Tomorrow, Sony will drop its State of Play, setting its stall out for the rest of the year. It’s tough to say exactly where Sony is – on the one hand, the PlayStation is the dominant console of pop culture, recently underlined by its controller symbols appearing during Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl show. It won the previous generation at a canter, and while it has not set hearts and minds alight this generation, nothing much has eaten into its lead.
On the other hand, Nintendo and Xbox are poised for big years, and impressed with their own showcases. Nintendo is launching the Switch 2, and a ten second tease for the next Mario Kart has been enough to raise anticipation through the roof. Xbox has significantly more work to do, but continued its impressive Summer Game Fest form with another exciting sizzle reel. Sticking the landing on Avowed and South of Midnight, potentially launching Fable and Gears of War: E-Day, plus underlining Game Pass’ value with Doom: The Dark Ages and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, could mean a big year for Xbox. We’ll find out tomorrow what Sony has, but all their hopes might rest on the shoulders of the cutest little guy ever to do it: Astro Bot.
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Astro Bot is the only PS5 exclusive that feels truly unmissable, with apologies to the Returnal gang. And yet, it’s an old fashioned game. Highly proficient technically, but under all of that, it’s an old school Nintendo game. It’s PlayStation going back to its PS1 roots. It’s magic. Sony’s two big games for 2025 are Ghost of Yotei and Death Stranding 2, and while both could be fantastic, I suspect one more behemoth is needed for Sony to rebuild momentum after squandering much of this generation on killing or cancelling live-service junk.
Enter Astro Bot. We had a taste of a little more Astro Bot in the form of two distinct DLC offerings – firstly the weekly speedrunning levels that tested specific powerups, and then via the Christmas level that officially confirmed Astro Bot as a forever game. Both of those feel like teasing the main event. A larger, paid expansion for Astro Bot that offers even more levels and excitement feels like the perfect solution for Sony. Quicker, cheaper, and less risky than a new title, but still a huge crowd pleaser. Alongside Yotei and DS2 holding their dates, an Astro expansion would help make this a great year for Sony. But what does that look like?
More Of The Same
This is very simple. While I do have some suggestions of things I’d like to see in new Astro Bot levels, I don’t actually need any of them. Just more of the same fantastic levels we currently have would be excellent, with no additions needed. Look, I’m so Astro-pilled, the paid DLC could be Astro Bot Spits In Your Mouth and I’d accept it. Maybe have the Lara Croft bot do it?
New Powerups
Along the same lines, the easiest thing to add – I say as someone who is not a developer behind the best platformer of its generation – is to add some new powerups. These were obviously the stars of the show in Astro Bot itself, and any new ones here would go down a storm. Even without this, the clapping monkey, the swimming, the shrinking, and a couple more were only used once the entire game, so there’s definitely some scope to add one or two extra run-outs for the likes of those.
The Rolling Mechanic
In Astro’s Playroom you turned into a massive ball that you moved in-game by tilting your controller in real life. It made an extremely ASMR sound when it ran over different surfaces, but this was cut from Astro Bot. I’d like it back. That is all.
PlayStation Homages
One of the most talked about elements of Astro Bot, and there were a lot of them, was the PlayStation homages at the end of every zone. Starting with Ape Escape (which whet the appetite for more Ape Escape), we also played through Uncharted, LocoRoco, God of War, and Horizon. But considering PlayStation has five consoles, that’s not really an even spread.
Ape Escape covers the PS1, but Uncharted is a PS3 game, while God of War and Horizon are both PS4 titles, and LocoRoco is a rogue PSP offering. While you could argue it was Ragnarok or Forbidden West, and therefore one or both hit the PS5, I’m not so sure I believe that. For me, the PS5 is still unrepresented, as is Sony’s strongest soldier, the PS2. We could get Okami or Shadow of the Colossus (both already in the game as bots, and the latter of which has a tribute in a regular level), while the PS5 could be represented by Stellar Blade (whose Eve bot arrived in the speedrunning pack) or Returnal (with Selene currently only in the game if you import her from Astro’s Playroom).
Ubisoft VIP Bots
While we may not see full levels dedicated to Ubisoft games, the company’s inclusion in the credits despite the absence of bots has long been noticed. Will we finally get to rescue Ezio or Rayman this time around? Maybe… what’s his name… with the cap… Aiden Pearce. Everyone loves Aiden Pearce.
The credits also hint at Tomba in the future.
Vertical Levels
Many Astro Bot levels in both the base game and the speedrun pack have major vertical sections where you need to climb a wall either with handholds or platforms. However, while these may form significant parts of individual levels, there’s still not a level dedicated to it entirely. Having seen how well Team Asobi can make an underwater level work, I’d love to see what the team’s creativity can do with an entirely linear plane. Onwards and upwards for Astro Bot from here on out!
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OpenCritic
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Top Critic Rating:
95/100
Critics Recommend:
99%
- Released
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September 6, 2024
- Developer(s)
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Team Asobi
- Publisher(s)
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Sony Interactive Entertainment