Astrobot, it’s the IP that came with the PS4 back in 2013 and was something you could play on if you at that time didn’t buy any games for the playstation 4. The same thing happened with Astro’s Playroom, this title came with the playstation 5 and made extensive use of showing the Dualshock 5’s haptic feedback feature.
Those who played through Astro’s Playroom were amazed and baffled as to how good a game it was and why wasn’t there more of it. The Astrobot IP was created by Team Asobi, a first party studio for Sony and it was later spun off into a new studio in 2021 which is the one that made Astro’s Playroom.
Astrobot Is Just Amazing, Plain And Simple
It is what the old school action, platformer from the days of old were, you play as Astro, you can jump and shoot beams from your arms and legs to perform double jumps, you can punch enemies around you as you go to your objectives in the game and each boss being able to be defeated by using the environment in a smart and rewarding way but without losing any of the challenge.
Just as Astro’s Playroom showcased the various capabilities of the dualsense features, this game does it too although to a much higher degree and as just as Astro’s Playroom featured some iconic playstation characters, this game again does it to a much higher degree.
At first it may seem like if an advertisement was turned into a game, the goal of the game is to fly around different parts in your jet that is shaped like a Dualsense controller to collect the various parts needed to put your Playstation 5 spaceship back together, in a “sense” it felt too simple (it sounded better in my head).
As they say “fools admire complexity, genius admires simplicity” and all that because as you keep playing and exploring it becomes satisfying to complete platforming challenges and see characters or references to the legacy of Sony, they have mastered the art of making the player feel constantly nostalgic with every corner they explore.
Each Level Felt So Distinct And Satisfying
As mentioned before you have to collect parts for your Playstation 5 spaceship and to do so you have to go to a cluster of planets and find them along with smaller astrobots which then allow you to fight the boss of that cluster. With each cluster Astrobot gets a completely unique power to help in platforming and beating the levels.
At one level you get a springy-arms that gives the ability to punch your enemies away, a robot dog that becomes your jetpack or the ability to become a mouse which then changes that level so that you can experience it as a mouse.
They also made it so that players who are looking for a challenge can find them in some time trials or runs where they can’t take any hits, sprinkling in challenging levels to an otherwise relaxing platformer is a welcome mixup and goes a long way in keeping the player engaged.
Sony, Is “Live Service” In The Room With Us Right Now?
Astrobot is proving to be the one beacon of light for Sony despite their recent multi-million dollar bad decision after decision, It has received raving reviews of critics and Journalists alike, calling for it to be game of the year. Sony should understand that there are some genres that cannot be broken into, either you make or you don’t, thinking that players are just waiting around for yet another live – service is the wrong train of thought.
Sony had slated to release up to 12 live service titles by fiscal year 2025, they have since closed down a number of studios that were reportedly making some sort of a live service IP and since then Sony have brought it down to 6. It is baffling to everyone why Sony decided to pivot to pursuing this live service train instead of banking on what they are known for, producing high quality single player masterpieces like Ghost of Tsushima, Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank, Killzone etc.
Hopefully Astrobot’s success reminds Sony of what their studios are masters at and what kind of games players expect from them, gamers would have no complaints about a sequel to Spiderman 2, a new Uncharted title or a new Ratchet and Clank and they would certainly not expect games like Concord.
