Astro Bot Winter Wonder Update Includes Spider-Man Bots

This week has been a big one for Astro Bot, potentially even bigger than its launch week. The Game Awards declared Astro Bot its Game of the Year, deserved but surprising considering its competition, and as the awards were being handed out, Astro’s Winter Wonder DLC was rolled out too. A new level that promised more special bots to rescue, and I don’t think many were prepared for just how special some of those bots were going to be.

As was the case with the speedrun levels that dropped weekly, players jumped into the Winter Wonder update right away to find out whether any of the new bots are characters from other games. Turns out all of them are. Seven of them to find, some of which we’ve been expecting, and a few others we most definitely were not.

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Astro Bot Will Now Officially Be Replayed Every Year

Winter Wonder gives me the excuse to replay Astro Bot I didn’t even need.

The most notable additions in the “definitely were not” category are Peter Parker and Miles Morales from Insomniac’s Spider-Man games. Even though Insomniac is a PlayStation studio, since Peter and Miles were no-shows in the main game, it was assumed some sort of red tape prevented them from being turned into bots for Astro to rescue. Apparenlty not as both Peter and Miles bots are waiting to be rescued in Winter Wonder right now.

Two Spider-Men Have Swung Into Astro Bot

As Has Rayman, Croc, Gex, And A Couple Of Others

Joining them on the unexpected side of the Christmas bots list is a worm from Worms, and rounding out the quartet of surprise bots is Gex, the well-loved gecko we’ve heard nothing from for a quarter of a century. As for the other three bots, they’re characters we’ve been waiting for but were still exciting to discover nonetheless.

Rayman is the headliner of those expected final three. The iconic platforming character was mentioned in the Astro Bot credits as part of a thank you to Ubisoft, so it was only a matter of time before he got turned into a bot. Tomba’s creators were also thanked in the credits and the pig wrangler’s bot is waiting to be found in Winter Wonder too. Last but most certainly not least is Croc whose appearance in Astro Bot would have almost coincided with the remaster’s release had it not been delayed.

All of the bots are hidden in gold presents strewn throughout what is a pretty sizable new level. There are 15 gifts to find in total with outfits and speeder colors in the ones that aren’t housing new bots. The level also gives you the chance to use most, if not all, of the game’s various special abilities to help you track down and smash open all 15 presents.

When the PS5 mothership is attacked by Astro’s long-standing galactic nemesis, scrambling its wires and scattering the crew throughout space, only Astro can make things right! Setting off on his biggest mission yet, he needs your help to rescue the stranded crew and rebuild the mothership.

Released

September 6, 2024

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty