is a 2024 platform game developed by Team Asobi and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 5 in celebration of PlayStation's 30th anniversary. It is the fifth game in the Astro Bot series, following Astro's Playroom (2020), and Team Asobi's first game since its separation from Japan Studio.
As Astro, the player embarks on a quest to save lost robots, retrieve parts for the PlayStation 5 mothership, and defeat the alien Space Bully Nebulax. Much like the previous title Astro's Playroom, Astro Bot uses DualSense controller features including adaptive triggers and haptic feedback.
Astro Bot became the highest-rated game of 2024 on Metacritic. Critics praised the gameplay, level design, and content, with some comparing the game to Nintendo franchises, particularly the Super Mario series. Astro Bot won multiple awards including Game of the Year at the Game Awards 2024, the 21st British Academy Games Awards, and the 28th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards.
Gameplay Astro Bot is a 3D platformer in which the player controls a small robot, Astro Bot, with the DualSense controller. Astro's move set is identical to his previous incarnations from Astro Bot Rescue Mission and Astro's Playroom, maintaining his ability to jump, hover, punch, and spin-attack. The ability to swim underwater also makes a return from Astro Bot Rescue Mission, having been absent in Astro's Playroom.
Levels The base game has 90 levels, split across six galaxies and 60 planets. Each galaxy contains progression levels (which must be beaten to access the boss stage) and challenge levels (which are optional and are typically higher in difficulty as a result). Upon completing enough progression levels and collecting the requisite number of Bots, the boss stage becomes unlocked, the completion of which leads to a level centered around a certain V.I.P. Bot. Upon the completion of that level, a new galaxy is unlocked.
Traversal between the galaxies and levels is achieved through the "Dual Speeder"; a spaceship modeled after the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller. The Dual Speeder is controlled by holding down the analog triggers and physically tilting the DualSense. It can also move around freely on the level selection screen, where it can collide with incoming asteroids and unlock some of the game's optional stages and collect some of the game's puzzle pieces.
Similar to Astro Bot Rescue Mission, every level contains a set number of Bots that Astro has to rescue, ranging from seven Bots in the main platformer levels to only one or two Bots in the boss fights and challenge levels. Each world also requires the player to collect a certain number of Bots before progressing onward. 332 Bots can be rescued and recruited in total: 301 in the base game, 27 via DLC levels, and 4 obtainable through rescue missions in the free-to-play predecessor Astro's Playroom. Unlike in Rescue Mission, "V.I.P. Bots" (collectible Bots which reference various PlayStation characters in their visual appearance and behavior) can also be rescued and recruited. There are over 150 unique V.I.P. Bots, with more expected to be included alongside free DLC levels. Many of the "deep cut" Bot characters from PlayStation's history are rescuable in the game's challenge levels. The likeness of each of the V.I.P. Bots originate from both Sony Interactive Entertainment franchises and franchises owned by third-parties by the likes of Activision, Arc System Works, Argonaut Software, Atlus, Bandai Namco Entertainment, BlueTwelve Studio, Capcom, Crystal Dynamics, Ember Lab, Koei Tecmo, Konami, Mediatonic, Oddworld Inhabitants, Polyarc, SHIFT UP, Sega, Square Enix, THA LTD, Team17, Ubisoft, and Young Horses.
Five of the game's levels are based heavily on classic PlayStation franchises, which in turn, each represent previous PlayStation consoles – namely Ape Escape (PlayStation), God of War (PlayStation 2), Uncharted (PlayStation 3), LocoRoco (PlayStation Portable), and Horizon (PlayStation 4). These levels allow the player to utilize the abilities of the heroes of these PlayStation franchises, such as Spike's Monkey Net being the forefront of the Ape Escape-themed level and or Kratos' Leviathan Axe in the God of War-themed level.
Abilities and controls
Astro has access to 15 new abilities, which attach to him and enhance both his traversal and combative capabilities. Some of these new abilities include Barkster the Bulldog Booster (granting Astro the ability to air-dash through enemies and terrain), Keri Kero the Twin-Frog Gloves (allowing Astro to punch enemies from a distance and swing/slingshot off surfaces painted red), and Handy-D the Monkey (allowing Astro to climb on banana-shaped climbing holds, throw rocks at enemies and slam the ground). The boss battles present at the end of each galaxy are fought with the help of these abilities.
The game provides a selection of accessibility settings, which include granting the player the option to play the game with a single analog stick (with camera controls instead coming from a single button press), support for the PlayStation Access controller, and the option to disable the gyro controls, haptic feedback, and adaptive triggers. A bluebird helper may also be purchased, helping the player uncover any Bots or puzzle pieces which they might have missed on their first attempt at the level, available for purchase at the beginning of each level from the second attempt onward.
Hub world All of the Bots that have been collected can be viewed in a centralized hub world called the Crash Site, where they can be viewed and interacted with; many V.I.P. Bots will perform special actions when Astro punches them, such as the Bot based on Ratchet from Ratchet & Clank dropping all of his Bolts and scrambling to pick them back up. The Crash Site also contains hidden puzzle pieces, Bots, and secret companions, many of which require help from a certain amount of rescued Bots. Collecting puzzle pieces throughout the game unlocks the Gatcha Lab (where Astro can spend coins to unlock collectibles and special items for V.I.P. Bots to interact with), the Dual Speeder garage and Astro's outfit collection (where Astro can repaint his speeder or change outfits), and the Safari Park (where Astro can view and interact with various robotic animals, as well as unlock Photo Mode).
Collecting every puzzle piece and 300 Bots grants access to one final level known as "Great Master Challenge", which is only accessible from the Crash Site. Completing this level rewards the player with a V.I.P. Bot based on Chop Chop Master Onion from PaRappa the Rapper, a low-polygon Astro costume called the "Throwback Outfit" (in reference to how 3D models looked on the original PlayStation) and a Dual Speeder skin based on the original PlayStation controller.
Plot Astro, the robot captain of a mothership resembling the PlayStation 5 console, and his crew of Bots are exploring space when a green alien named Space Bully Nebulax attacks them and rips out the mothership's CPU. An unconscious Astro and the mothership crash-land onto a desert planet while his crew and the mothership's core systems are scattered across the universe.
Astro is revived by his Dual Speeder, a smaller spaceship resembling the DualSense controller, and together they begin reactivating satellites and exploring galaxies to rescue the crew and rebuild the mothership. The crew helps Astro gain access to Nebulax's minions, whom he defeats and recovers mothership parts from - the system memory from Mighty Chewy the gorilla, the solid state drive from Wako Tako the octopus, the graphics processing unit from Lady Venomara the snake, the cooling fan from Mecha Leon the chameleon, and the ship covers from Falcon McFly the bird. Along the way, he rescues V.I.P. Bots (guest characters from other games) and explores planets based on Ape Escape, God of War, Uncharted, LocoRoco, and Horizon.
Once all parts save for the CPU have been recovered, Astro and his crew board ships based on older PlayStation hardware and form the "PlaySquadron" to take the fight to Nebulax, who has been harassing the helpless CPU throughout the game. Astro recovers the CPU, but when he and his crew defeat Nebulax by blowing up the spaceship he is attached to, it creates a black hole that begins to suck Nebulax in. Nebulax grabs Astro to try to take him down with him, but the crew take hold of Astro to try to pull him back. Refusing to let the crew sacrifice themselves for him, Astro lets go of them and falls into the black hole, which explodes into a supernova.
The crew mourns Astro and sad credits begin to roll, but are interrupted by a broken Astro falling back onto the mothership. Several Bots from the crew find replacement parts and help the mothership's repair systems rebuild their captain, who springs back to life. The crew celebrates with a revived Astro, who departs once more on his Dual Speeder before the credits start to roll again.
Once the actual credits finish rolling, a badly beaten Nebulax and his minions are seen floating through space; they threaten the player, but are sent flying by the sudden appearance of the words "THE END".
Development
Development of Astro Bot started almost immediately after Astro's Playroom was completed, and took roughly three years with a development team of around 60 people. It is reportedly the largest game that Team Asobi has developed. Unlike its predecessors Astro Bot Rescue Mission and Astro's Playroom, Astro Bot was named without any subtitle succeeding it. Nicolas Doucet, the creative director and producer of Astro Bot, stated the reasoning behind this was to signify a new beginning for the Astro Bot series.
In an interview with Edge magazine, Doucet stated that he and Team Asobi considered giving the game an open world structure, but ultimately decided on focusing more on a level-based structure instead. He notes that the reason behind this decision was "because that was the one that gave us the most control over the game's variety." To make the game accessible for gamers of all skill levels, the difficulty of each of Astro Bots levels were put into great consideration. The main levels were designed to be relatively easy, allowing anyone to beat the game regardless of their skill level. The optional levels, meanwhile, were designed to be much more difficult as a way of satisfying the more experienced gaming crowd. In another article with Variety, Doucet spoke about how Team Asobi was able to implement ideas which previously went unused in Playroom. He specifically highlights a chainsaw demo which was deemed unfit due to the game's theming, stating "We had this really, really cool demo of a chainsaw, actually, where you could cut wood and it was classic, real-world expressions. And we felt like, OK, it's not really our content — we want it to be super friendly. But during 'Astro Bot,' as we were making the game and developing this richer story with rebuilding the mothership, we thought [...] maybe all of these DIY interactions that worked really well with the DualSense, that's a way to bring them back. And if we can add a sci-fi touch to them, we'll get away from them feeling maybe too real and a little bit too daunting."
Alongside the platforming, several additions were made to the background and environmental details present in each of the levels. The overhauled game engine allows for significant improvements in both the visuals and physics as well as over 70 unique species of wildlife (including polar bears, elephants, and small insects).