Some of the more memorable levels stem from popular Sony franchises like God of War, with Astro wielding Kratos’ ax on one planet. Team Asobi really mined Sony’s vaults, far beyond simple Crash Bandicoot callbacks, and into weird and wonderful games like LocoRoco and Vib-Ribbon. Astro Bot hides over 300 secret bots, including 195 cameo bots from other games spanning PlayStation’s long history. Astro Bot received PlayStation 5 Pro support and new, more challenging levels back in February. Team Asobi’s platformer won numerous Game of the Year awards, including at 2024’s The Game Awards and the 2025 BAFTA Awards. Originally announced during Sony’s June 2025 State of Play, the update adds a new galaxy, the Vicious Void, for players to explore.
Astro Bot won multiple awards including Game of the Year at the Game Awards 2024, the 21st British Academy Games Awards, and the 28th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. As Astro, the player embarks on a quest to save lost robots, retrieve parts for the PlayStation 5 mothership, and defeat the alien Space Bully Nebulax. Much like the previous title Astro’s Playroom, Astro Bot uses DualSense controller features including adaptive triggers and haptic feedback. The DLC’s additional challenge levels should definitely appeal to players who enjoyed Astro Bot but needed something more demanding. Though the majority of Astro Bot isn’t that difficult, its challenge levels definitely require quite a bit more skill, with both gauntlets that require constant movement and puzzle-style levels that need a more cerebral approach.
For $59.99, this is quite literally the best platformer out in the current year. There’s so much to collect, levels to conquer, and secrets to discover that it actually feels weird that it’s not charged at the normal AAA premium. They even announced that the game will be receiving free DLC in the near future. If there’s one thing to criticize, it’s the exclusivity and the need to buy a PS5 to experience this masterpiece. Everyone should be able to experience this kind of fun, as with the amount of games there are, it’s only a few games that really go the distance. That’s why Astro Bot feels as consequential as it does even if it just looks like your average 3D platformer full of collectibles and clever power-ups at a glance.
Where it shines is the game’s level designs, unique gimmicks, and usage of everything the PS5 has to offer. They look smooth and flow well, and it’s worthy to note that the bots’ special animations representing their respective characters also add so much to the character representation in the game. Moving on to the audio design of the game, everything from its music, sound effects, and what not is superb. They fit in perfectly with the game’s vibe and atmosphere, which is really hard to find a fault as it even uses the DualSense speakers impeccably. I won’t spoil what characters appear here, but know that it isn’t just your average Kratos and Aloy cameos.
Jump into the first pools of water and marvel as the leaves realistically move across the surface of the water which, in turn, ripples with every movement. Things like leaves are a minor detail but as you play, you’ll find them sprinkled across the game world, heightening that sense of interactivity as individually shadowed leaves gently tumble through the air. This isn’t something that directly influences the core gameplay but it makes it feel better. As far as the nuts and bolts of DF are concerned, the results are excellent. Team Asobi has shipped the kind of polished product you expect from the best developers – refined to a fine sheen, excellent performance and clever solutions for every possible rough edge.
However, similar to Playroom, the team has built a huge range of power-ups and gadgets and then built entire level concepts around them seamlessly. Each of these are fun in their own right but the sheer variety and ease of use impressed me the most. Despite often radically altering your moveset, the game never resorts to tutorial text – just a small, animated pop-up indicating basic actions. Let’s get the traditional Digital Foundry bullet point specs out of the way.
BG3 is exceptional and I couldn’t agree more it’s a 10 but it’s not comparable to Astro Bot in the same way it would be dumb to compare Gran Turismo 7 and Alan Wake 2. If games only got 9s and 10s based on how big they are and how much freedom they offered then most indies would never score higher than a 4. If these things are what you look for then fair enough but to suggest YOUR metrics for liking a game should apply to everyone else show a lack of empathy and frankly symptoms of being a sociopath.
What Are All Special Bots In Astro Bot? Ken – Assured Rival
It’s pure joy and a reminder of what the first three generations of PlayStation embodied. It’s a game that perfectly combines technology, design and creativity into a singular, ultra-polished whole without any filter whatsoever. This is about as perfectly executed as you can realistically expect these days and I urge you to play it. Astro Bot is a platformer featuring 6 galaxies and over 80 levels in search of Astro’s scattered crew, featuring cameo appearances from characters that span the entirety of PlayStation’s history. live draw hk covers the first level of the game played on a PlayStation 5. When Astro Bot was first announced, no one could have anticipated just how big the platformer would be.
In recent years, major video game publishers have abandoned that idea. While Nintendo still reveres that power, once great sanctuaries for kids have crumbled as publishers have set their sights on courting “mature” audiences through photorealism and weighty themes. Video games are richer for that change, but young — and young at heart — are getting left behind, stuck wandering the vast desert of Roblox games with nothing but their parent’s credit card in their pocket. There are also small regions to fix up with extra puzzles for Astro and his friends. A lot of modern entertainment, including video games, has a real problem with nostalgia bait, playing off people’s memories and trying to capitalize on that, without making anything new or original in the process.
The gimmicks introduced in the game are reminiscent of Super Mario Odyssey’s level design, where stages have a central gimmick that you have to work around. These could range from dashes, magnets, extendable arms, or anything of the sort. While some of these are repeated, these same gimmicks are mixed with more interesting overall level designs to keep things fresh. Astro Bot is developed by Team Asobi, who also worked on previous titles where Astro appeared, including the PS5 console’s tech demo Astro’s Playroom. One of the only PS5 games that really feels like it was built around the DualSense. AR Bots make their debut in The Playroom, where they appear in the activity AR Bots, which was named after them.
What Are All Special Bots In Astro Bot? Spyro – Fiery Artisan
Following the events of Astro’s Playroom, they are attacked by the evil green alien that served as the final boss of Rescue Mission, destroying their PS5 spaceship and scattering them across the cosmos. After acquiring his DualSense controller ship, Astro has to travel to various galaxies and rescue the bots. Team Asobi clearly designed it for players of all skill levels, and that includes children and newbies, but at its core Astro Bot feels purpose-built for video game fans. It’s a skill-driven celebration of everything that makes the format so memorable and joyful, and at the same time, it’s an excellent introduction to the language of games. With precise and responsive controls, adorable characters, and an exciting variety of mechanics and environments, Astro Bot is easily one of the best games that Sony has ever produced.
Especially since a family-friendly 3D platformer like Astro Bot is also the type of game that the PlayStation’s library has been lacking. The ever-growing install base of the PS5 has allowed many players around the world to enjoy Astro’s Playroom. Filled with references to hardware throughout PlayStation’s history and boasting an abundance of cameo appearances from popular characters, Astro’s Playroom celebrated PlayStation’s history in a unique way.
What results is a 3D platformer very similar to Rescue Mission (which hardly anyone played because it’s VR-only) and Astro’s Playroom (which everyone owns because it’s free with the console). Although the biggest influence here is Super Mario Galaxy and Odyssey. Despite that, Astro Bot is not a typical Sony first party title. There’s practically no story, no real open world elements, and it’s aimed very much at a family audience – even if it has elements that will be of special interest to veteran PlayStation fans. It also looks and plays very much like a Nintendo game, which is the highest praise you could give any 3D platformer. To unlock this trophy, you need to find all three Golden Egg “artifacts” on the Dude Raiding world of Serpent Starway.
Super Mario Bros. was a formative gaming experience that changed my life. The free update brings Astro Bot’s total level count to over 90. Combine this with the fact that extreme views increase the number of likes a post gets, and therefore how much it’s seen, and what you’re left with is an environment that’s set up to prioritize strong opinions. Free from the now-standard PlayStation Studios themes of threatening apocalypses, familial woe, and coming-of-age pains, Astro Bot is all about following a cheery little metal bloke around on his adventures.