Is Astro's Playroom Good?

Look at the cute little robot! Astro’s Playroom is a bit of an oddity to review, as the only way to obtain it as far as I know is to buy a PS5. It's a pack-in game pretty much, already downloaded to any PS5 you might obtain. So there’s not really much of a purchase to be made here, since I doubt anyone is buying a PS5 just for this little guy. Therefore, this review will focus more on whether it's worth playing or not. So let us begin.

10. Graphics

Astro looks beautiful, even when jumping into a fan or the ocean

If like me this is your first PS5 game, you will be blown away by the visual performance (unless you have a beefy PC). It is a cartoony game of course, so it's not quite the same as seeing a more realistic game on the console. But it's still a very impressive first impression. 

9. Gameplay

When tightrope walking contains a reference 

Astro’s Playroom is a pretty simple 3D platformer, not much new in that regard. The power of the new console makes it much smoother, but it's nothing platformer fans aren’t used to. 

There’s also some other bits of gameplay that break up the basic platforming, and they’re… fine? Some of these control kind of awkwardly and take some getting used to. Definitely the part of the game I was least fond of, but they never lasted too long at least. 

8. Combat

These guys are kind of neat I guess 

As expected from a simple platformer, there isn’t too much to the combat here. You can punch enemies as well as hit them with a jet stream while jumping. Aside from some situational attacks that are pretty obvious when they come, that’s about it. 

So actually playing the game is for the most part simple and inoffensive… which is exactly what it should be. For what this game is, complicated game mechanics would get in the way. So having something you can get accustomed to quickly and explore the game is precisely what it needs. 

7. Music

You know it's weird when a song about modern hardware is written on a cave wall

Aside from one notable exception I have featured in both the above image and through a link down below, Astro’s Playroom has about the sort of music you’d expect from a game like this. That is generally relaxing music that fits the mood, escalating in moments it's needed. It's a relatively solid soundtrack, but for the most part not super memorable. 

And then one level, the GPU Jungle, has this song playing (the link below). It's not the greatest song ever, no. But it features a singing GPU you can see in the level, and the lyrics of the song are written on the walls of caves. I have to give it points for creativity here, cause that is very unique. 

GPU Jungle FULL SONG “I’m Your GPU” - Astro's Playroom

6. Story

Big Brother looking for scraps of plot

Astro’s Playroom has…. a skeleton of a story? There’s something about Astro visiting each of the worlds to acquire their artifacts and restore the main hub area… yeah that’s kind of reaching. 

Calling this story barebones would be an understatement. But really, it's not a bad thing. A complicated story would, like with the gameplay, get in the way of what this game is trying to accomplish: showcase what your new PS5 can do.

5. Characters

Astro and his many friends

Look at all the cute little robots! Unsurprisingly, these guys make up nearly the entire cast of this game, so at least they’re a pleasant design. There is a giant one who shows up very rarely seen above, but aside from that its little robots all around.

Astro himself seems to be quite similar to these guys, just more advanced. This isn’t actually his first outing as he was introduced in a PS4 VR game, so if there were more explanations there, I am unaware of them. But considering the light nature of the “story”, I doubt there’s much to explain. Just a bunch of goofy robots. 

4. PS5 Showcase

Welcome to a giant burst of nostalgia, now faster than ever

Let’s not beat around the bush any longer: Astro’s Playroom’s main purpose is as a PS5 tech demo. It's a game you boot up when you get the system and marvel at how impressively it can do things. 

And as far as tech demos go, this is unquestionably one of the better ones. Most are not proper games, and this one can take around 5-10 hours to do everything. So for a free showcase of the console, you could easily do much worse.

3. Fun Factor

This guy’s definitely having a good time

Yes. Yes, this game is extremely fun (aside from some of the other control stuff, but luckily they’re short). So for the most part, Astro’s Playroom is smooth and fun platforming with very few hiccups, running nearly flawlessly on the PS5.

There is one little thing I neglected to mention until now that does hamper this a bit: Astro dies in one hit. Thankfully there’s a lot of checkpoints, but this definitely can get annoying. Especially in boss battles where you have to hit them multiple times while avoiding increasingly complicated waves of projectiles. It's never too difficult, but this does stand out a bit with how ease of access the rest of the game is.

2. Replayability 

Astro resting for another go at it

While I wasn’t exactly raring to go again right away, yeah, I would say Astro’s Playroom is very replayable. I did just that to an extent when I went for 100% completion, a task that is rather easy and largely enjoyable here. The hardest part was the speedrun trials trophy, which did take some time.

But for anyone who enjoys 3D platformers, there certainly is a lot of fun to be had here on your first, second, third, or even fourth playthrough. It definitely is a game well suited to returning to get better at, or even just to have some fun. 

1. Nostalgia Factor

Totally not an instantly recognizable weapon, nooooooooo……

Yeah, I had to end with this. For while Astro is slowly becoming an important part of Playstation itself, it thrives on referencing that which came before it.

If you played a notable game on a Playstation console or handheld in the past, the chances are pretty high you’ll find it referenced here. Some are extremely obvious, like the Buster Sword above or a literal Crash Bandicoot complete with Wumpa Fruit. Others require a bit more thinking to catch, such as Patapon cave drawings or a distant giant robot referencing Shadow of the Colossus. 

That is but a sampling of what you will find here, for there is a LOT. And that’s not even getting into the Playstation history consoles and accessories that feature as collectibles and show up in a plaza in the game’s hub once collected. Ever want to climb a PS2? Now you can.

In the end, Astro’s Playroom is absolutely worth playing at least once. Whether it's a brief dive-in to check it out or a full 100% playthrough, this tech demo will certainly be one you won’t forget.

Score: 9.5

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