The robot captain of a mothership that looks like a PS5 console and his loyal crew of bots are once again traversing space in search of new adventures. — AFP
BERLIN: A PlayStation 5 (PS5) converted into a spaceship with a shimmering rocket engine? That can only mean one thing: Astro is back.
The robot captain of a mothership that looks like a PS5 console and his loyal crew of bots are once again traversing space in search of new adventures.
And they don't have to wait long for that in the latest part of the Astro series: In Astro Bot, the nasty alien Nebulax soon destroys their spaceship and steals its CPU.
Astro and his crew are scattered to the most remote corners of the galaxies. Now it's up to the player to get the spaceship ready for takeoff again and reassemble the bot crew.
After a crash landing on a desert planet, Astro takes off into space again in his Dual Speeder, a smaller spaceship that looks like a PS5 controller. Six galaxies with more than 50 different planets await him.
In the style of a classic jump ’n' run game, Astro runs through the various levels of the planetary systems, overcoming obstacles, looking for secret paths, and collecting coins, while tricky climbing sections, enemies, and boss fights stand in his way.
Easy to play and nice to look at
Despite varying game mechanics, the controls always remain intuitive and easy to use. The levels are varied and innovative. In addition, Astro Bot looks really good: The planets are lovingly designed and varied.
Sometimes you walk through a floating garden above the clouds, sometimes you slide over icy mountain paths, and other times you fight with colourful enemies in a dense jungle.
As an exclusive PlayStation title, the game also offers another highlight. In addition to the normal bots, a whole range of VIP bots can be found in the galaxies, representing famous characters from well-known Playstation games such as Kratos from God of War, Ellie from The Last of Us, and the samurai Jin-Sakai from Ghost of Tsushima.
The game doesn’t have a multiplayer mode, but it offers more than enough fun for single players and always has new surprises in store. There are no in-game purchases – coins can only be earned in the game and spent on visual adjustments and items.
Astro Bot is only available for the PS5 and costs around US$70 (RM310). The age rating is six years. – dpa/Tribune News Service
