Astro Bot Review - IGN

A fantastically inventive platformer in its own right, Astro Bot is particularly special for anyone with a place in their heart for PlayStation.

[Profchaos]

I'm calling it early this looks to be a solid goty winner

[solideagle]

94 Meta wow, GOTY contender. it's been a while a platformer won a GOTY apart from Mario etc.

I hope that it sells really well in millions, they should do Holidays bundle with it...

@VenomUK
I agree with you but Sony's 94 Meta = above 95/96 range. Critics are unnecessary harsh these days. I know GTA IV will be 97 or 96 and I know some will say who cares about reviews but some do care....

[VenomUK]

NGL if this was a Nintendo game it would be getting elevens all round.

[neutralgamer1992]

That is very true because PlayStation exclusives are judged and reviewed much more harshly compared to Nintendo and Xbox

[darthv72]

My copy can't get here soon enough.

GTA IV.... that is 98 on meta. https://www.metacritic.com/...

[solideagle]

@darth it was a typo, I meant GTA 6...

[MrNinosan]

It Takes Two won like 3 years ago 😏
And did Mario ever win a big GOTY?

[outsider1624]

It's crazy Sony have both a Disaster game and the Best Game in the same month.🤣

[-Foxtrot]

@VenomUK

So true

You know those odd 8 out of 10 or the 7.5 one would have been a 9 or 10 out of 10

This is literally the Nintendo effect in action

94 is a fantastic score don't get me wrong, they should be proud but if it was Nintendo they'd be singing the game praises where it would be at 97 now

There's this mindset where only Nintendo can do fun, colourful platformers and with Astro Bot it's now clearly not true.

[fr0sty]

It's so good... and it has many of the best songs from the PSVR version, the soundtrack is classic.

[VenomUK]

@-Foxtrot You know, I was half-memeing about the Nintendo issue. But the writer of the IGN review explicitly explains that comparisons to Super Mario is the reason why he didn’t give Astro Bot a 10/10.

IGN Simon Cardy: “For those asking why not a 10 I just felt it didn't quite hit the masterpiece heights of the likes of Mario Galaxy and Odyssey, but it is about as far as Nintendo has been pushed regarding platformers.”

Of course he should compare it to the leading games in a genre, but myself having played Mario Odyssey which is a great game, I do feel it is isn’t a Super Mario 64, but is perceived extra favourably because it is a Nintendo game. The result being Astro Bot didn’t receive a 9/10 from IGN from this guy because of its 9/10 quality, but because it was a top tier game that couldn’t ever get a 10 as it’s not a Nintendo Mario game.

https://x.com/cardysimon/st...

[Sonic1881]

From Concord disaster to ASTRO BOT the GOTY contender. Sony should make a movie about this 😁

[Jin_Sakai]

Live service garbage to a single player platforming masterpiece.

[Hofstaderman]

Once again, all Sony has to do is to focus on what they good at; single player games and we will get GOTY material. Will be getting this game.

[blackblades]

Or y'all should just move on

[-Foxtrot]

Jesus

If this wins GOTY and does well sales wise then I’m hoping it sends the right message across the entire industry especially with a live service title like Concord flopping just before this.

Concord had 8 years of development, a big team and rumored to be 100-200 million budget while Astro Bot has a small team of 65, took 3 years development and I’m guessing the budget is much smaller.

It’s a big difference

Hopefully this starts a 3D platform revival and that Nintendo aren’t the only people who can make good platformer games

[darthv72]

If this wins GOTY, it proves Sony can still win even without big budget AAA first party titles.

[jznrpg]

@Darthv72 they need those as well. They should do both like they did with PS3

[--Onilink--]

@darth it needs to sell too. Otherwise executives still find a way to take the wrong lessons

We already saw with Hi-Fi Rush that even a critically acclaimed and award winning game sometimes doesn’t sell as much as we would think it should.

[jaymacx]

Getting GOTY isn’t enough to send a message if people don’t go out and buy this game. I hope every PS gamer buys this.

[The Wood]

Onlink hi fi didn't sell well because it was on subs and there was no marketing prior to the shadow drop. Gamespassers think or act like these games are free to make as well as free to play. Subs alone rarely make profits for a high proportion of games. If ms actually kept it off subs it may have sold a fair amount thus revenue

[Flewid638]

Even the first one was a blast but games like this don't win that kind of award. At best, a nomination.

Considering the record breaking success if Wukong, my prediction is that it'll win.

[Profchaos]

Wukong is a tremendous game and it's success is in spite of the critics bit because if them unfortunately those same critics are heavily involved in these awards

[Petebloodyonion]

Don't worry this is the era of fun so it was always sure that this would be the GOTY winner

[Andy_Dee]

Yeah!

Thinking exactly the same!

[purple101]

I reckon this will start a whole new generation of kids into Playsation this Xmas

Specially if they do a bundle / discount

Game is £49.99 in the uk https://www.hotukdeals.com/...

[solideagle]

oh wow that's a steal

[neutralgamer1992]

Hopefully this game does really well and Sony can understand where their priority should be and it’s definitely not on games as service

[90sGamingWasBetter]

My 5 year old son loves Astro, he's already a PlayStation gamer.

[darthv72]

Has he played Knack and the Ratchet games too? Those are good for young ones to start out on, especially Knack.

[outsider1624]

Knack is actually a good game. Both of them. I don't get the hate for them though.
I really hope Sony makes a Knack 3 with the same love Rift apart and Astro both get.

[ocelot07]

Currently sitting at 94 on metacritic and 93 opencritic.

There's the sony magic we know and love. Concord was hopefully just a real bad fart that led to a follow through but was quickly cleaned up.

[I_am_Batman]

4th best rated 3D platformer of all time on metacritic. Only beaten by the 2 Mario Galaxy games and Super Mario Odyssey.

It's kinda crazy that Team Asobi is already competing on that level with an IP as young as Astro Bot. If this succeeds they'll probably get even more resources and freedom for their next game. Seems like the Astro Bot IP will have a bright future.

[ocelot07]

Oh wow that's incredible. I do believe Astro Bot is going to be Sony's new Crash Bandicoot. First Astro game spite bring VR only was one of the best psvr games. The tech demo for ps5 was so good it spawned this game. Now this one is now a potential goty. Another killer IP from Sony.

[fr0sty]

I honestly knew this was Astro's future once I played Rescue Mission for PSVR... that game in VR rewrote the rules on what a good platformer is... so much better than anything you could ever do on a flat screen.

[Falloutxii]

Does sony now how a potential mascot? Surprised they didn't push sackboy as one but tbh sackboy looked more generic and simple compared to this.

[Profchaos]

Watching some of the video reviews and the game has that certain something like a spark that made so many platformers in the past like Mario 64 and crash legendary.

Yeah I think this could actually be it a proper mascot game that's exactly that

[DarXyde]

Sackboy had (and I say *has) great potential.

You might say he's generic, but Sackboy has always been one that you project yourself onto. He's whomever you want him to be, which isn't that different from Astro bots in my opinion

[gold_drake]

im still surprised we havent gotten a trilogy remaster for ps4 and 5

[Rimeskeem]

Well Astro's look is actually comparative to PlayStation. Sackboy was supposed to be just a simple customizable guy. Astro actually has the look.

[Kakashi Hatake]

Sackboy is a blast with Co op. Don't sleep on that game. It's possible to like both.

[DOMination-]

Sackboy was pushed back in the day but this does feel like it can finally deliver a mascot on similar levels to what we've seen from Nintendo.

[andy85]

Damn and here I thought Final Fantasy might win a GOTY. That's an astonishing score, 94. Can't wait to play it.

[I_am_Batman]

I'd still consider Rebirth the favorite going into the Game awards. A lot of outlets probably gave both games the same score and when it's time to vote, I could see many of them leaning towards giving it to bigger/more ambitious game. Either way both of them are bound to win some awards. At least this makes it more interesting to watch.

[andy85]

I'm not sure, I mean remember It Takes Two won it

[-Foxtrot]

Rebirth was fun but it had its flaws

A lot of side filler, too many mini games, felt a little stretched out story wise to squeeze in a third game and then there was the ending, how they handled that iconic Aerith scene.

It’s still up there but between the two I’d rather see a platformer take the crown over another open world game.

[andy85]

Let's remember a lot of them were optional. You didn't have to play one single game of cards for instance

[outsider1624]

Well damn!! You see Sony!!?

[BehindTheRows]

I think Sony knows how to run their business. This is releasing on the PS FIVE after all.

OT: As expected. Another banger!

[Rimeskeem]

I can see Astro becoming the next franchise honestly. Brilliant platforming and enough possibilities to make a variety of games.

Astro Brawl
Astro Party
Astro Go
Astro Kart

It's literally the perfect setup for a PlayStation collaboration type games. Hell, I could see an Astro Home game that brings back PS Home.

[gold_drake]

id wish wed get pshome back.

[Rimeskeem]

It was way ahead of it's time. With successes like VRchat I could see pshome making a return tho

[-Foxtrot]

I hope if they ever do Astro Kart it’s actually the real characters. Like Astro Bot has summoned them to compete in a race to stop a threat, Crash Team Racing style.

Would just be hilarious seeing Kratos in a little kart bumping into Spiderman or Ratchet & Clank

I think with the PS5 being popular now I think they’d get third party characters like Crash, Spyro, Lara Croft, Gex and Snake.

[Rimeskeem]

I can see Astro Bot being like the wizard guy from Mario Kart where when you fall off he fishes you out or something. It's clear though that the developer is pushing Astro Bot into Mascot territory with how the game works and the story for this game. Imagine Karting through New York while the map changes from a fight Spiderman is having with Sandman. Or going up mount Olympus while Kratos fights Poseidon. All the epic shit they could pull off with the set pieces that have already been made.

[purple101]

Astro kart NOW

[Good-Smurf]

Eurogamer 5 out of 5 stars.
Easy Allies 10/10
See Sony this is what we want more of in a tight fun colorful lower budget games in between big AAA release, can't wait for my copy to arrive!
Hope that this sells in the millions so we can see Sony's older dormant IPs got dusted off and revived.

[shadowT]

GOTY

[Zenzuu]

People better put their money where their mouth is, when Japan Studio closed down. Support this game if you want to see more of these type of games. It's titles like this, is what defines PlayStation.

[Levii_92]

Dude what the hell xD my jaw litteraly dropped when i saw the metacritic score lol. I never never expected this in a million years!

[S2Killinit]

Looks like we are witnessing a Mario level platformer.

[Chocoburger]

Watch this game sell millions of copies, and send a message to Herman Hulst that is this what we like to see. I have my copy pre-ordered!

And yet, I still remember that I was told, Concord was a better investment than single player platformer games. A game like Ape Escape 4 would easily out-profit shite like Concord, no doubt about it.

[GoodGuy09]

Wow, you hardly see any platformers asides from mario get such raving reviews now. I'll have to get this game at some point.

[helicoptergirl]

I knew this game was gonna slap. Will get to play in an hour

[Profchaos]

I ordered mine physical so have to wait to get off work tomorrow arvo before I can start it going to have so many spoiler vids pop up the downside of physical I guess

[jznrpg]

I don’t mind waiting.

[ziggyzinfirion]

As of this writing 94 in Metacritic out of 99 reviews, which is amazing considering someone called this game "kiddie robot game" from some stupid N4G commenter! 😄 I'm definitely gonna enjoy my weekend that's for sure!

[P_Bomb]

@ziggy
I’ve seen a couple scoffers here. Not today tho.

[DivineHand125]

This is a true PS5 game that utilizes all the features guys. If you can afford it, you already know what to do.

[Relientk77]

I already have it pre-ordered can't wait to into this on the weekend.

[Chryzz23]

IGN couldve bumped it to 10/10 lol

[-Foxtrot]

If it was a Nintendo game…they would have let’s be honest

This is the kind of praise where it would have been sitting at 97 metacritic wise if it was.

[Kneetos]

Have you ever considered that maybe Nintendo can just make better games?

[-Foxtrot]

I'm not saying they can't make good or better games, my point is they get a free pass on a lot others would be nitpicked over.

It's not about who is better but about double standards.

[Kneetos]

Foxtrot, Nintendo is not getting a free pass, it's just a comment made up by Sony fans

You are all downplaying the switch's success because "duur weak 2015 handheld" so when people start rating it on its own merits of the handheld you have all been calling it for the past 8 years NOW you decide it's double standards. How does that work?

[-Foxtrot]

"Nintendo is not getting a free pass"

They do...and saying it's just made up by "Sony fans" to brush this off shows I've hit some kind of nerve

"You are all downplaying the switch's success because "duur weak 2015 handheld"

Where on Earth did I mention in my comment above anything about hardware or being weak? The only person bringing that up like it's some sort of insecurity is yourself.

Lets stick to the main topic here and not twist the argument into something else, I feel like you're doing that so you get to bring up some sort of counter point over double standards

I never mentioned they were bad games, I never mentioned anything about hardware specs, I never said anything that makes them look inferior or they don't deserve the praise...I'm just saying they get a pass on some things other games would be nitpicked over.

Fact is if Astro Bot was made in house by Nintendo it would be sitting a lot higher on Metacritic and would have been talked about even more than it is like they have reinvented the wheel.

[Kneetos]

All Sony fans comment about the graphics of Nintendo consoles, it's kinda the only string to their bows. That's the only "free pass" you claim they get

Astro bot isn't getting the same praise as Nintendo games because it's 7 to 8 years late to the platformer party, Nintendo already reinvented it with mario galaxy and mario odyssey, there is no grand prize for 2nd place

Counter point to double standards? Challenge accepted

Sony; removed the 8k promotion from ps5 boxes, over in the real world we call that lying

Microsoft: lays off 1000s of staff, gets blasted for it
Sony does it: people defend it, ive had someone do it on this very site

Nintendo: treats indi's badly during the Wii and Wii U days, gets blasted for it
Sony does it and people defended it claiming that their games aren't good enough for playstation.
Sony started treating smaller Japanese developers as second class Devs to the point where even the new (old/remake?) of the legend of heroes is skipping playstation in favour of the switch and Sony fans are blaming everyone else other then sony

Nintendo doesn't get a free pass, at least no more then Sony does, response? (you won't)

[DivineHand125]

I found it odd it didn't get a 10 because he didn't really have anything negative to say about the game.

[__SteakDeck__]

@DivineHand125 He said he didn’t give it a 10, because it’s not quite on the level of the Mario Galaxy games and Odyssey. Which is a dumb reason, imo. That’s like saying that you can’t give Elden Ring a 10, because you don’t think it’s on the level of BOTW. Astro Bot should be judged individually.

[Elda]

I'm shocked IGN gave it a 9. A 94 on Metacritic, it's a GOTY contender. Good for Sony, they needed this.

[jznrpg]

I’m not it’s IGN.

[Elda]

What does that even mean?

[repsahj]

Wow! Even IGN gave it a 9.0!!! I need to plat wukong right away!

[ZacultronTheFirst]

I'm not really a Platformer guy but those who are,Enjoy!

[isarai]

Tellin you man, Japan/Asobi studio is such an underrated and underutilized studio. Cant wait to play this!

[Pepsi_Man3000]

Praying for this games success. Game of the year, at LEAST 3 million copies.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

People buy buy because I pre order my friend

[repsahj]

+1

[Notsofast]

I'm ready for the haptics LOL that controller is going to be going crazy

[babadivad]

Interesting

[DaniMacYo]

I think this is so cool. When I played the demo I wished there would be a full release. It was more than a demo it felt like a top quality game. So I’m pleased it’s got a full release now and it’s a great game for all ages. You don’t see many games like this much nowadays so this is a nice change of pace.

[Demetrius]

Of course it's a 9 definitely getting this 😌 so glad games like this still around

[Philaroni]

I know I'm going to get downvoted for this but hear me out. How sick would it be if the team that made this, did something like this for Xbox, ((Nintendo (That's a fantasy I know)) SEGA, and like really any other big brands with long heritage? This is the most gamer ass game in a long time. The pictures in my mind on how it could expand are endless, please don't tell me I'm the only one who sees this.

[Chocoburger]

Well the team is owned by Sony, so of course it can't happen.
Nintendo and Sega have rich heritages, and have honored that in some of their previous games, whether Super Smash, Sonic All-Stars Racing, or the Japanese exclusive Segagaga.

The Xbox's heritage isn't as interesting, though. Forza cars? Gears, and Halo characters? Voodoo Vince, Blinx? Most of their popular IPs they bought and didn't build it in-house. Its just not the same.

[Christopher]

Why wouldn't Xbox do this for Xbox? I also don't think a Sony Dev would get the licensing permissions to make such a game unless Xbox could take the credit for it (publish it, restrict it to not being on certain consoles, etc.).

I'd also like to note that this isn't Sony first attempt at this. Sackboy, All-stars, cart racing, Knack, Crash, Jak, etc. This is just the next in a series at attempts to become a real success.

[purple101]

Sony closes Japan studio,
people say 'sony dont know what they're doing'

rolls staff into Team Asobi,
Team Asobi makes 9/10, universally loved game

all of a sudden, Sony knows what they're doing? hehe 😁

[46player]

I wasn’t even planning on picking this game up, or waiting until it was on sale.

But I’ve seen enough now that I will be picking it up tomorrow.

[Ethereal]

Wonderful news! Certainly going to pick this up at some point.

[MaximusPrime_]

I cancelled Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown due to more reports as being a broken, unfinished game. Also the reviews have been around 6.. I decided to wait 6 months and see if the game improve and still get supported.

I then pre-ordered Astro Bot due to the size of the game and potentially be a GOTY. I like Astro Playroom so am looking forward to play Astro Bot. I love mostly how it uses duelsense controller and its haptic feedbacks. It was phenomenal in Astro Playroom. Can't wait to play Astro Bot!

[GrmpyolGamer]

After the Concord debacle I guess the media needed something to latch onto to pump up Sony's tyres

[__SteakDeck__]

@GrmpyolGamer Stay mad. Lol If you were paying attention. The media were heavily praising this game back in June, and previews usually forecast how a game will review.

[Demetrius]

Finally another good singleplayer adventure 😌

[gold_drake]

the game is fantastic