After watching everything from theSummer Game Festand Xbox Games Showcase, to Ubisoft Forward, I have come away with a clear standout for my most anticipated game from all the showcases. Big names like Star Wars,Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and Indiana Jones were pushed as the blockbuster games coming out this year, but it was the charming platformer Astro Bot that stole my heart.
Capping off thePlayStation State of Play, Astro Bot invigorated a joy in my heart I hadn’t felt since, well, the pack-in game Astro’s Playroom on PS5. It wasn’t clear that this would be my most anticipated game of all the showcases when I first saw it, but it only stood out more and more as I noticed a familiar trend to everything else shown off.
5 impossible PlayStation trophies that have gamers hurling controllers
Anyone who is able to earn these PlayStation trophies deserves a real trophy.
Dire sequels as far as the eye can see
Where’s the joy?
Games have always run the gamut of genres so it would be ignorant to say any one feeling or tone is dominating the space. That said, all the major showcases did have a heavy focus on either grimdark stories, sequels, but most often both. I love a good tale of desperate people in a ruthless world - it’s a fantastic setup to deliver meaningful messages and lessons about humanity. Just like any genre, it loses its effectiveness the more often you see it. When you see four trailers all featuring some apocalyptic scenario in the span of minutes, your mind becomes accustomed to it and doesn’t emotionally connect.
When you see four trailers all featuring some apocalyptic scenario in the span of minutes, your mind becomes accustomed to it
The same goes for games in franchises and existing IP. Gears of War: E-Day looks great, but we know Gears. Star Wars Outlaws has to carry the baggage of existing in the delicate space between films, and Black Ops 6 is the 19th yearly release in the series. Sequels sell, so I don’t begrudge developers and publishers for relying on them, only that they are inherently less exciting than something new.
Astro Bot isn’t brand new, but this is its first true chance to shine.
Astro Bot to the rescue
Fun for the sake of fun
Astro got its first full title with the PSVR game called Astro Bot Rescue Mission. Due to it being exclusive to that headset, a huge proportion of PlayStation players never touched it. Those that did had such high praise for it that some even compared it to a Mario-level experience. Astro’s Playroom on PS5 was a bite-sized version of that, only now accessible to everyone who purchased a console. The only fault I could levy at that game was that it was so short.
This makes Astro Bot somewhat of a restart for the mascot platformer, which is a genre so rarely bet on outside of Nintendo.
One look at the trailer and this game’s raison d’être becomes clear - inspire joy. Every pixel, sound effect, and minor animation Astro has is in the service of fun. It wants to celebrate the way games can bring a smile to your face and provide a feeling of accomplishment and excitement for what you might see or do next. There’s no dissonance between gameplay and tone or theme.
I’m not alone in thinking Astro Bot is such a breath of fresh air.
There’s a reason Mario has endured for decades as the most iconic character in gaming. Yes, the gameplay and design are always finding ways to top itself, but it’s more than that. Mario is built first and foremost with fun in mind. What would it be fun for the player to do here? In what ways could we implement this power-up that’s new and exciting? When there are no more good answers to those questions, that’s where the game ends. It is too early to say for certain, but if Astro Bot has the same design principles as Playroom did, it will attempt a similar philosophy. And I’m not alone in thinking Astro Bot is such a breath of fresh air. Of all the games featured in this month’s showcases,Astro Bot has received the most wishlists, overtaking Doom: The Dark Ages and Gears of War: E-Day.
You will find no bigger advocate for games pushing the boundaries of storytelling than me. I love it when a game challenges my perspective or asks me to make hard moral decisions. Between PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, I have no shortage of those types of games to look forward to. When it comes to a game with the only goal of putting a smile on your face, Astro Bot stands alone.
The PlayStation Pulse Elite wireless headset breathes new life into my old games
I tried the Pulse Elite wireless headset, and it immerses you into gaming like never before.
