When you buy through affiliate links in our content, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Learn 
Astro Bot at a Glance
| Category | Our rating (out of 10) | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Graphics | 10 | Without a doubt, Astro Bot is the best-looking PS5 game released to date. Stunning textures, physics, lighting, and animations bring its world to life with a bang. |
| Gameplay | 9 | Astro Bot doesn’t reinvent the wheel with its platformer physics, but it’s bolstered by the intelligent use of the DualSense controller, which elevates its gameplay loop over its contemporaries. |
| Story | 5 | As with many mascot platformers, Astro Bot is decidedly light on narrative. The ship is damaged, and you have to fix it while finding your friends; it works, but don’t go into this expecting a thrilling narrative throughline. |
| Replayability | 10 | Once you’re done blasting through Astro Bot’s main worlds and levels, there are hidden worlds to venture through, puzzle pieces to find, and more bots to rescue. Trophy hunters are going to have a field day with it. |
| Overall | 8.5 | Astro Bot takes the promising premise of Astro’s Playroom and dials everything up to 11, delivering a must-play platformer for gamers of all ages. |
Astro’s Playroom back at the PS5’s launch was more than just a fancy tech demo featuring adorable characters. Team Asobi hid dozens of callbacks behind its action-platformer, which made a strong first impression of the system nearly four years ago. With Astro Bot, the development team has been able to live up to the potential of a full-scale feature-length adventure. With its leading-level design, ingenious power-up system, and phenomenal pacing, Astro Bot can easily be considered one of the best PS5 games, and a must-play for console owners right now.
Our full Astro Bot review goes over everything you need to know, from the gameplay to the level structure and what to expect from the hotly anticipated platformer, all without giving away any surprises. Simply put, it’s one of the best platformers ever made; let’s get into why.
Ad Astra
The Astro Bot story will be familiar to anyone who’s played a 3D platformer before. The titular Astro Bot is flying through space with his 300 companions in a ship that resembles the PS5 console. Everything’s going well until a green alien gets involved, smashes the vessel, and causes it to crash down to Earth. Your central task is simple: rescue those 300 bots, and rebuild your ship to be on your way. It’s straightforward, but it gets the job done.
It’s a task that’s easier said than done, of course, as throughout your adventure, you’ll be jetting across different worlds in an open-ended cosmic map similar to the one from Super Mario Galaxy 2. Piloting an Astro Bot PS5 controller, you’ll make your way through the better part of 80 levels in six worlds in the pursuit of putting the pieces back together. This means battling your way through treacherous terrain, fighting foes, and saving your fellow bots.
The six worlds you’ll explore follow the same basic pattern, whether that’s the starting area of Gorilla Nebula, the Tentacle System, Serpent Starway, etc. You’ll go through six or so areas (each compromising their own set pieces, usually ending in a mini-boss) before having some kind of final showdown set piece. To call these encounters boss fights isn’t necessarily accurate, however. That’s because you typically respawn as soon as you’re hit, removing the challenge and the penalty of failure, and it’s less so a test of your abilities, and, moreover, pattern recognition.
No Bot Left Behind
If you’re anything like me, you might be tempted to burn through Astro Bot’s levels as quickly as possible, but this isn’t that kind of action platformer. While it’s certainly possible to rush through to the end screen, that’s really not how the game should be played. As with many collect-a-thon adventure games of yesteryear, such as Banjo-Kazooie and Super Mario 64, reaching an endpoint will only get you so far. Instead, careful exploration is the name of the game; you’ll need to search every nook and cranny to find puzzle pieces and capture bots – which you do by punching them in the face.
Later levels feature a minimum bot requirement, as do certain activities in the overworld, and if you’re short, then you’ll be running through those levels again with a fine tooth comb. Backtracking is a staple of the genre, but Team Asobi went the extra mile in granting you an assist in the form of a bird that tweets when you’re nearby to friends and treasure. It’s a great inclusion and takes the sting out of what would otherwise be frustrating in other games when you’re below a certain threshold; nothing worse than roadblocks artificially marring your progression and breaking up the flow.
Speaking of puzzle pieces, there are dozens to find scattered through the levels. Once completed they can unlock new bonuses such as the Gatcha Lab (returning from Astro’s Playroom), as well as the Dual Speeder Garage, and the Changing Room. The latter option allows for various different Astro Bot costumes to be worn.
Whether you’re old enough to remember growing up on the original PlayStation console (like me) or you’ve only jumped onboard Sony’s console hardware in the last handful of years, you’re bound to see some faces you recognize lovingly recreated in Astro Bot form.
Old Bot, New Tricks
Astro Bot has now featured in a total of three games on PlayStation hardware (originally launching in Rescue Mission for the original PSVR) only to redefine modern platforming action. If you played through Astro’s Playroom when you first plugged in your console and didn’t care for it, then there’s nothing here that’s going to change your mind. Some of the same enemy types return largely unchanged from when they first appeared back in 2020, but the game throws enough curveballs at you to keep you on your toes.
It’s not exactly fair to call Astro Bot challenging, but it’s certainly not a breeze either. You won’t be stuck for hours on any particularly tricky jumps if you’re familiar with 3D platformers. The game features an incredibly generous checkpoint system, which saves your progress after what feels like every hazard or set piece. If and when you’re defeated – which only takes one hit – you’re back into the action before you have time to complain, and that’s owing to the excellent utilization of the PS5’s hardware to bring Astro Bot to life.
It’s been disappointing to see many third-party PS5 games lacking in resolution and framerate behind their PC counterparts, but you won’t have to worry about that with Astro Bot on PS5. The game uses a dynamic resolution between 1440p and 4K, ensuring the visuals are crisp regardless of how intense the action is on screen.
The DualSense is a remarkable controller, but third-party developers rarely use its feature set to its full potential. Not so with Astro Bot, as the Adaptive Triggers, gyroscope, touchpad, front speaker, and Haptic Feedback are all utilized expertly. Take what was showcased in Astro’s Playroom to its next level because you’ll feel the differences as Astro Bot runs on the sand and splashes in the water, not to mention feel the rush of the DualSense ship as the thrusters propel it through the galaxy. It never feels like a gimmick but an immersive and essential part of Astro Bot’s gameplay.
The Bottom Line
Whether you grew up during the golden age of 3D platformers or didn’t have much experience with the genre, Astro Bot is an unmissable triumph and joy to experience. From the expertly crafted levels, gorgeous presentation, and consistent stream of surprises, there’s something here for everyone. PlayStation fans will no doubt get the most out of the references and cameos, but underneath the branding is one of the greatest games of its genre.
Furthermore, the wait is over, as the Astro Bot release date is here. The game is available for $59.99 from the PlayStation Store or physically from retailers and is worth every penny. If Astro’s Playroom left you wanting more than Astro Bot delivers and so much more. A Digital Deluxe Edition is also available for $69.99 and includes the Yharnam Hunter outfit, Neon Dream Dual Speeder color, 10 PSN avatars, a digital soundtrack, an art book, and more.
