The PlayStation brand used to have lots of excellent platform game franchises under its belt. Some of my favourite PlayStation games include the Ape Escape, Sly Cooper, and Jak and Daxter series. Sadly, though, in recent years, only Ratchet & Clank has had a new game on the PS5.
Someone really needs to tell Sony to reinvest in platform games because the new platform game called Astro Bot is arguably the best PS5 exclusive I have ever played. It's much better than the recently released Concord which servers are already going offline this week.
Astro Bot doesn't even have any dialogue whatsoever, but it's easy to understand its charming and simplistic storyline. Astro Bot and his kind are flying through space in their PS5 spaceship, but they crash land thanks to an evil alien that stands in their way.
Due to the crash, 300 of Astro Bot's friends and family members have spread throughout the galaxy on different planets. Not only that, but the PS5 spaceship is broken, and Astro Bot needs to find the necessary pieces to fix it. Astro Bot will need to find his friends and family to save them from being trapped on foreign planets forever.
What I like most about Astro Bot is that the game is a love letter to players who have grown up playing PlayStation games and consoles their whole lives. Astro Bot features a ton of cameos from previous PlayStation games in the past and this even includes some third-party characters too. I won't spoil who is in the game thus far, but it's sure to make you smile.
Another thing that will appeal to players is that this game is easy to learn because the controls are very simple. Astro Bot has a jump button, but you can press the X button twice to initiate his jetpack for a longer boost. You can also press the Square button that allows him to punch the evil enemies that roam the levels.
The game's real selling point is the number of special abilities that Astro Bot can attain in each of the levels. In some of the levels, Astro Bot can open up a unique blue chest that allows him to gain special powers specific to each level.
There are too many special abilities to name, but I will talk about some of my favourite powers in the game. One cool special power is the frog ability that allows Astro Bot to gain extended boxing gloves. These gloves are powerful and can defeat multiple enemies with ease. They can also be used to stick to special paint so Astro Bot can somewhat swing like Spider-Man to higher ledges.
My second favourite power is Astro Bot's ability to slow down time. When you press the R2 button, you can slow down objects that are moving too fast. This ability is only available in some levels, but it was easily one of my favourite moments in the entire game.
Several abilities are used more than others because some of them are just utilised in one or two levels only. The special ability that isn't used in this game much is the power that allows Astro Bot to swim through the water really fast.
Graphically, the water levels look bright and beautiful, but I remember swimming deep underwater only once during the game. The rest of the game looks gorgeous, though, as each level is unique and full of life.
Speaking of design, most of the levels in Astro Bot are linear, as there is usually one path to follow to reach the end. There are some alternate paths to take to find hidden robots and puzzle pieces. Finding robots is your main goal in the game because you have to find a certain number of them before you can unlock the boss levels. When you replay a level, you also get the option to buy a bird that will help you find the robots or puzzle pieces that you may have missed the first time around.
The game has six boss battles, and all of them are unique in their own way. The game conveniently gives you three lives during boss battles, so you don't need to defeat them all in one go. Unlike Elden Ring, the bosses have easy patterns to follow, so young players shouldn't have too much trouble completing this game.
After defeating a boss, you also unlock a bonus level. I cannot speak too much about the bonus levels, but these are arguably the best parts of the game. You just have to play the game for yourself if you want to know what I mean about this.
Some players may also want to know that you can unlock smaller hidden levels in space when you crash into asteroids. These small planets can be combat levels, or even levels that are much more difficult than the base game. There is also a secret galaxy you can unlock which is hidden in some of the main levels.
Astro Bot is a near-perfect video game and I managed to finish the main story in around 12 to 13 hours. The game offers even more gameplay value if you want to 100% it by saving all 300 robots lost in the galaxy.
The only thing I wish this game had is to offer more replay value after you finish it. Much like the Crash Bandicoot and Ape Escape series, it would have been cool if Astro Bot had a time trial mode where your goal is to finish each level as fast as you can. I usually like to see how fast I can finish a level compared to other players from around the world.
Aside from a small lack of replay value, Astro Bot is my favourite PS5 exclusive of all time. Astro Bot reminds me of games from my childhood such as Ape Escape, Crash Bandicoot, and more. Hopefully, Astro Bot is a massive success so we can see more games like this in the near future!
Verdict: 10/10
