Latest Astro adventures breathe new life into power of PlayStation 5 console capabilities

PlayStation’s hottest new star finally has his own full fledged game. Astro Bot offers up a grand celebration, with the game releasing right on time for the platform’s 30th anniversary. Some see this adventure game as a great step forward, but how well does it actually hold up?

This is not Astro’s first rodeo. In fact, Team Asobi has been using the character in a plethora of titles to promote features on the PlayStation throughout the years. Initially introduced in the 2013 release The Playroom, a small experience meant to show off the capabilities of the Dualshock 4 controller and the newly released PlayStation Camera, Astro would continue to appear in Team Asobi’s next releases. The first sign of a significant upgrade for Astro would come in Astro Bot Rescue Mission, a title made to accompany the PlayStation Virtual Reality headset. This release would be the first title where platforming would be a main aspect of gameplay, something that would carry on to the next Astro game, Astro Bot Playroom. All of these titles allowed the gameplay of the Astro Bot series to flourish, yet none had been a “full” game, they were mainly short experiences created to promote new accessories and console releases for the PlayStation. However, that all would change with the release of Astro Bot.

Astro Bot begins with the titular Astro sitting on his mothership (a Playstation 5 console), traveling across the galaxy, when from out of nowhere an alien named Space Bully Nebulax attacks the ship and rips it apart, stealing the CPU for himself and spreading the other important parts and Bots on the ship to different galaxies. Astro crash lands on a desert planet with his trusty rocket ship (a DualSense controller), determined to find his friends and repair his mothership, with what remains of it landing on the same desert planet.

Though the premise may seem relatively simplistic, Astro Bot does not attempt to blow players away with its incredibly well detailed plot, instead the plot provides a reason for Astro to visit unique worlds. The gameplay within Astro Bot is best described as a level based 3D platformer, something similar to the likes of Super Mario Galaxy or A Hat in Time. The aspects that differentiate Astro Bot from other similar titles is the full use of the DualSense controller and the plethora of crossovers with other PlayStation titles. 

This series of games have been used to demonstrate the power of the PlayStation and its accessories. Astro Bot decides to hyperfocus on the features specifically found within the DualSense controller, making the overall experience feel more interactive. This can be seen through the sheer magnitude of powerups and abilities that Astro encounters throughout his journey. From a chicken rocket jetpack, to frog extendable boxing arms, to the ability to turn into a little metal ball, all of Astro’s abilities work off the features present in the DualSense controller. Take the aforementioned extendable frog arms as an example, when using the arms, the player has to use the right trigger on the remote to use the right arm, and the left trigger on the remote for the left arm, which is not only enjoyable, but also shows off the reactive sensors built into the DualSense controller. This can also be seen in Astro’s rocket ship, considering the fact that any time the player has to blast off to another planet or galaxy, Astro hops onto the ship and the player has to press down both triggers of the controller to launch the rocket, with the triggers on the controller responding as if it were the thrusters of a rocket. The controller also aids the audio. A large majority of sound effects within the game from simple actions like walking through a grassy area or breaking glass with a pair of incredible extendable frog arms, will be heard through the controller’s built in microphone.

When it comes to the objective of Astro Bot, Astro’s main goal is to repair the PlayStation 5 ship and to rescue the bots who have been scattered around the other galaxies where the multitude of crossovers will be seen. As Astro is exploring the worlds he visits, he will encounter the bots and will rescue them by kicking them into the DualSense controller. However, these bots can tend to resemble many different characters from previous titles. These characters can range from classic titles such as Jak and Daxter and PaRappa the Rapper  up to more recent releases like Bloodborne and Persona 5, all of them appearing as cute little bots Astro has to rescue. Yet, these crossovers aren’t reserved to simple appearances, after defeating the boss of each respective galaxy, a new level opens up that has Astro enter a world extremely similar to a classic PlayStation title, with Astro even taking the form of that character and exploring their world. Minor spoiler territory ahead. An example of this would be after defeating the first galaxy’s boss, Astro rescues a Spike bot, Spike being the main character of the series Ape Escape. After that Astro enters a world where he takes the form of Spike, and has to catch a group of escaped primates running amok within the level. This celebration of classic games will  make PlayStation fans yearn for more, and clearly demonstrate the quality of this title.

Ultimately, Astro Bot is a title that not only celebrates the history of PlayStation, but also manages to innovate and truly use the PlayStation 5 to its fullest potential. The major complaint repeated by players is that this game is simply too short, and everyone wants more. If that is the main complaint by the majority of players, then it’s pretty clear that Team Asobi made something very special. 

A charming, refreshing release for the PlayStation 5 has reignited excitement for Playstation's future.

Grade: A+

by Jacob Stinski

Published October 7 2024

Oshkosh West Index Volume 121 Issue I