Astro Bot just received its latest free update, adding five more levels and new bot cameos to Team Asobi’s Game of the Year-winning platformer. That soundtrack scores levels that seem simple at first, but soon unfurl themselves to reveal tantalising depths and secrets. Most are fairly linear, but some go the extra mile and are enjoyably knotty, providing sandbox-like areas to hunt for collectibles in. There’s never the openness found in the large-by-comparison Mario Odyssey levels, but enough nooks and crannies to get stuck into nonetheless.
At Team Asobi – Sony’s inhouse development studio best known for the Astro Bot series – artwork along the walls depicts PlayStation’s 30-year journey. Master Onion is the secret 301st bot, the last one you’ll unlock in the game. Tell us in the comments section below, and check out our Astro Bot guide for lots more.
Astro Bot can be punishingly difficult, especially the final gauntlet once you have every collectible in hand, but it never feels unfair. Astro Bot levels challenge players to collect all the stranded bots, but there are other things players will want to keep an eye out for as well, like coins and puzzle pieces. Everything players collect goes to Astro Bot’s hub world, the Crash Site. Here, LINK TD88 of rescued bots congregate and can be used within the hub to rescue even more bots. [newline]Puzzle pieces are used to create images of objects that then become additional buildings for players to interact with in the hub world.
Speaking of the use of DualSense, the game uses all of the controller’s features to the max. It adds so much to the in-game experience that this game might actually be the perfect demo to showcase what a PS5 and DualSense can do. The use of adaptive triggers, haptic feedback, and gyro controls makes the game perfect for the console. The amount of collectibles and secrets there are to discover is also staggering; it’s enough to keep you playing for hours on end and keeps achievement hunters busy. Lastly, the game even has a ton of gameplay callbacks to their older IPs which pulls the nostalgia strings perfectly. Astro Bot is, without a shadow of a doubt, this year’s best platforming game.
Astro Bot puts it in the final treat that you only get to even play if you beat every other level, including all the secret ones (and boy, are there a lot of secret ones). Astro Bot Rescue Mission is a 3D platformer where players control Astro Bot, a small robot navigating various levels using a DualShock 4 controller. The game is designed for VR, so players experience the game world from a first-person perspective, essentially becoming a giant robot that interacts with the environment. This includes actions like smashing walls with head-butts, dodging attacks, and using the headset’s microphone to blow petals around.
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The team had a talent for unearthing delightful and satisfying interactions from the devices, and they peopled their games with cute little robots who acquired more personality with each installment. It’s like It Takes Two in how frequently it throws out a new idea, lets you enjoy it, then takes it away before it gets boring. But, unlike It Takes Two (a great game in its own right), Astro Bot doesn’t feature a single dud. Every power is interesting, has a meaningful impact on the level it’s a part of, and feels like it unlocks a new way to play. While some return from previous Astro outings and others are quite standard, there is a unique flair to how they feed into the level design here. But it’s not just PS1 reminiscing that makes Astro Bot so great—not by a long shot.
Like its predecessor, Astro Bot is filled to the brim with PlayStation references and cameos. The most visible ones come in the form of the Special Bots — bots dressed up as famous and obscure PlayStation family characters. Out of the 300 bots you can collect in the game, 173 are such Special Bots.
This 100% Ghouls and Bots Walkthrough guides you to every bot and puzzle piece in this Astro Bot level. But then I remembered that communication between player and developer is not only what to do but also what to feel. And suddenly, it felt like they were hovering just over my shoulder, holding back their laughter as a dear friend would while they waited for me to get a joke. They’d intentionally held back an explanation because they wanted me to experience the feeling of figuring it out for myself.
Super Mario Galaxy
Vibrant colors make me feel like I’m in a cartoon, but Team Asobi doesn’t flatten its environments or skimp on detail. In one level, I start by walking across swaths of bright green foliage. I feel the crunch of the grass between my metal feet and hear the sound from my DualSense’s speakers. Then I move on to a metallic checkerboard floor, where I hear my legs lightly click-clacking on the tiles.
As of writing, there is no information regarding the game receiving a PC version. However, we may infer that there is a possibility that the game will head to PC in a few years, similar to their other first-party titles. We want to take this chance to thank you, sincerely, for the ongoing support. We could not be happier with the way Astro was welcomed into so many new homes.
The physics, as Astro sets piles of hundreds of shiny apples tumbling, or wades through a pool of gold nuggets, are just showing off. I feared it would be a bit of an advert for PlayStation dressed up as a video game – Sony’s own Pepsiman here for the memes and little else. But even when Astro Bot leans into this side of the series, it’s genius.
That said, it’s rather easy to get sucked into the charm of Astro Bot and get lost in the nostalgia of it all. I mean, when there are so many collectibles and elements going on, it may seem like a lot. As I had a head start on playing the title (and absolutely loved it), I’m here to relay eight tips and tricks that’ll make your playthrough that much more fun. Astro Bot is one of the year’s biggest and best titles and it’s easy to see why. There’s a lot to do, it’s visually stunning and it’s a welcoming platformer. You can jump onto the title even if you haven’t played Astro’s Playroom or a PlayStation game in general.
I never lose my momentum because of a mistimed jump and can usually recover if I misjudge a spinning platform’s trajectory. In addition to a punch and spin attack, the jets from my boosters can fry enemies below me. That means that I rarely need to stop moving to take care of a few pesky bots.