A question that has been looming among video game developers over the last several years is one of, “What kinds of games do we make to appeal to people and make the most money?” Sadly, that question has been answered in various ways, depending on who it’s being asked to and by. That is what led to the huge divide between those who would rather make single-player entities and those who feel that live-service titles, or games with massive amounts of microtransactions, are the way to go. For Sony, its week has just gotten more ironic via the Astro Bot reviews.
You see, they have been trying to push themselves into the live-service stage more and had two games released within the last year that were both exclusive and meant to capture that market. However, both of those games not only failed, one of them was shut down within just 11 days. Then, today, the reviews dropped for its single-play exclusive, Astro Bot, and it’s being hailed as not only one of the greatest platformers ever but also a Game of the Year contender. If you don’t believe us, look at Metacritic, where 100 reviews have been tallied for the game, and the title has a score of 94!
The reviews themselves are full of praise for the game, with numerous perfect scores awarded to it due to the content that is within it. There are some reviews that state how PlayStation “cannot pass up” the chance to play this game due to how fun it is. Others have pointed out that the game is a true “love letter” to past Sony titles while also standing out on its own. In fact, some note that the game could’ve taken out all the Sony references and been just fine! That’s how detailed and great its design was.
It also helps that the game is beautiful to look at and feels fun to play. Despite the title only being about 15 hours at max, the reviewers didn’t mind in the slightest! They were fine with the time as they had a blast throughout those 15 hours.
Some even praised the title by comparing it to epic platforming titles featuring Mario! That’s true praise!
The irony that we referenced at the beginning of the article is simply that this game is likely to do incredibly well and get a whole bunch of awards…and it’s a fun little single-player title with no microtransactions or live-service elements. Take notes, Sony.
