Astro Bot Gameplay Impressions – Desired Landing

While the first game in the series, 2018’s Astro Bot Rescue Mission, may have been missed by many (it was a PSVR-only title), the second, 2020’s Astro’s Playroom, will already be well known to absolutely every PlayStation 5 owner, as it was included with the purchase of the console for free, pre-installed directly on the console’s SSD. While it was a shorter but self-contained excellent game, Playroom also served as an excellent technical “demo”, showing off both the console’s performance (detailed surfaces and effects, zero loading, etc.) and, above all, the striking difference in haptic feedback from the controller’s outdated vibration formats. In addition, the game, with its levels, characters, and collectibles, references the entire thirty-year history of the PlayStation brand, including individual mascots and hardware. So it’s no surprise that more or less everyone loved Playroom and wanted more of its beautiful aesthetics or even more beautiful gameplay.

And that’s exactly what they’ll get in a full-fledged standalone game called Astro Bot, which will be released along with the Czech localization on September 6 this year for the PlayStation 5 console. So, in total, you’ll find about 80 levels of the same scale as the previous game. Of course, there are also plenty of collectibles hidden here, so one playthrough might not be enough for you. As for the plot, an evil alien (who, by the way, looks a lot like Alza’s mascot) has kidnapped over a hundred astrobots from their home planet, and your job is to find them trapped on separate planets, free them, and send them back to their home planet.

Thanks to the Czech representative of the PlayStation brand, I was able to play three levels/planets, two of which were classic, and one of which featured a lengthy boss fight across several arenas. In addition, I was able to try out two mini-planets with more difficult challenges, which serve as a bonus for more demanding, experienced and brave players – successfully jumping over them is really no small matter. As for the main planets, in addition to the unique environment, each of them also offered unique gameplay mechanics, a bit like putting on a suit with a unique ability. In the first case, it was a controlled inflation (and deflation) of your character, allowing you to fly. In the case of the latter, it was about getting shooting boxing gloves, which could also be used to grab and pull more distant objects.

Individual levels are both aesthetically pleasing and fun – in addition to jumping and finding hidden corners, you also destroy enemies here, some of which are vulnerable to your punch, while others are vulnerable to your boots if you jump over them. . The kidnapped astrobots are sometimes generic, but they are sometimes referred to as mascots of various games throughout PlayStation history, so they are fun to find. In addition to all this, the levels also contain purely experimental places where you simply enjoy some kind of ride, such as a water slide or a dynamic pile of fallen leaves – and all this with absolutely excellent support for haptic feedback, which reminds you how amazing this feature can be. . It’s a shame that only a small group of games support it properly.

The boss level was impressively spectacular: the arena itself is quite dramatic (an island gradually sinking into the depths between giant waterfalls) and changes as the fight progresses, and the boss himself, a giant octopus, is wittily and vividly animated, reacting to your actions, such as punches or dodges and grimaces. You have an extra portion of lives for this fight – while in classic levels you return to the checkpoint immediately after one hit, then with the boss you notice three additional icons behind your back, which gradually decrease if the boss hits you. This allows for a longer and more varied fight without disappointment.

Playing this game made me feel like I was continuing to play a great game room. I’m very curious about the other galaxies and planets, some of which seem to be more inspired by specific PlayStation games. I’m also curious if some of the costumes and special abilities will be repeated on other planets over time, or if literally every planet won’t have its own unique mechanics. Either way, this is a great game for the whole family that will almost certainly put a smile on your face as you play. Please check out this awesome trailer.

Astro Bot will be released for the PlayStation 5 console with Czech localization on September 6, 2024.