Almost 10 minutes of Astro Bot footage, direct from the ChinaJoy 2024 show floor, has emerged online – and perhaps unsurprisingly for fans of the franchise, it looks utterly essential. The first clip shows the adorable eponymous character using some extendable gloves to navigate a bunch of simple platforming puzzles, before battling against a giant octopus. The gameplay, along with the animations, are a joy.
The latter half of the demo focuses on some smaller, more difficult platforming challenges. In one clip, the player has to rescue Jak from Naughty Dog’s platforming series, who’s been given an Astro Bot makeover here.
Team Asobi’s said there’ll be 80 levels in the full game, and presumably there’ll be tons and tons of secrets to discover. Are you impressed by what you’ve seen so far – or is this just par for the course for one of PlayStation’s best franchises these days?
[source youtube.com]
Comments 47
>In one clip, the player has to rescue Jak from Naughty Dog
I really hope people support this. I'm all in day one.
It might play well and look pretty, but it’s a complete rip from Mario games particularly sunshine and galaxy . Not a bad thing , just saying
This is Sackboy
Watched 30 seconds and thats enough for me. Dont want this gem spoiled for me at all. Im going in blind. BLIND I TELL YA!!!
I wanna play this so bad right now.
"is this just par for the course for one of PlayStation’s best franchises these days?"
I must have missed several games, because I thought the only thing released with this character was a brief little play room game that was a tutorial on how to use the PS5. How does that and an unreleased title (assuming In haven't missed anything) make a franchise?
I think I'd have to put it down pretty quick - 2 or 3 minutes of the constant little yips and yahs were enough to get on my nerves. I might have bought this for my son a few years ago, but I think he's outgrown it? Really, really, really don't get all of the hype for this title.
I demand Sony you send this demo out right now to all PS5s.
Did it work? 🤣
@Kidfunkadelic83
Yep watched about 10 seconds of each bit and that was it. Definitely going blind on this one.
And with SW Outlaws a week before and if that’s great as well, we finally are getting a great gaming year for 2024.
I know one thing for certain. Sony is marketing the hell out of this game. In HK I just saw Deadpool 3 in Imax and they had a IMAX TRAILER for this!
Early this year they had Stellar Blade video promos in the train station!
I know they were trying to get as many visuals and experiences as possible in this 10 mins but my OCD brain is going crazy with them not checking every corner/angle and crevice or smacking every shell 😠
Only watched 30 seconds like other people here but man that was irritating!
@breakneck Sony also showed Astro Bot ads at EVO for 3 days. They definitely wants this game to sell well and probably become an IP they can rely on to make money + respresent their Japan side.
@IntrepidWombat The full-length VR game is also one of the best games on PS4.
@get2sammyb Ah, I forgot about the VR, thanks. I'll have to take your word for it.
Ohh, I’m getting heavy Super Mario Galaxy vibes from this. If Asobo pulls this off I don’t care if they’re influenced by Nintendo, this could be one of the year’s best.
Erdtree and Astro Bot, here’s to 2024!
@breakneck @PuppetMaster Astro Bot being a success may be able to convince Sony that chasing live service is a bad idea and that taking a Nintendo-like path instead is much better.
Screw it im preordering
I keep flip-flopping on this, even after pre-ordering. Why does Astro Bot need to make baby sounds every time he does a move? That was a choice… Did he do that in the other games? Turns me off wanting to play the game tbh…
@ear_wig maybe you can turn this sounds off?
I'm really hoping this game sells well cause it looks like such a gem.
Its so hard trying not to watch footage of this game. I wanna go in blind but its so flippin tempting
Looks amazing, but should of been on VR2 if you've played Rescue mission on VR1 you'll get it. If you haven't you won't.
Super hyped for this one! A follow-up to in my opinion possibly the best PS5 exclusive, presumably will be even better than that one!
Can’t wait for this
@Axelay71 you know how little of you's actually have VR2 , right? It's not common at all
I was smiling the whole playthrough..guess I better pre order ..
@AhmadSumadi I sure hope so, but kind of doubt it… Gotta just tune it out lol
@DarianStarfrog even more reasons to make amazing games like this in VR then. It might drive sales of the headset. At the end of the day that's what sells hardware, I assume you have PS5, if the games were ***** you wouldn't buy the thing.
@Grumblevolcano I have my doubt that Sony will stop investing on live service games even if Astro Bot sold well. Just look at Helldivers 2 already sold 12 million copies in 3 months which translate as "live service is printing a lot of $$$$$". Not to mention gacha games like Genshin, ZZZ, and Honkai also did well on PS4/5.
The best impact Astro Bot can give is Sony probably will invest more on Team Asobi if Astro Bot sold well. But we'll see...
@WaveBoy @Axelay71 Do you guys know how many copies AB: Rescue Mission sold? From Insomniac leaks, Rescue Mission 'only brought $5.5 million revenue for Sony.
https://fandomwire.com/how-well-all-of-these-playstation-games-sold/
We don't know how much the budget which i doubt it only cost $5.5 million. But that means, if Rescue Mission was priced at $30-40 /copy then it only sold around 100-130K copies or maybe less since it got a lot of discount and also later became completely free with "Play At Home" initiative back in 2021.
But if we're looking at the heavy marketing for this game and also from the interview, it's crystal clear that Sony don't want Astro Bot just ended up as a niche VR game or a free tech demo. But they want it to become an established-long running IP that can bring a good chunk of revenue for Sony.
That's why they don't make this game as PSVR only because they want more people to buy and played it. Maybe later down the line they will patch it with PSVR 2. But for now, i think this is the best route to grow Astro Bot as an established IP.
Without any exaggeration this will be Sony's best release this gen. Preordering most expensive edition.
Please more of this irreverent and celebratory stuff, Sony. Kinda tired of seeing my PS5 as this dour, po-faced console. It does look like a Roman numeral 5 though!
@Axelay71 I bought it to replace my kids' PS4, lol.
@WaveBoy couldn't agree more mate, unfortunately i think VR2 is finished. Sony has proved this with not bringing Astrobot to VR2, obviously they don't want to invest in there own tech. The demo shown looks stunning, imagine that scene where the water parts in VR. Its damn frustrating we won't experience it.
@PuppetMaster @WaveBoy I get what your saying, but unless you invest and take risks. New hardware will never prevale. That's like saying we won't invest in PS6, what if it fails. VR2 is an incredible piece of kit, so much potential as a new medium Sony & devs should be striving to push this, not abandon it out the gate.
Certainly looks like it’ll be great fun but “absolutely outstanding”? Maybe hit the brakes in the hyperbole, eh?
@Axelay71 The thing is VR is a niche hardware for niche audience but with premium price. It's a big different compare to handheld / home console.
And Sony already tried to push VR for like what, 8 years since they released PSVR 1 back in 2016? But so far VR market doesn't get bigger and they got less and less revenue from PSVR hardware + software while more 3rd party devs doesn't want to make games anymore for PSVR. I say it's pretty normal for Sony to called it a day for PSVR 2. They already tried for 8 years and it just doesn't work anymore.
And why VR failed? Because most people doesn't want to spend another 500 bones to wiggle around the room while wearing a big helmet / glasses with cable. It's the same back when Nintendo tried wirh Virtual Boy and it doesn't work.
I know gameplay is king but also being a Switch owner it does make we wish we could have a 3d Mario platformer and 3d Zelda with Astro Bot and say Horizon Forbidden West graphics a long with Nintendo game play.
But alas it will never happen, mainly due to Nintendos model of business, which is good, keep things a level or two down, keep costs down and production time and of course studio size, number of employees and make a profit.
And of course being hybrid console would bring some technical and cost issues.
Well at least we got this amazing Astro Bot game for my PS5.
Was hoping for the PS5 Pro release in time for Astro Bot and SW Outlaws but I don’t think that will happen.
As an older gamer (I was around when the first Space Invaders was the ultimate arcade machine!), I have to say that I can't wait for this to release!!
As much as I enjoy playing the more serious games of today, games like this are a breath of fresh air that bring out the kid that's still alive and kicking inside me!!
Pre-ordered and ready to go!!!
@IntrepidWombat The character first appeared in The Playroom on PS4, then it got a VR game: Astro Bot Rescue Mission, to this day one of the best rated PSVR games. So 3 or four games including the upcoming one.
Astro's Playroom is more than a tutorial how to use the PS5 though. Don't let the fact that it's free deter you. It's a full game that takes a couple of hours to fully complete.
@Splat Just personally, given the drought of similar games in this genre on the PS5, and an already substantiated quasi-mascot, I see it selling like hot cakes. If I had to guess, the future of Astro Bot on PlayStation looks bright indeed. Sony has struggled to have a Sonic or Mario level mascot, but I expect this may be a step in that direction.
Only watched a small part, but looks awesome
@WaveBoy I get what your saying, but for me considering the age of VR2. A revision isn't the problem, it's like you said the killer games are the issue. It seems bizarre how a company can invest in producing a piece of tech, which must of cost millions. To basically not giving a toss about it in the most important area GAMES!!
@NeonPizza The reason why Playroom felt “mid” compared to Rescue Mission. Is because Playroom was built as a tech demo first. They focused on the controller first, then the level design. They’re doing the opposite for this game. Also most people that previewed this game, people that are huge Mario fans, disagree with you.
@SAMTYLER1974 I mean it is his opinion. Lol
@get2sammyb I know this article is a few weeks old so you may no longer care but the video says it has been taken down. Might just be a me being in the US thing but thought I’d let you know.
@rjejr Thanks for the heads up. I wonder what happened?
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