These aren’t challenging encounters but require quick thinking and are a refreshing change of pace from the usual levels. On the other hand, VIP bot levels are deeply nostalgic rollercoaster rides full of easter eggs, audio and visual cues, and set pieces that feel familiar but in an endearing Astro-esque way.

There’s one called Bot of War in which you play as Kratos and use his Leviathan Axe to slice enemies and solve various platforming puzzles, all while constantly being bombarded by an electronica version of God of War 2018’s main score. 

Speaking of which, Astro Bot’s sound design is stellar. From the high-tempo score that constantly feels like a joyride, to more nuanced effects like the shattering of a glass. The latter feels just as gratifying as it did in The Last of Us Part 2.

Once you have rescued the bots, you can find them and the mothership at the crash site, which is also your home base. As soon as you land, you will be greeted with dozens of adorable bots that you have rescued so far. If you thought Kratos was cute in Fortnite, wait until you see his miniature bot dab and floss dance to welcome you back to the crash site every time. 

The crash site is an expansive space with plenty of secrets to unravel, puzzle pieces to collect, and bots to rescue. Finishing up puzzle boards can unlock new gameplay features such as the gacha lab, in which you can spend coins to unlock special animations for the VIP bots. It’s another reminder of how much this game is a celebration of all things PlayStation. There's one for Snake from Metal Gear which allows him to hide inside a box and if you punch it, he will quickly leap out with his sidearm and glance around frantically before hiding in the box again. 

These subtle details made me smile every time I ran into one of my favorite characters at the crash site, and I was often compelled to return here just to be around them. 

Astro Bot Takes Dual Sense Implementations to New Heights

Astro’s Playroom was the first PS5 game to implement and showcase the DualSense controller’s functionalities like haptic feedback. Astro Bot takes those ideas to new heights and showcases what this four-year-old controller is capable of. 

Aside from the usual haptic implementations which include distinguished vibration patterns for when you are walking on the grass or mud, there are key additions that involve the controller’s sensors. While climbing ledges, instead of using the right analog stick, you have to tilt the controller on the left side to grab the left ledge whereas you have to tilt it right to grab the ledge on the right-hand side.

It’s a bit clumsy and tough to get right, especially in time-constrained moments, but it would be interesting to see it evolve and become the norm for ledge climbing in future PlayStation releases. 

There’s one particular addition that completely blew my mind which I won’t spoil here. But it requires a non-tangible input from your side on the DualSense, and is something that I haven’t seen any other PS5 game use up to date. It’s pure witchcraft and I can’t wait to see what else DualSense features would future PlayStation releases implement. 

It's Pacing is Immaculate

Astro Bot can take over 15 hours to beat, which isn’t a short amount by any means for a platforming game. However, chugging through the game’s various levels never feels like a slog because of their length and versatility. 

Each level takes only 15 or 20 minutes to finish, which is perfect for short gaming sessions. Moreover, there are adequate checkpoints within these levels, so you never really have to backtrack much or replay an entire section just because you accidentally jump in a different direction. 

It’s tough to balance these things in a platforming game, as something immensely frustrating can easily turn into something too lenient. Astro Bot strikes a perfect balance so that neither of those issues arises. 

My only issue with Astro Bot emerged whenever I hopped on to two levels back to back and discovered they both offered the same ability for me to use. This isn’t entirely the game’s fault as you are free to choose which level you want to play on a specific planet. 

Still, I hope there was a way to know beforehand which ability I would get to use in a level, or, if it was something I hadn’t discovered before, a question mark would have sufficed. 

PlayStation's Legacy in Playable Glory

Whether it’s the visuals, gameplay, or soundtrack, Astro Bot picks up the best pieces of PlayStation’s most memorable franchises and mashes them all together in the most endearing way possible, all while effortlessly balancing its own identity through its innovative platforming set-pieces. 

Playing through Astro Bot feels like cherishing PlayStation’s 30 years of legacy, and if there truly is a PlayStation showcase or State of Play on the horizon, Astro Bot is the perfect catalyst to hype you for it.