In the history of the console war it is impossible not to highlight some fixed points, dynamics impossible to contradict that have necessarily defined the history of the video game from its origins to today. Among these we find the war between Super Mario And Sonicthe advent of 3D, the explosion of video games with the PlayStation 1 and so much more.
Among the things that we certainly cannot contradict, however, is that, despite Crash Bandicoot had its success in the past, capturing the attention of PlayStation gamers, the Sony brand has always lacked that 3D platformer capable of taking your mind off things, of proposing some interesting challenges, but above all of providing that gaming experience that gamers often end up looking for in Nintendo consoles. This, at least, until today, with the arrival of Astro Bot, the adventure PlayStation fans have been waiting for.
Innovative gameplay and homages to Sony IPs
In Astro Bot we will play the role of this little robot who will find himself struggling with a search among various planets for his companions lost due to the advent of a bully alien. If this character is not new to you, it is because you have already seen him in a VR video game for PlayStation 4 (from which he draws inspiration) and you have then recognized him inside the Playroom of PlayStation 5, designed to let you discover the DualSense.
This time, however, the adventure is completely dedicated to him, and not only that: a general section not limited by the VR peripheraland without any blockage due to the birth of the product itself and its use.
We will then be able to travel between the various galaxies and complete these game worlds by collecting others AstroBot that we will find around and puzzle pieces that will be useful in the hub planet. As the genre dictates, there will be hidden worlds to unlock (with portals to find on some planets or asteroids to destroy for additional challenges) and secrets to reveal in order to complete the game 100%.
During the various worlds we will then encounter some power-ups that will allow us to use game dynamics dedicated to that specific level, demonstrating a truly high level design quality, and proposing interesting themes to discover and adapt from time to time to complete the various platforms scattered throughout the game. All this will create an adventure that challenges intelligence and cunning, with a level design that will surprise you
The worlds will be scattered across 5 galaxies, and in each of them there will be no more than six, for a total of about thirty levels. In some galaxies, then, we will find special “one-shot” levels, with very difficult challenges to overcome, but of extremely lower number compared to the extras and secrets that we have found over time in the various Super Mario games.
Game length and challenges
All this leads to a duration of about 15 hourswhich perhaps become 25 for the secret worlds and about 35 to complete it 100%. Despite this, the way Astro Bot is packaged and the way it develops in the various levels make it a huge step forward for the genre on PlayStation, especially for how it fits together the various IPs of Sony and others, even proposing gameplay variations from time to time unexpected and perfectly elaborated.
Each galaxy will offer you, at some point, a boss to defeatwith the classic three-hit scheme to inflict using intelligence and cunning. Following this, there will always be a themed level dedicated to one of Sony’s IPs, such as one entirely designed for God of War, where we will have to make our way with blows of the axe, with the much-loved mechanic of being able to recall and throw it at will.
A Smart Homage to PlayStation History
If we talked about God of War, it’s because it’s just one of the many IPs present in the game. Among the various AstroBots that we will save, in fact, we will find some of them with details that recall characters from the past and present of PlayStation: Solid Snake, Kratos, Aloy, Kazuya, Leon And Claire from Resident Evil, Kakeru from Ape Escape and many more.
But in Astro Bot we will not only save them: we will give them a space in the hub planet, where, with the collectible puzzle pieces found in the various game worlds, we will unlock the possibility of customizing the DualSense spaceshipwhich will take us from world to world, customize our Astro Bot, and finally win from a slot machine gacha the various objects typical of these characters, which, once obtained, will be used in the world that will act as a hub.
In case you are not used to searching for secrets in 3D platformerdon’t despair: once you complete a level, you can replay it by spending 200 gold coinsthe currency you will unlock in the game, so you will have a little bird that will direct you to each single secret once you get close to it.
But the homage doesn’t stop there, only that we won’t talk about it so as not to spoil some very interesting and exciting phases of the game. If there’s one thing we can say, it’s that Astro Bot doesn’t use PlayStation history in a superficial waybut does so with intelligence and respect.
Let’s talk about it anyway Astro Bot: as in Playroom, we will have all the effects that we have already known in our DualSense, to the nth degree, being able to actually feel on our hands every single step that our little robot will take. The use of the various functions of this pad is well structured, from the breath to the gyroscope, with the right accessibility settings to be able to deactivate them whenever we want.
#Astro #Bot #Review #History #Rewrites
