ASTRO BOT: First Impressions (PS5)

With the PSN Store’s end-of-year deals, I decided to buy ASTRO BOT, considered one of the best PS5 exclusive games.

And the game is quite impressive, with the first few minutes being very fun on the PlayStation 5, thanks to the charm of the cute little robots, the colorful design, and, most notably at the beginning, the DualSense functionality!

I think that of all the games I’ve played with the PS5 controller, this one is by far the most impressive in terms of controller functionality, from the sound and handling to the need to move the controller occasionally, and even the R2 and L2 buttons, which become particularly noticeable when the protagonist is gliding (or driving?) in the “flying DualSense” spaceship!

I haven’t been able to play much of the game since I’ve been having current problems with my console, and I’m worried that it’s time to upgrade, and I wanted the PS5 to last longer. I started having power issues yesterday, with the PS5 not turning on properly (it was quite difficult to copy some screenshots and make more backups of images from other games), and I plan to take the console to a repair shop later.

But I’ve read reports from players who commented that the game consumes a lot of power from the console, and that some players haven’t been able to play for very long. But I can only comment more on the game later.

At least the initial levels I played were pretty cool. The game is very much in that platforming style, which I think took inspiration from the old Crash Bandicoot series, with the protagonist able to jump, punch opponents and send them flying, collect puzzle pieces, among other things. I’m also very curious to see more references in later levels.

ASTRO BOT is exclusive to PS5. The game is on sale on the PSN Store until mid-January.