Astro Bot Rescue Mission

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Astro Bot Rescue Mission
Astro Bot Rescue Mission NA Box Art.jpg
North American cover art
Developer(s) Japan Studio (Team Asobi)
Publisher(s) Sony Interactive Entertainment
Director(s) Nicolas Doucet
Producer(s) Nicolas Doucet
Designer(s) Gento Morita
Programmer(s) Takumi Yoshida
Yuki Miyamae
Artist(s) Sebastian Brueckner
Jamie Smith
Composer(s) Kenneth C M Young
Platform(s) PlayStation VR
Release
  • WW: October 2, 2018
  • JP: October 4, 2018
Genre(s) Platform
Mode(s) Single-player

Astro Bot Rescue Mission is a 2018 platform video game developed by Japan Studio's Team Asobi division and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for PlayStation 4's PlayStation VR headset. It stars a cast of robot characters first introduced in The Playroom , where they appeared as robots that lived inside of the DualShock 4 controller. In the game, the player teams up with Captain Astro and goes on a quest to rescue his lost crew scattered across different worlds. The game received positive reviews from critics, who praised the game's use of the DualShock 4 and its varied level design.

Contents

Gameplay

Astro Bot Rescue Mission is a 3D platform game in which the player takes control of Astro Bot, a small robot using the DualShock 4. Astro is able to jump, hover, punch and charge his punch into a spinning attack. The game is in VR; one of the particularities is that the camera is controlled by the player's head's movements rather than the right analog stick. As the VR player, they also exist in this world as a giant robot following Astro, with the ability to interact with the environment; for instance by destroying walls with head-butts, dodging enemies attack or blowing in the headset's microphone to spread flower petals.

The goal of the game is to rescue Astro's crew scattered around each world. The game has five worlds and twenty levels, with a total of 213 bots to rescue. There are 8 lost robots in each level and finding them requires skillful jumping and looking carefully through the environment. The game utilizes 3D audio so the player can locate the voice of Bots. At the end of every world, a boss waits and requires a certain number of bots rescued to unlock, occasionally prompting the user to return to previously cleared levels in order to rescue more of the lost bots. Just like Bots, Space Chameleons are hidden per level, and the player can find them by relying on 3D audio. When a Space Chameleon is found, a special extra challenge stage is unlocked, doubling the game content. In some levels, Magic Chests can be found that contains controller gadgets. There are 7 gadgets in total (Hook shot, Water Gun, Shuriken, Tight Rope, Magic Light, Machine Gun and Slingshot). The water gun, for instance lets you grow plants to make platforms for Astro to jump on, activate turbines or cool down lava to create a safe path for Astro Bot. Using these controller gadgets, you are able to help Astro through his journey, combining the 3rd person platforming with the gadget use in 1st Person. This duality is one of Astro Bot's unique points and makes it a mix between traditional platform games and VR positional gameplay. At the end of every world, a huge boss awaits requiring you and Astro to work as a team to defeat.

Development

The game was created by Japan Studio's Team Asobi division. Due to popular demand and fan feedback of the mini game called "Robot Rescue" in The Playroom VR, Japan Studio decided to make a fully fleshed game based on the mini game. Astro Bot Rescue Mission was developed in 18 months by a team of 25 people. [1] The music was composed by Kenneth C M Young. The game has been bundled with fellow VR game Moss . [2]

Reception

The game was released on 2 October 2018 in Europe and North America and 3 October 2018 in Asia in both digital and boxed formats. As of July 2019, Astro Bot Rescue Mission is the highest rated VR game in history according to review site Metacritic, and the 6th highest rated PS4 game in 2018. The game was especially praised for its use of the DualShock 4 controller's features and varied level design. [12] [13] [14]

Chris Dunlap's 10/10 score on GamingAge stated that "Astro Bot Rescue Mission is an extremely fun and engaging game, and a dynamite addition to the growing PSVR library." [15] PSU.com said "Easily the best platformer and PS VR game on the market this year." [16]

Accolades

YearAwardCategoryResultRef.
2018 Game Critics Awards Best VR/AR GameNominated [17]
Gamescom 2018Best Puzzle/Skill GameNominated [18]
9th Hollywood Music in Media Awards Best Original Song ("A Fire in Your Mind")Nominated [19] [20]
The Game Awards 2018 Best VR/AR GameWon [21] [22]
The Edge Awards 2018VR Game of the YearWon [23]
Game of the Year5
2019 New York Game Awards Coney Island Dreamland Award for Best Virtual Reality GameNominated [24]
22nd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Family Game of the Year Nominated [25]
Immersive Reality Game of the Year Nominated
Immersive Reality Technical Achievement Nominated
Outstanding Technical Achievement Nominated
National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers AwardsAnimation, ArtisticNominated [26]
Control Design, VRNominated
Direction in Virtual RealityNominated
Game, Original FamilyNominated
Sound Mixing in Virtual RealityNominated
Use of Sound, New IPNominated
SXSW Gaming Awards Excellence in Technical AchievementNominated [27]
VR Game of the YearNominated
Game Developers Choice Awards Best VR/AR GameNominated [28]
15th British Academy Games Awards Best GameNominated [29]
Game DesignNominated
Game InnovationNominated
Famitsu Awards Special AwardWon [30]
British Academy Children's Awards Game Won [31]
Italian Video Game AwardsInnovation AwardNominated [32]
Japan Game Awards Game Designers AwardWon [33]
The Independent Game Developers' Association AwardsBest Arcade GameNominated [34]

Sequel

A sequel, Astro's Playroom, was released for the PlayStation 5 as a launch title that is pre-installed on every console and served as a tech demo for the new DualSense controller.

Related Research Articles

The DualShock is a line of gamepads developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation family of video game consoles. It is named for vibration-feedback and analog controls. It was introduced in November 1997 as a secondary peripheral for the first PlayStation console. The console's bundle was updated to include DualShock, and phase out the original PlayStation controller and the Dual Analog Controller. The DualShock is the best-selling gamepad of all time by units sold, excluding bundled controllers.

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References

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  2. ↑ "PlayStation VR ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission and Moss Bundle". Archived from the original on 2020-11-17. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  3. ↑ "Astro Bot Rescue Mission for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic.
  4. ↑ Khan, Zubi (October 1, 2018). "Astro Bot: Rescue Mission (PS4) Review". Computer Games Magazine . Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  5. ↑ Chris, Carter (October 6, 2018). "Review: Astro Bot Rescue Mission". Destructoid.
  6. ↑ Hilliard, Kyle (October 5, 2018). "Astro Bot Rescue Mission Review". Game Informer. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  7. ↑ Crowd, Dan (October 4, 2018). "Astro Bot Rescue Mission Review". IGN . Retrieved May 2, 2021.
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  13. ↑ "Astro Bot: Rescue Mission (PS4) Review". October 2018. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  14. ↑ Astro Bot Rescue Mission Review - IGN, 5 October 2018, retrieved 2021-05-02
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  16. ↑ Bagdasarov, Garri (October 1, 2018). "Astro Bot: Rescue Mission Review". PlayStation Universe. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
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  34. ↑ Stephenson, Suzi (September 19, 2019). "TIGA Announces Games Industry Awards 2019 Finalists". The Independent Game Developers' Association . Retrieved September 25, 2019.
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