Astro Bot Rescue Mission is a platformer exclusively for the PS4 / PSVR. It is based off the Robots Rescue level of The Playroom VR. That was one of the best and cleverest use of VR in that game, so it’s great that it was popular enough to be selected to be expanded upon into a full game. This is a colorful platformer that reminds you of older 3D platformers, where the focus is on the platforming gameplay, and it’s great.
The game is immediately charming right from the very beginning as you’re introduced to Astro. The premise is that Astro, along with his crew, onboard his ship when they are attacked by an alien. The alien destroys the ship, scatters the rest of the crew and then disappears. Then it’s up to Astro Bot and you, the player, who is a larger robot trailing behind Astro, to go through the levels and save the crew that are scattered within.
As the player, you can look around by moving your head. The right stick does nothing to move the camera, instead, it will automatically move forward as Astro moves forward. You cannot move the camera back so sometimes you’ll stretch yourself looking backwards to see if you could grab that thing you’ve only noticed now. It’s a bit disorientating at first but you’ll quick get used to it, and it’s one of the easier to stomach VR games if you’re prone to motion sickness, although there are still moments where the camera will move quickly.
The game uses VR in creative ways, even right from the beginning. It takes advantage of the player’s perspective and freedom to move what they’re looking at to hide the crew in inventive places. Most often, it likes to have you look up really high or down to platforms far below where you are. Most of the crew are easy to find, but there are some hidden in unexpected places, and you’ll keep an ear out for the tell-tale cry of help whenever you’re near one.
Unfortunately, no matter how fun the levels are, they are fairly short. It’s probably because you are having so much fun that you’d wish that they were longer. The game naturally adapts the many gimmicks of VR such as the motion control of the DualShock 4, and does it in such a natural way that it’s fun and novel. You’ll use the controller to shoot grappling hooks, throw ninja stars and shoot water. Then you’ll have other gimmicks like using your head to knock projectiles back or the microphone picks up that you’re blowing the dandelion seeds away.
The attention to the small details is what makes the game really enjoyable. Even the simple act of replicating the controller onscreen in a cooler design, and with the bots you save staying inside it, will leave a smile on your face. The bots you save would sometimes be crying for help, or they’re just chilling away without a care in the world, while others would stick up their butt for Astro to kick them back into the controller. The idle animations of Astro are funny to watch, everything just oozes charm and ingenuity. Another strength is that each world doesn’t have a set theme, this allows it to be varied and not confined to arbitrary restrictions in any way.
Naturally, like in most platformers, there are boss fights. The game is familiarly structured if you have ever played a platformer. Each world has five levels, with the fifth level being the boss level. While Astro is normally a one-hit wonder (i.e. he dies in one hit and respawns at the nearest checkpoint, which are plentiful), during boss fights he can take three hits before succumbing. This is because the boss fights are longer and have several stages. They can be quite intense when they’re throwing enemies at you while at the same time attack and then you have to contend with the gimmicks involving the VR headset or controller.
On the whole, the game is fairly easy. The early levels are naturally the quickest to breeze through but the last few levels were more challenging without being frustrating. The game continues to utilize new and imaginative obstacles, and this is really hard to achieve, but none of the levels or gimmicks were ever annoying. The last two bosses were a little bit more difficult than the ones before but nothing that you cannot handle. The final boss was extremely awesome in its execution as it was frantic fun and brought with it a cool gimmick. The most impressive element is how the game doesn’t handhold yet, but still manages to make it very intuitive on what you need to do and where to go next.
The game only takes around six to ten hours on your first playthrough (25 levels before you finish the game). While this may seem short (it doesn’t help that most VR games are short), this is actually a pretty decent length for a platformer. There’s no padding or excessive difficulty to drag out the time, it’s sharp and to the point. The music is another memorable aspect of the game, and it’s no wonder, it’s composed by the same person who did Tearaway and LittleBigPlanet.
There are over 200 of the bots to rescue, which acts are collectibles (and unlike other games, these do not feel like a chore at all), and then there are 26 challenge levels afterwards, which is where the difficult portions of the game are. These challenge levels range from minigames (utilizing the same controller gadgets in the story mode), repeat of boss fights with no damage and time trials. Some of these levels are new, and some are reused portions of the main game. It’s a good thing that the game loads extremely quickly.
Overall, Astro Bot Rescue Mission is a fantastic game. It is one of the best games on the PSVR, and even if you broaden it, this is one of the best platformers we’ve had in years. In an age where AAA games are chasing realistic graphics and heavy stories, it is refreshing to get a fun colorful platformer that focuses on gameplay first and foremost. If you have a PSVR, this is a definite must play, and if you don’t, then this game is actually good enough to maybe make you consider getting one.
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