It’s nice to know that in this gaming industry that prides itself too often on microtransactions and trying to “squeeze every penny from players,” some developers are fine with just giving away content and expanding games that they’ve made simply because they want those who bought it to enjoy it further. In the case of Astro Bot, the beloved platforming title on PS5 has dropped numerous free stages since its release last year so that players can test their skills. A new set of free levels started dropping last week, and today brought the newest one: “Thrust Or Bust.”
As we teased in our excerpt, no, we won’t be making any jokes about the title, okay? Besides, as you’ll see from the clip below, it’s called that because Astro will have his hands full getting through parts of the level due to how he needs to use his thrusters to blast through the air to avoid obstacles and land on the proper platforms so he can continue on his way. It might look easy, but if you’re hoping to get a fast time on the level, you might find yourself in for a true challenge:
Three more free levels in this set’ll drop over the next three weeks, so if you have the game, you’ll want to mark your calendars so that you’ll jump back into the game each Thursday to see what levels await you.
Plus, we know that some DLC is coming to the game. Team Asobi themselves mentioned it, and some of the things we’ll get in the DLC include more new levels to conquer, a “Time Attack” mode for players to test themselves on, and even online rankings to see where you rank against other players. No release date has been given for the DLC, but the dev team noted it would drop this year.
Astro Bot continues to be a game that brings joy to those who play it. Much like certain other titles from a rival system, the game isn’t about the graphics or trying to be “super realistic,” it’s about honoring the platforming titles of the past, creating an incredible gameplay experience that people can’t get enough of, and having wit and charm in abundance. It also helps that numerous PlayStation icons are in the game, helping out Astro and even becoming him at some points.
One can only wonder what new levels and characters might show up next.
