5/5 ★ – Smabbott's review of ASTRO BOT.

Perfect, everything down to the last minute Bot If satisfying was a game, it would be Astro Bot. I have never played a game so brimming with creativity that you can’t help but smile every step you take. The amount of effort that was put into not only the presentation, but the animations of every single item in this game is astounding. Things don’t just open when you complete an area. They smash, they zip down, they contort; while having the adorable instantly iconic blue eyes on every living thing. Astro Bot is the greatest platformer I’ve ever played and it’s not even close. What the developers have crafted is a breezy, incredibly intuitive, enjoyable collectifon. Through saving all 322 bots, there was never a point in the game where it lost steam. Each ability was both charming and deep with its mechanics. No power up only had one function, making returning abilities fun to use. The sound design is immaculate with all the cute notes from Astro Bot as well as the absolutely incredible soundtrack which mixes in robotic voices for vocals and mashups of other PlayStation properties. I love it. This was the first game I’ve bought on PS5 and honestly I think it shows the power of this console so well. Seamless rendering, insane amount of physics objects in each level. It was insane how I could spin in a pile of millions or balloons and every single one had a physics engine to it. Environments which illustrate an inflatable texture feel so good to traverse. The movement in this game is sublime and utilises so many shortcuts to keep the player interested. Bar one moment, you were never told to backtrack when collecting a bot in a small room. Which made that one time extremely jarring. The fact that the game can render in all 322 bots at the same time without dropping a frame is ludicrous honestly. Boss fights were all inventive and unique, ending in one of the greatest moments in gaming for me. The soy factor was off the charts and yet, I don’t care. This game earned that moment. I can’t get over how vibrant this game is. Every level is meticulously crafted in order to facilitate the fun factor to 11. The most you will have to collect bots in are 7 per level. Bar one level which is literally the point of that game. Every level is crafted to be fast and efficient for the player. Meaning if you missed something, you can rush through the level in a matter of minutes. It’s almost as if they timed the amount of time a player will be in the level and still engaged and used that as a blueprint. Astro Bot is one of the best games I’ve ever played. Bar one minor point of leaving an area the same way you came in for one bot. I can’t fault this game. There was never a point where I was bored or not engaged. The fact that this game utilises the PlayStation 5 DualSense so well shows how much it’s neglected in other games. Astro Bot rightfully won game of the year and is the greatest testament to Sony’s history and Team Asobi’s skill in making dynamic games which enthral all who play them. What a monumental achievement and I for one cannot wait to see what this developer does next.