Astro Bot Rescue Mission

Astro Bot Rescue Mission is a platform video game developed by Japan Studio's Asobi Team division and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4's PlayStation VR (PSVR) headset. It stars a cast of robot characters introduced in The Playroom, where they appeared as robots that lived inside of the DualShock 4 controller. The player teams up with Captain Astro and goes on a quest to rescue his lost crew scattered across 5 worlds and 20 levels. In total, there are 213 Bots to rescue. In a VR space, the player uses their body to lean and see past obstacles or headbutt parts of the scenery. The DualShock 4 controller is used to control Astro, but exists within the VR space as a virtual gadget to help Astro on his way. The game counts 20 stages, 6 bosses, 26 challenge stages, and a collection room on board the Astro Ship.

Astro Bot Rescue Mission
North American cover art
Developer(s)Japan Studio (Asobi Team)
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 4 (PlayStation VR)
ReleaseOctober 2, 2018
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Overall, the game received very positive reviews and is often cited one of the best PSVR games.

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 controller. 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. 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 Asobi Team. 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. The music was composed by Kenneth C M Young. The game has been bundled with fellow VR game Moss.[1]

Reception

The game was released on October 2, 2018 in Europe and North America and October 3, 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. 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."[5] PSU.com said "Easily the best platformer and PS VR game on the market this year."[7]

Accolades
YearAwardCategoryResultRef
2018 Game Critics Awards Best VR/AR Game Nominated [8]
Gamescom 2018 Best Puzzle/Skill Game Nominated [9]
9th Hollywood Music in Media Awards Best Original Song ("A Fire in Your Mind") Nominated [10][11]
The Game Awards 2018 Best VR/AR Game Won [12][13]
The Edge Awards 2018 VR Game of the Year Won [14]
Game of the Year 5
2019 New York Game Awards Coney Island Dreamland Award for Best Virtual Reality Game Nominated [15]
D.I.C.E. Awards Outstanding Technical Achievement Nominated [16]
Family Game of the Year Nominated
Immersive Reality Technical Achievement Nominated
Immersive Reality Game of the Year Nominated
National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards Animation, Artistic Nominated [17]
Control Design, VR Nominated
Direction in Virtual Reality Nominated
Game, Original Family Nominated
Sound Mixing in Virtual Reality Nominated
Use of Sound, New IP Nominated
SXSW Gaming Awards Excellence in Technical Achievement Nominated [18]
VR Game of the Year Nominated
Game Developers Choice Awards Best VR/AR Game Nominated [19]
15th British Academy Games Awards Best Game Nominated [20]
Game Design Nominated
Game Innovation Nominated
Famitsu Awards Special Award Won [21]
Italian Video Game Awards Innovation Award Nominated [22]
Japan Game Awards Game Designers Award Won [23]
The Independent Game Developers' Association Awards Best Arcade Game Nominated [24]

Sequel
Main article: Astro's Playroom

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.

References
  1. "PlayStation®VR ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission and Moss Bundle".
  2. "Astro Bot Rescue Mission for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic.
  3. Chris, Carter (October 6, 2018). "Review: Astro Bot Rescue Mission". Destructoid.
  4. 87 (October 3, 2018). "Astro Bot Rescue Mission : une pépite de la plate-forme en réalité virtuelle". Jeuxvideo.com.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. Dunlap, Chris (October 2, 2018). "Review: Astro Bot Rescue Mission (PS4)". GamingAge. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  6. GameCentral (October 1, 2018). "Astro Bot: Rescue Mission review – a new reality for gaming". Metro.
  7. BAGDASAROV, GARRI (October 2, 2018). "Review: Astro Bot Rescue Mission (PS4)". PSU.com. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  8. Watts, Steve (July 5, 2018). "Resident Evil 2 Wins Top Honor In E3 Game Critics Awards". GameSpot. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  9. Keane, Sean (August 22, 2018). "Gamescom 2018 award winners include Marvel's Spider-Man, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate". CNET. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  10. "2018 Music in Visual Media Nominations". Hollywood Music in Media Awards. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
  11. "2018 HMMA WINNERS". Hollywood Music in Media Awards. November 14, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  12. McWhertor, Michael (November 13, 2018). "The Game Awards 2018 nominees led by God of War, Red Dead Redemption 2". Polygon. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  13. Grant, Christopher (December 6, 2018). "The Game Awards 2018: Here are all the winners". Polygon. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  14. "The Edge Awards". Edge. Future (328): 72–91. February 2019.
  15. Keyes, Rob (January 3, 2019). "2018 New York Game Awards Nominees Revealed". Screen Rant. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  16. Makuch, Eddie (January 10, 2019). "God Of War, Spider-Man Lead DICE Awards; Here's All The Nominees". GameSpot. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  17. "Nominee List for 2018". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. February 11, 2019. Archived from the original on February 13, 2019. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  18. Trent, Logan (February 11, 2019). "Here Are Your 2019 SXSW Gaming Awards Finalists!". South by Southwest. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  19. Good, Owen S. (January 4, 2019). "Red Dead Redemption 2 tops list of Game Developers Choice nominees". Polygon. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  20. Fogel, Stefanie (March 14, 2019). "'God of War,' 'Red Dead 2' Lead BAFTA Game Awards Nominations". Variety'. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  21. Brian (April 5, 2019). "Famitsu Award 2018 winners announced - Smash Bros. wins Game of the Year, Sakurai named MVP, more". Nintendo Everything. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  22. "Italian Video Game Awards Nominees and Winners". Italian Video Game Awards. April 11, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  23. Craddock, Ryan (September 13, 2019). "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Dominates The Japan Game Awards 2019". Nintendo Life. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  24. 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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