PLATFORM: PS5 | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Starting life in a small section of Sony’s niche Playroom VR title before starring in his own extremely well-received 2018 PSVR exclusive, Astro Bot: Rescue Mission, Astro Bot (the character) reached a wider audience thanks to Astro’s Playroom, a free pack-in title included with every PS5 console that doubles as a highly enjoyable game as well as an impressive tech demo that shows off the console capabilities. In 2024’s Astro Bot – the first fully-fledged “flat” game in the series – Astro’s PS5-shaped ship is attacked and its components are scattered across the stars along with Astro’s entire 300-strong crew. Now you need to help Astro find his pals and repair the ship so everyone can get back home safely.
Each of Astro Bot‘s five worlds contain around half a dozen main levels, and there are also a handful of shorter levels where your platforming skills will be seriously tested. There are also nearly a dozen secret exits to find, leading to additional levels (some of the best in the entire game) which contain rare collectibles. Every level contains a bunch of stranded crewmates to find – some more well-hidden than others, and many of them taking the guise of familiar characters from not only Sony / PlayStation history but other well-known faces from the wider gaming world as well – along with three puzzles pieces. Rescued bots populate your ship’s crash site and spend their time getting up to adorably silly hijinks, with additional props from the in-game gatcha machine giving them some extra bits and pieces to play with, while puzzle pieces eventually unlock ways to change Astro’s appearance and customise the controller-shaped craft that he uses to fly between planets / levels.
A large part of Rescue Mission‘s appeal – besides the insanely adorable characters, fantastic visuals and catchy soundtrack – was to be found in experiencing the creative ways that the game utilised virtual reality and the PS4 controller (those of a certain age might remember the first time they played Mario 64 – Rescue Mission evokes a very similar sense of wonder). Here though, while the sights and sounds are still absolutely world-class, the VR side of things isn’t an option, so Astro Bot gets creative with its gameplay mechanics instead. Astro will often be accompanied by tiny animal robot friends who lend him various abilities – it’s a shame to spoil the surprises, but to name a couple of examples, the chicken gives Astro a massive jump boost,and the mouse shrinks him to miniscule proportions. There are many others besides these two, all providing different ways to interact with the levels, hunt for crew mates, and approach the various enemies you’ll encounter along the way. Beyond these, the secrets and surprises hidden all over each level are a delight to find, making the daunting task of rounding up 300 little robots feel like an absolute pleasure.
There aren’t many games out there that provide the sheer enjoyment that can be found in this series. The platforming in Astro Bot is pretty much as good as it gets, it looks and sounds fantastic, each inventive new mechanic is a joy to discover and play around with, and above all else the focus is very much on having fun. It’s one of those games that just makes you grin the entire time you’re playing, and fully deserves a place in every PS5 owner’s library. Incredible stuff!
