Every Major PlayStation Cameo That Astro Bot is Still Missing

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 1, 2024 5 Views 7 Min Read
Every Major PlayStation Cameo That Astro Bot is Still Missing



Astro Bot has been one of 2024’s biggest delights for PlayStation fans. The Team Asobi-developed 3D platformer is currently the highest-rated game released this year, and is even set to be a front-runner for the coveted Game of the Year award at the 2024 iteration of The Game Awards. Astro Bot didn’t falter commercially either, with 1.5 million copies sold as of November 2024. For Team Asobi’s first crack at a full-scale mainstream console title, Astro Bot is a triumphant effort.




Aside from being an exceptionally creative platformer, one of Astro Bot‘s trump cards is the way it celebrates three decades of PlayStation’s history. Specifically, Astro Bot has a vast repertoire of VIP Bots inspired by pivotal video game characters affiliated with PlayStation over the years. From household names like Kratos and Solid Snake to impressively obscure characters like Mister Mosquito and Cube Head, Astro Bot leaves no stone unturned when it comes to cramming as many PlayStation-related cameos as possible. However, devout PlayStation fans have noticed that Astro Bot misses out on some rather significant cameos.

Astro Bot Uncharted

Related
Astro Bot Really Only Scratched the Surface With Its Best Feature

Astro Bot was home to some excellent platformer level design, but its best stages still have a lot of untapped potential just waiting for a sequel.


Perhaps the most baffling omission in Astro Bot is Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7. The Japanese gaming giant has been closely tied to PlayStation since its SquareSoft days, with Final Fantasy 7‘s PS1 debut being a seminal moment for both companies. Final Fantasy 7 was the PS1’s second best-selling game, shifting over 10 million copies. This makes the absence of iconic Final Fantasy 7 characters like Cloud Strife, Sephiroth, Tifa, Aerith, etc. from Astro Bot quite bizarre. Astro Bot director Nicolas Doucet did comment on the missing Final Fantasy 7 cameos, and it seems Square Enix itself decided against them.


Yet another major franchise Astro Bot skips out on is Grand Theft Auto. While GTA has always been a multiplatform series, 2001’s GTA 3 was a bit of an exception. Rockstar Games initially approached Microsoft to discuss an Xbox exclusivity deal for GTA 3, but the platform holder surprisingly rejected the prospect. GTA 3 then launched exclusively on the PS2 and ended up being a breakout hit on the Sony console. Not only did GTA 3 sell over 11.6 million copies, but it also holds a Guinness World Record for the most critically-acclaimed PS2 game. Given GTA 3‘s gargantuan success, an Astro Bot cameo themed around protagonist Claude, complete with a black leather jacket and green cargo pants, would have made perfect sense.

All Major PlayStation Cameos That Have Yet to Show Up in Astro Bot

  • Final Fantasy 7: Cloud Strife, Sephiroth, Aerith, Tifa, Barrett, etc
  • Grand Theft Auto 3: Claude
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man: Spider-Man (Peter Parker and Miles Morales)
  • Resistance: Nathan Hale, Joseph Evan Capelli
  • Syphon Filter: Gabe Logan
  • The Order: 1886: Sir Galahad/Grayson
  • Twisted Metal: Sweet Tooth/Needles Kane


Multiplatform IPs aside, Astro Bot curiously overlooks some of PlayStation’s own franchises. Insomniac’s gritty first-person shooter series, Resistance, is one of the most notable examples. The Resistance trilogy lived and died on the PS3, and remains locked to the platform even today. Considering the Resistance games were generally well-received and are highly requested by PlayStation fans to be remade, one can only hope Astro Bot will pay homage to protagonists Nathan Hale and Joseph Evan Capelli in the future. Insomniac’s Spider-Man games deserve a special mention too, given their status as all-time superhero video games.

Bend Studio’s stealth-action Syphon Filter series is entirely missing from Astro Bot as well, and so is vehicular combat series Twisted Metal. Oddly, some Astro Bot concept art revealed an unused Twisted Metal cameo themed around the iconic Sweet Tooth, but it was nowhere to be seen in the base game or any of the post-launch speedrun levels. Last but not least is The Order: 1886, a 2015 action-adventure game developed by now-defunct studio Ready at Dawn. Although The Order: 1886 launched to lukewarm critical reception, many PlayStation fans admired its steampunk London setting and impressive graphics. Amid a gloomy future for The Order: 1886, a Sir Galahad cameo in Astro Bot could cheer fans up.


Source link