Astro Bot is the long-awaited sequel to Astro’s Playroom, a PS5-exclusive 3D platform game that uses the interactions of the DualSense controller to the fullest. It was released as a celebration of PlayStation’s 30th anniversary and includes numerous game references, both new and old, to excite players as the rescue characters they know and love. With over 50 planets to explore, hundreds of bots to rescue, and hidden trophies & levels to unlock, it’s time to make the most of Astro’s new adventure. This review will break down this content, discuss the game, and share my overall thoughts at the end. This is NOT a spoiler-free review. 

The original game, Astro’s Playroom, was a free game introducing Astro as the new PlayStation mascot. It featured well-known characters from PlayStation games and fun quests, but was limited on certain interactions and is a fairly short game overall. They followed up with Astro Bot Rescue Mission for VR, but that greatly limited the abilities of Astro and the fun of the game. The newest game, Astro Bot, is a new beginning for Astro’s journey. It’s significantly longer with more character interactions and specific feature levels where you speedrun PlayStation hits such as Ape Escape, Horizon, and God of War. Every character bot that’s rescued has a key feature (such as an item, movement, or transformation) you can unlock in the gotcha lab. These features are activated by punching them, but be careful, some characters punch back! You can also unlock character skins and paint styles for your Dual Sense Speeder in the gotcha lab. 

After crashing in a mysterious galaxy from an alien attack, Astro must traverse the different worlds to save his bot companions and recover the missing PS5 parts to rebuild the mothership and fight the devious alien! In each level you’ll have to look for hidden puzzle pieces and bots, using Astro’s skills or power-ups that help you traverse the various terrains. After completing a world and rescuing the bots, you can go back to the crash site and use the bots to help you unlock secrets and trophies or complete the puzzles to save other bots, unlock rewards, or access new areas. The bots are also working hard on rebuilding the PS5 mothership, but they need you to put together the CPU after fighting off the alien! Every corner of this game is filled with things to do, and Astro will happily dance his way through each challenge with your assistance. 

Though it’s a level-based game, it includes cutscenes to expand the story and introduce new challenges for each galaxy. Despite having no dialogue, Astro’s face is extremely expressive and conveys his emotions clearly. Through these expressions, the player can build a connection with Astro as they help him complete each level and save his friends. If you stop for a moment in each level, Astro will move or react to the world around him. For example, in one of the spooky levels, Astro is afraid and shakes, looking around him for safety. These small details are important for Astro as a character and gives players more reasons to love him. He can also react to the bots he interacts with, supporting them or even judging them! Sometimes he’ll just stare off into space too, or wave to get your attention.

The gameplay is fairly straightforward and is designed for everyone to be able to enjoy it without stress. Though some levels can be tricky, there are multiple auto-save points throughout and no limit to how many times you can ‘die.’ The goal of this game is for players to have fun, experience PlayStation history in an interactive day, and potentially discover new games to play! The controls are fairly simple as well, with each action being designated to a single push or two of a button. And, in case you’re having difficulty finding everything within a level, you can use your coins to unlock a special bird that beeps when you get close to a hidden item or bot. With fun in mind, this game can truly be played by anyone, whether you’re a hard-core gamer, a new gamer, or somewhere in the middle. If there is any game to give a try, it’s Astro Bot.

Overall, I loved this game because I felt confident I could play it, enjoyed seeing familiar characters, and love Astro! It’s encouraging to play something without worrying about having to start from the beginning or losing all your items/progress. You can get through it pretty quickly, but it’s best to take the time to go through the levels thoroughly and find what you can right away. Astro also keeps the fun going with his dances and chipper attitude! 

The game ends with a stunning, cinematic tribute to the history of PlayStation as all the bots you’ve rescued join together to battle the nefarious alien on the old consoles, controllers, and portables. You team up with everyone to stop the alien and get the final PS5 part back, but Astro ends up sacrificing himself to save everyone in a tragic moment that left us silent. However, it’s not the end! Astro returns battered and broken, and after a quick rebuild he is good as new and ready for his next adventure. The only fault of the game that players noticed is the lack of Final Fantasy characters, as the series is a huge PlayStation success and FFVII Rebirth came out with huge success recently. 

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