In the entirety of last week’sState of Play, only one game got me excited.Sonyseemed to know that might be the case, and gave its upcoming platformer starring (everyone’s favorite sentient PlayStation peripheral)Astro Botthe prime “one more thing” slot.
Is PlayStation Pivoting To Platformers?
Given that Astro Bot has only previously starred in aPSVRexclusive and a pair of pack-in games, it’s a little surprising to see him make the leap to the big time. But, Sony has been unwilling or unable to show anything much bigger than Astro Bot for much of the PS5’s life cycle thus far. That largely has left me feeling a bit apathetic about the publisher’s approach to this kind of showcase.
To an extent, that’s because I’m getting older and, at this point, I know the kinds of games I’ll actually enjoy and the kinds I’ll try to convince myself I’ll enjoy before falling off a few hours in. I’ve tried to be different, but I’m just not aMonster Hunterperson, and Wilds probably won’t change that.
The second, and more significant issue — read: not just a me thing — is that Sony doesn’t have, and hasn’t had, much to show. Its biggest first-party studiosNaughty Dog,Insomniac,Sucker Punch,Guerrilla, andSanta Monicaaren’t ready to show the next big games they have in the hopper. That’s understandable for studios like Insomniac, which launchedSpider-Man 2just last fall. For the others (two of which last launched games four years ago), it’s a symptom of game development cycles continuing to swell.
Astro Bot Resists The Usual Big-Budget Bloat
Astro Bot isn’t exactly on a tight turnaround — it will have been a little under four years since its predecessor’s release when it launches this fall — but it is the kind of game thatcanbe made on a tighter schedule. The game looked quite pretty in the State of Play, but it isn’t aiming forGod of War RagnarokorThe Last of Us Part 2-esque realism. That emphasis on bright, colorful fun over pore-counting fidelity is a healthy counterpoint to Sony’s usual house style.
The previous games in the series haven’t been huge, bloated messes either. Astro Bot Rescue Mission for PSVRtook about eight hours to beatand Astro’s Playroom (a smaller game that came with the PS5) took about four. Even if Astro Bot aims to be twice as long as Rescue Mission — and there’s no evidence that it will — that would still be a digestible 16 hours.
Astro’s Playroom
Most importantly, Astro Bot represents a different kind of game. Sony’s big studios have increasingly doubled down on cinematic, third-person action games. Some, like Spider-Man,Ghost of Tsushima, andHorizonare open-world, and some, like The Last of Us and God of War, are more linear, but the combat and presentation tend to be fairly similar. Astro Bot isn’t that. It’s the kind of 3D Platformer Sony used to release on the PS1 and PS2, and release often.
As games get more realistic, longer, and more narrowly focused on one, really expensive model, it’s heartening to see Sony making Astro Bot— a series that has always been colorful, compact, and creative — a big part of its future.
