Astro Bot is a strange character. Many are still unfamiliar with the little guy, but for myself and others who fell in love with Astro’s last title, Rescue Mission for PSVR, he’s the adorable mascot Playstation needs. Astro’s Playroom isn’t quite as large scale as Rescue Mission, but it makes for a delightful pack-in game and does a fantastic job of showcasing all the tech in the PS5’s Dualsense controller.
Astro’s Playroom (PS5)
Developer: Japan Studio (Asobi Team)
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Released: November 12, 2020
MSRP: Included with PS5 console
Astro’s titular playroom in-game is quite literally your PS5 console. From the CPU plaza hub world, you can enter four unique worlds Mario 64 style. Memory Meadows, SSD Speedway, GPU Jungle, and Cooling Springs make up the four unique locations. Each world is focused on a different power-up for Astro that shows you just what the Dualsense can add to immerse you in PS5 titles. All of these levels are technically playable without the Dualsense special functionality. They would still be great examples of the tight platforming found in Astro Bot: Rescue Mission, but showing just how slight the PS5 rumble can elevate the experience.
Each of the power-ups uses a familiar but more finely tuned tech from Playstation’s past. Use motion control to climb walls in Astro’s Monkey suit, or use the trackpad to move around as a giant ball, but how Astro uses rumble is what makes this game come to life. Astro’s Playroom effectively uses the rumble feature to make you feel the differences between walking on sand instead of mud or treading water and gliding on ice. It may sound overblown, but it’s downright crazy the first time you experience it, and I hope it isn’t a feature we see go away.
As far as level design goes, each of the four worlds has a unique feel and serves as a love letter to Playstation. Here, collect all these things you’ve bought over the past thirty years sometimes comes off as weird, but I think the charm outweighs the consumerist notion of it all.
While each world mostly sticks to its big theme, Cooling Springs is a beach resort interspersed with an icy area, GPU jungle is a literal jungle, they are all filled with nods to Playstation games past. In addition to the collectibles being literal pieces of Playstation hardware, you’ll find other bots in each world acting out scenes from classic Playstation titles like Ape Escape, Crash Bandicoot, and even Bloodborne, just to name a few.
Verdict: I can’t recommend you buy Astro because, well, you can’t if you have a PS5 you own, but I do recommend you take the time to walk down memory lane with Astro. I haven’t been this impressed with a pack-in title since Wii Sports. Astro isn’t just nostalgia; it’s a finely crafted 3D platformer, and with enough buzz, I hope team Asobi is given a chance to make another full-fledged retail title for the little guy.
Author: Rich Meister
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[This review is based on a retail version of the game purchased by the reviewer]