Astro Bot is finally getting its full game this fall. So far, the character has been ported to two small demo games designed to show off PlayStation’s unique hardware, namely the first PlayStation VR headset and the PS5’s DualSense controller. Simply titled Astro Bot, the new full game will have a lot more content than the first two games and a $60 price tag to match — it’s already available for pre-order.
During Summer Game Fest 2024, I got to play the upcoming platformer during one of several closed-door sessions. Many aspects of the game will look familiar if you played the PlayStation 5 bundle title Astro’s Playroom, but the full game takes this unique mechanic even further. In my brief playthrough, the colorful challenges and difficult challenges reminded me of platformers like many in Nintendo’s Mario series.
The game still relies heavily on the controller’s haptic feedback, gyroscope, and adaptive actuators to help the player feel more immersed in the world. For example, walking on a hard surface, such as glass or metal, will cause the controller to rumble gently in sync with Astro’s feet. I really liked the new dog-like backpack that shoots the Astro forward like a rocket when I pressed the right trigger. It can be used for platforming challenges or to take out enemies.
Our demo featured five playable stages, including two standard levels that will feel most familiar to fans of the series. As Astro, I ran through vibrant and colorful areas, collecting coins, fighting enemy robots and exploring to find hidden friends.
These hidden robots act as collectibles and many of them will be themes of other PlayStation games. The stages I saw included characters that resembled Ratchet and Rivet from the Ratchet and Clank games, as well as Kratos and Atreus from God of War. Collecting all seven hidden robots in a stage will earn you a golden flag for that world. (The developer running my demo said I was the only journalist so far to get gold flags in all five stages — clearly I’m a pro-level player.)
Not to be confused with Kratosbot.
Outside of the exploration stages, there are also boss fights. I got a giant mechanical octopus with boxing gloves on some of its tentacles. Astro Bot is known for getting level specific upgrades to traverse the world in different ways. One of the new mechanics used here is a pair of elongated boxing gloves that you’ll use to spin around and grapple with him (which make heavy use of DualSense’s adaptive triggers). To avoid spoilers, I’ll just say that I walked away from the fight with only a single life and a welcome sense of accomplishment.
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The last two stages I’ve played are short but difficult platforming challenges unique to this part of the series. They only last for a minute or two, but it took a few tries to get through because you have to restart if you fall off the map or just take a single hit.
My favorite level in the entire demo used a fascinating time-bending mechanic. Many of the enemies and platforms are moving at extreme speeds and you need to use a unique item to slow down enough time to get past the next set of obstacles. This meant fighting enemies and jumping through dangerous paths before the world sped up.
You use the controller’s gyroscope to fly.
Astro Bot is shaping up to be a major platformer. I’m a huge fan of the last two games, and walking into this demo and hearing the familiar theme music immediately put a smile on my face. Can’t wait for the release later this year. Astro Bot comes out on September 5 for PlayStation 5.
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