Well….where does one begin? The 2024 Game Awards game of the year. Not ours (we hadn’t played it until afterwards!). But a massive contender in the gaming space as a global favourite. Astro Bot is massive in it’s presence.
Astro Bot is massive for Sony. But it’s somehow a small platformer built by one of Sony’s smallest teams.
I’ve done about 10 hours now and I’m pretty sure I’ve got the feel for exactly what Astro Bot is. I can see why it’s been so heavily lauded and praised. Astro Bot is definitely a high-quality game. More than that, it’s the perfect introduction to gaming for my 4 year-old who has sat, giggled and enjoyed every hour with me.
Is it GotY material, though? Erm, not really.
Hear me out
Ok, ok. It’s cool to be the contrarian, right? To be the hipster that doesn’t like popular things and to like everything else.
So let me be clear. Astro Bot is excellent, truly. Hell, it deserves the ninjarefinery.com “Exceptional” award, for sure. But there’s something missing. Something intangible, and to me, it takes-away from what could have been a contender.
What am I talking about? Soul. Charm. Identity. Personality. Pick one.
Astro Bot is a lot of incredible things. It’s mechanically refreshing and fun at all times. It looks great, the levels are perfectly crafted for puzzle and exploration.
It’s likely the first PlayStation game I’ll actually platinum because it’s just excellent fun. Think about when you first played Mario 64 or Banjo Kazooie. Astro Bot is that, but with gloss and sheen.
Controls are tight and responsive, regardless of the mechanics you’re using. It runs fluidly and I’d be really surprised if anyone had a complaint about the gameplay, visuals or performance. AAA in every sense.
Soul
What’s the issue then?
Astro Bot doesn’t have that magic, that heart and soul you get form the Nintendo games. It doesn’t have a strong identity for itself like, say, Halo. It’s an Apple product. High-sheen, wonderfully capable, but hollow underneath the gloss. Just a machine.
All of the worlds look and feel great, thematically on-point, throughout. But everything is always in service of other games from the PlayStation platform. Hell, the main aim is to re-build a PS5 and your ship is a PlayStation controller.
I don’t even mind, because I understand Astro Bot exists as a character after being created for Astro’s Playroom, which is essentially a PS5 tech demo. I get it. But it means that it doesn’t have its own heart or soul.
I can never fully sink into it, because it’s all too perfect, there’s no strong identity for Astro Bot himself or the worlds we visit. It’s always just to service the PlayStation platform.
I’m certain the nostalgia really hits for some, and likely gets its claws in there. But I’ve never been able to really identify and engage with any PlayStation series in the same way I have Xbox and Nintendo, or even Dreamcast over the years.
Astro Bot
Make an Astro Bot game where the bot has its own world and lore and villain that has nothing to do with old Sony franchises. Give it a heart, give us an emotional attachment, and it’s likely one of the best games of all time. Without it, though, I can’t find a way to properly let it soak-in.
Again, Astro Bot is a true AAA title in every sense. The game design is incredible, it feels great to play, there’s so much genuine, clean fun to be taken from it. I love playing it. But I just don’t care about it beyond being a well-made platformer.
It’s so close. So so close. I can’t believe a game so meticulously built could be so hollow underneath it all. But that’s where we’re at.
Science vs Art
Maybe this is where we consider that this is a technical masterpiece. Perfect in many ways. But it could have imperfections and still be seen in the same light, if it had some heart.
Maybe the art and storytelling side of the gaming industry needed to be applied more here and less of a focus on technical perfection?
Maybe, actually, it’s just me. I could totally see this being an amazing first game for younger generations, and perhaps they’ll hold it dear for years to come. But I doubt it. It’s not got a personality of its own
I’m happy to be wrong, and I want to be clear. Astro Bot is exceptional. For sure. But it has no means of getting its hooks into you, so it’ll be a flash in the pan until the next one comes out and gives you some new clever and sharp mechanics.
Platinum-bound
We’ll finish it, with all bots and puzzle pieces, for sure. It’s good-clean fun and it’s become a real nice way to introduce my son to gaming in a way he can see some of the finest work out there and a shining example of a 3D platformer.
Lets see how I feel about it after I’ve 100% got everything there is to get!
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