"Astro Bot" played: More long-term fun for the creative PS5 mascot

No jumping game hero knows how to involve the player as well as "Astro Bot". In "Astro Bot Rescue Mission" for PSVR, you help him across chasms by turning the PS4 controller into a winch or water sprayer. The free game "Astro's Playroom", pre-installed on all PS5 consoles, also offered a remarkably creative introduction to the new PS5 controller and its haptic triggers. The second PS5 game with the simple name "Astro Bot" should finally address one of the few weak points: the scope. While the predecessor could be played through in four hours without collectibles, this time Sony's Japanese team Asobi was given more development time for a big adventure at full price.

Over 50 planets are waiting to be explored: However, they do not form an open world, but largely classic, linear 3D levels with a few branching paths. The story about a spaceship crash and a nasty alien remains as inconsequential as ever, but the search for scattered robots and wreckage is still incredibly entertaining.

Astro is once again only capable of simple punches, a spin attack and a hover jump. This time, however, his gadgets are even better coordinated. An elephant backpack spits platforms at his feet mid-jump and he uses the bulldog backpack to ram through porous retro backdrops. In some levels, he even stomps through the levels as a giant, soaked sponge – or transforms into a tiny mouse at the touch of a button. He slips through even the smallest niches or floats up on soap bubbles to blast bots trapped in cages free. Short gliding flights with the space shuttle using motion control are also a nice change of pace. It's clear that the game is bursting with loving, creative ideas, both big and small. You can feel that this is obviously a project from the heart; not a mass-produced, service-by-the-book product.

Even in the first few hours, the skills are incredibly motivating in terms of level design. The gorilla grappling arms from the predecessor, for example, can now be used more freely for exploration to find hidden caves at the edge of a cliff. Simply press the trigger buttons and they'll shoot skywards. If you look hard enough, you will also find portals to secret planets in a "lost galaxy" at the edge of the levels.

Extremely charming and motivating

Even the tricky challenge levels, in which you balance on a ball, offer a level of finesse that is otherwise only familiar from big Mario titles: challenging, but never unfair. The balancing act over rotating spiked rollers and porous glass surfaces is immediately addictive. However, the techniques are not quite as inventive as in the VR predecessor. After all, without VR goggles, the developers can't give the impression that the PS5 controller turns into a crazy gadget in your hands.

In between, you can relax at the crash site in a small, open desert world. Among other things, there are scattered bots, a capsule machine and small hardware references to Playstation history to discover. Astro Bot himself and his rescued friends also become Sony guest stars. In a beautifully staged ice level, the hero transforms into the "Bot of War". With his handy throwing axe, he can temporarily freeze enemy platforms or entire bridge mechanics.

Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt

Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externes YouTube-Video (Google Ireland Limited) geladen.

YouTube-Video immer laden YouTube-Video jetzt laden

Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (Google Ireland Limited) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.

It's not just the roaring waves of the icy sea that are a real eye-catcher in HDR. The entire world is gorgeously animated –, from the gently undulating vegetation and dancing roboflowers to the fine reflections, light and particle effects. Hardly any other game exudes so much good humor throughout. And all this at a consistently smooth 60 frames per second: We haven't even encountered a hint of stuttering. Even the actually pretty "Astro's Playroom" suddenly seems somehow dull and lifeless in comparison. Only "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart" offers even livelier cities.

Good "vibes"

Another real highlight is how authentic the ground and obstacles "feel" when running. Whether ice, metal, small sugar drops or waxed apples: every touch feels amazingly real thanks to fine dual-sense haptic effects. However, the haptic triggers have so far reacted with less counter-pressure. Series connoisseurs might also be bothered by the fact that some of the cheerful soundtrack melodies from the predecessors have been recycled. Many bosses are also old acquaintances. However, the reunion doesn't really bother you, as some of them have new attacks to offer. The large octopus, for example, can be dismantled with extendable frog boxing gloves.

If the new "Astro Bot" continues to produce such fireworks, Team Asobi will have created a real jump-n-run masterpiece. This time, Team Asobi obviously had more time for fine-tuning than with the somewhat too easy "Astro's Playroom". The platform action feels much smoother than in "Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time" or in Max Mustard for VR. Not even the experimental Nintendo classic Super Mario Odyssey offered such a motivating balance right from the start. The scope also seems to be right this time: While we were through the previous game after around four hours, this time we were still pretty much at the beginning after the same amount of time.

For virtual reality fans, however, it is a setback that no mode is planned for Playstation VR 2. It's a shame that Sony has so little faith in its own VR goggles. "Astro Bot" would have been a good opportunity for one of the "hybrid titles" that were often talked about at the PSVR2 launch. Perhaps there will be a successor in VR after all – We can still dream.

"Astro Bot" will be released on Friday, September 6, 2024 for Playstation 5. The price for the standard edition is 70 euros.

(jpw)