Charming is the word that best describes astro bot. When I saw the design for the first time it looked extremely generic but they managed to convey a lovability personality through this design. The game is a linear 3d platformer in vr and it nails what all 3d platformers must nail control. Astrobot handles like a dream as he jumps hovers and punches enemies. At times your controller is given abilities like spraying water and ninja stars, which reminds me a bit of nintendo land and other early wiiu games. These give the game the variation it needs to keep from going stale. The levels are fun and varied with level themes changing level making no level look or feel the samw as the last. The soundtrack while not having many tracks is realy enjoyable listen to adn you don't get sick of any of the tracks even if you hear them every couple levels. The game also has fun bosses that while being quite easy are a lot of fun to take down. For the completionists there are 8 bots and a chameleon to find in each level. The chameleons unlock challenge levels that will moderately test you but platformer veterans will have no issue. The use of VR in a 3D platformer is inspired and the developers ring most of the potential out of the concept with having you look around corners and from a birds eye view. It's the game I have played VR and is a must play for PSVR owners.

Genuinely would've been an amazing time if the PSVR was at all decent. The controller tracking is just god awful on the Dualshock 4 and the overreliance on the motion control was impossible to work with. I went from wanting to get the platinum on this because I loved Playroom so much, to just clawing my way to the end. And it sucks, because if it weren't for that then the game would be amazing. Astro is so fun to control. I love this little guy. I really tried to put in the time, I 100%ed the first 2 worlds, but man I just can't handle the motion controls. I hope that new rumored Astro game is not a VR2 game.

HE'S A LITTLE GUY!!

honestly really entertaining for what it is, an introduction to vr even

[my PSVR is broke so can't ever return </3)

I thought all the talk about Astro Bot Rescue Mission was hyperbole when comparing it to Super Mario 64….but it’s not. Games like this are why VR should exist and it sells it wonderfully. I liked what I saw in the demo, and I love the full game.

The biggest knock against the game would be its simplicity. Astro Bot doesn’t have special moves outside of a spinning punch and his rocket boots, and the enemies rarely pose a threat. Even with this though, it doesn’t dampen the fun at all.

The player acting as a larger robot following Astro Bot is incredibly smart as you traverse levels to discover missing pieces of your friend and lost companions. This allows for wider views of the area and viewing angles you wouldn’t be able to if in the shoes of Astro Bot. I don’t have a ton of VR games under my belt, but this has felt the most natural and I would be shocked if copycats don’t pop up because of it.

Collecting coins throughout levels is another task that leads to additional perks in the form of home base. There, you can use your coins in the vending machine to purchase diorama pieces of levels and enemies to decorate the base. Then using Astro Bot, you can run around and play on these smaller pieces for fun. It doesn’t add a whole new dynamic or anything, but it’s a fun little side activity that gives purpose to something in the game.

Astro Bot Rescue Mission was the reason I wanted PlayStation VR. I wasn’t sure if it would live up to the hype (or the comparisons to an iconic game like Super Mario 64), but it does just that. If PlayStation VR is on your horizon, do not pass this game up. You’ll be hard pressed to find something better in my opinion.

I do enjoy this game a lot, but a couple of things hold it back for me. So many of the areas, bosses and camera angles are just absolutely stunning and such a great showcase of VR, and had my jaw on the floor the whole way through. Unfortunately to take away from this just ever so slightly, this game reuses stage themes a lot (i.e. cave levels, desert levels etc.) which makes it a little distracting as well as repetitive and overall leaves things feeling a little rushed. Gameplay is the same as the engine that I loved from Playroom, so no complaints with how everything handles and feels, and most stage design varies between "pretty good" and "top notch". The one issue I have with level design is that I wish the final world wasn't as frustrating as it can end up being. The game wants you to keep track of way too many things at once which overwhelms the player and leads to a lot of frustrating deaths. Calculating depth and what hurts you/doesn't can be a big test of patience, and the last 2 bosses wore that thin by hitting me when I swore I should've been safe, causing me to restart a few times (which on the final boss can be upwards of 5 minutes to get back to the point you died on) which soured the end of the game for me personally.

This is great framework for a fantastic VR experience, and of course it went on to power the stupendously grin inducing Astro's Playroom, but I hope a VR sequel comes along on PSVR 2 to fix this game's shortcomings and cornercutting. Still a very fun experience regardless of my gripes though.

When PlayStation VR launched in October 2016 VR had an exciting and promising future ahead of it. The new tech ushered in fascinating titles and immersive ports, with PSVR growing to be the best-selling VR platform in 2017. The launch also posed a host of challenges to both developers and gamers, and even today it remains difficult to demo and convey the content to those that don’t have a headset. At its inception, Sony understood that PSVR was generation one hardware, and with it would come all of the experimentation, successes, and misfires of an introductory piece of tech. The promised land of VR wasn’t going to arrive right away. Rather, it would take quite some time for rich experiences exclusive to the platform to hit store shelves. While all of the VR platforms have some excellent software now, there’s not a single PSVR exclusive that I could recommend without some caveats. While Super Hot, Resident Evil 7, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in PSVR offer engaging ways to play older titles, they are games that can be played without a headset. Like many early adopters of PSVR I’ve been waiting for something truly exceptional that can only be played in PSVR and nowhere else – a title that takes the platform to new heights, and one that becomes an easy recommendation for any PSVR owner, both currently and in the future. Astro Bot Rescue Mission is that game.

Full Review: https://neoncloudff.wordpress.com/2018/10/14/astro-bot-rescue-mission-review-breakthrough-vr-platforming/

Literally everything I wanted in a VR game, please sequel for PSVR2

Edit: Just say you hate us, Sony. Be for real with us man. It’s okay, I just wanna hear you admit it. I’ve already accepted it. Still gonna play the new Astro game regardless though

9.8/10