I am not the kind of person that buys games at full price and Astro Bot is the first one I have gotten in several years. For the most part I only get games that are in the PS-Plus catalog but that hasn't been working out for me lately so since it seems everyone is talking about Astro Bot, I thought I would get in on it. As someone that generally enjoys platformers that aren't intentionally extremely difficult, this seemed like a guaranteed win for me.
Almost immediately after the download was finished I was in the game and I can see that there is a lot about this game that I am going to enjoy quite a bit.
For one thing, the game is cute and embraces that. The things that you do are simple to control as well and I don't think that, at least from what I can see so far, that this is going to have much in the way of moments where I want to smash my controller. The game functions a lot like many other games that I have played and the enemies as well as any companions that you come in contact with have a cartoonish sense about them.
I've only played long enough to make it to a single boss and it was just as silly as the rest of the game. After playing a bloody, complicated, and serious game like Pat of Exile 2 for the past couple of weeks this was a nice little break. There is nothing really serious about this game and I needed that.
You jump, you use a booster to extend your jump, you hit a button to climb on things, and at various points you will get some friends that help you in your progress. The main objective of the various levels is to find other bots that are trapped on the level and this is how you progress. In a way I found this to be extremely similar to Rayman and seeing as how those games are some of my favorite of all time I am just fine with that.
Just like in Rayman, these bot creatures just seem to endlessly get themselves into trouble and you can find the tied to trees, being tormented by giant birds that won't put them down, or trapped under glasses that they cannot get out of. That appears to be the primary objective of the game and it is also how the map works. If you don't rescue a certain number of bots you cannot yet progress in the map. I can see this becoming a bit irritating in the future just like it was in other games that function the same way but seeing as how I just came off of another game that was basically a really hardcore game, having something this casual and amusing is just what I am looking for.
I don't think that many hardcore gamers are going to stay interested in this for very long and I wouldn't expect it to. That doesn't appear to be what they were aiming for. This could be some sort of push on the part of Sony to re-enter the world of having a mascot that not only appeals to youth and other people who potentially aren't really gamers, but it also could be a push towards merchandising - which is something I don't participate in but understand why companies do it.
Now since I can never write anything that is completely without some level of complaining I will say that I believe that a lot of the accolades that this game is getting are manufactured. The game is in fact very good, but as far as the push attempting to state that it is one of the best games ever made, well, that is a bit of a stretch and I disagree. I also don't think it is worth the $60 or $70 they are charging for it. This game has been talked about a lot in the gaming world and it is on a bunch of lists that kind of steer players into buying it. I believe that this is the gaming world's cheat code because while the game is good, it isn't anything so inventive and different that it can or should be blowing everyone's minds. I like it, but I would never consider it for GOTY or anything like that. But then again I have never really trusted big game-review companies like IGN because they are mostly the "fake news" of the gaming world.
This is a good game and I think you should play it especially if you have fond memories of games similar to it such as Mario-64. I would just wait until it is on discount.