Watching the latestPlayStationState of Play, my primary feeling was one of boredom. I don’t want to appear harsh on the legions of devs who made the games involved, especially in this current climate of layoffs where each day for them is loaded with the stress of an axe being sharpened behind them. On the other hand, you kept me up till 11:30pm and a third of the show was dedicated to aGuardians of the Galaxy-style cinematic for ageneric 5v5 Overwatch clone. Not exactly endearing. But thenAstro Botappeared, and all was well again.
Nostalgia is part of Astro Bot’s brand. In Playroom, we travel to the four previous iterations of PlayStation consoles to recover peripherals and components from that era, while meeting Astroised characters from each generation in neat Easter Eggs. Playroom is as much a tech demo for the DualSense andPS5as it is a video game, so these meta references make sense, as does the boss battle that throws back to the PS1 tech demo. But am I really going to be that interested in collecting an EyeToy in a full game? Astro Bot seems to have the answer.
Astro Bot Uses Nostalgia In The Right Way
The nostalgia of Astro Bot is deeper than referential memories. It’s nostalgia of a feeling. As my colleague Tessa Kaur notes,a lot of what the State of Play had to offer felt like the same thing over and over. That extrapolates out to video games as a whole - if you’re not killing something with a gun, you’re probably killing it with a huge melee weapon. It’s probably fairly grim and grey, and maybe it has some lesson on the human cycle of violence, usually shoehorned in between trying to score points and performing ever more violent kills.
I don’t believe video games cause violence, and I don’t think I’ve ever played a game and found it too violent. The constant violence of games is not upsetting on a moral or ethical level, I just think it’s getting a little boring. Astro Bot is a salve for this. You might still ‘kill’ some enemies or bosses by bonking them on the noggin, but it’s so colourful and playful that it feels old-fashioned. But it’s old fashioned like a little black dress - the kind that never goes out of style.
I’m sure it will be fun to rummage through these new worlds to rescue the Astro version ofAloyandKratos, and the presence of Ico andJourneyin the trailer hints at some deeper cuts too. I’m not against the more obvious nostalgia at play here, though I do hope it moves beyond reminding us what memory cards used to look like. That gambit works when you’re the first PS5 game ever and have that context behind you, but this is the first Astro game not made to show off tech (with Rescue Mission mostly feeling its way through then-current VR capabilities). Thankfully, most of what Astro Bot showed in its trailer was it attempting to stand on its own two stubby little feet.
Astro Bot Is A Throwback To Classic Platformers
We’ve seen a lot of classic platformers in the indie scene, aimed at channelling the good old days ofCrashandSpyro, but they all feel a little janky and forced, never quite capturing the same magic. The only one that has felt both old and new, with classic techniques but fresh ideas, is Pizza Tower, but that was recreating the carnage of Wario Land rather than the bounce and joy of the PS1’s greatest hits.
It makes me realise we’re all craving something that isn’t so reliant on violence and slaying. I admit I still feel those ideas will remain an inherent part of gaming - my most anticipated title for the year isDragon Age: Dreadwolf, the game I had everything crossed for at State of Play wasTomb Raider, and my current Game of the Year isLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, which will succeedBaldur’s Gate 3. All of those games feature violence and combat heavily, though only the lesser Tomb Raider games embrace the grimdark edginess pervasive in so much of gaming. But there’s more to games than all that.
It’s not that violence is bad, it’s that it’s getting boring. If every game looked and played like Astro Bot then I’d probably be writing about the welcome return of maturity and bite in a game like God of War. The problem is that so many games seem to be chasing trends, reliable hits, and the safety net of demographic focus groups - I point again to the generic ‘this worked before’ feel of Concord. Astro Bot doesn’t feel like anything except more Astro. It’s far fresher than anything else PlayStation had to offer, and more games (though not too many) could do with embracing its energetic colour.
Astro Bot
WHERE TO PLAY
JOIN ASTRO IN A BRAND-NEW, SUPERSIZED SPACE ADVENTUREThe PS5® mothership has been wrecked, leaving ASTRO and the bot crew scattered all over the galaxies. Time to ride your trusty Dual Speeder across more than 50 planets full of fun, danger and surprises. On your journey, make the most of ASTRO’s new powers and reunite with many iconic heroes from the PlayStation universe!Blast off on a supersized adventureFrom sandy beaches to lush jungles and piping-hot volcanoes, explore a myriad of memorable planets in search of Astro’s lost crew!Power up your platformingWith your new powers, battle out a whole new roster of quirky baddies and huge bosses. Feel every hop, punch and crack through your DualSense wireless controller.Join the PlayStation celebrationReunite with over 150 iconic PlayStation heroes and celebrate 30 years of PlayStation history!
