Astro Bot

About

Astro Bot is a 2024 3D platforming video game released on the PlayStation 5. The game is the third in the Astro Bot series developed by Team Asobi. Ahead of release, the game generated significantly more hype than its predecessors, as it received glowing reviews from critics.

History

Astro Bot was announced on May 30th, 2024 with a trailer during a State of Play presentation. It was released on September 6th, 2024.^[1]

The game is a 3D platformer and plays out in a sequence of levels. Astro Bot can take on the persona of "VIP bots," which are characterizations of characters from other PlayStation titles, such as Nathan Drake and Kratos.^[2] It makes extensive use of the capabilities of the PlayStation 5's controller.

Reception

Astro Bot received glowing reviews ahead of its release, with some regarding it as a potential Game of the Year winner and others suggesting it might be the best platformer of all time. On the day of the game's release, it bore a 94/100 aggregate score on Metacritic^[1] from 113 reviews. The Gamer^[2] wrote:

"You tend to start writing lines in your head when compiling a review, and one that stuck with me early was to call Astro Bot 'the best platformer since Super Mario Odyssey'. Then I played a little more and started to think 'maybe it's better'. I don't know what I'd put after the 'since' now."

The Guardian^[3] wrote:

Astro Bot is still the wonderful tribute to PlayStation history and hardware design that Astro’s Playroom was, but it has been given room to grow beyond a characterful tech demo and into the best platform game I have played in many years. Actually, it’s one of the best platformers I’ve ever played, – and, as a child of the 90s, I truly have played a tonne of them.

On YouTube, critics were equally as impressed, as videos from IGN and Digital Foundry lauded the game as "virtually flawless."

Online Presence

The hype from the pre-release critical reviews led to hype online. A reviews thread in /r/games^[4] posted on September 5th, 2024 gained over 2,300 points in one day. A thread on the game's impressive Metacritic score in /r/gaming^[5] posted the same day gained over 8,300 points in the same time frame.

On September 6th, Twitter account @CanYouPetTheDog^[6] highlighted how Astro Bot can nuzzle and nap with a cow in the game, gaining over 400 retweets and 3,700 likes in less than one day.

Some put the game's apparently imminent success in contrast with the Concord flop, suggesting the game's success could show developers what gamers want. User @TheNCSMaster^[7] made such a joke on September 3rd and gained over 3,000 retweets and 23,000 likes in three days.

Search Interest

External References