![]() ![]() ![]() You might recall the Super NES and Super Mario World’s Mode 7 effects on display, or the Sega CD’s numerous pack-in games from various releases in the system’s cycle, from Sonic CD to Ecco the Dolphin to Sewer Shark. If you’re more apt to be familiar with modern consoles, the PlayStation 4 had the free PS Plus download Resogun, a 2D side-scrolling shooter. In comparison, Astro’s Playroom may be arguably one of the best, if not the best games to be featured with a new system, which is no small feat. It will make you into a believer in the DualSense and in Sony’s new little mascot.Astro’s Playroom, the free download available after getting your new PlayStation 5 up and running, may have you thinking back to the history of pack in games with consoles and wondering when exactly you’ve played one that’s as much fun or functional, in terms of getting you acquainted with the system’s capabilities. So when you get the chance, please do not judge this game by its price tag. While the PS5 is difficult to get your hands on this holiday season, it won’t always be. Also to roll out some Astro merch, since the little bot is practically perfect plushy material. The company would be wise to green light a full-fledged series of Astro games sooner rather than later. Sony had a critical darling on their hands with Astro Bot Rescue Mission but, for whatever reason, the DualSense is making a far more convincing mass-market case for itself than virtual reality has so far. It literally feels like nothing else I’ve ever experienced before in the medium of video games.īoth the gameplay loop and the immersive feedback of the DualSense are addicting and, like any other drugs you try, become more than the sum of their parts when used in combination. There’s a wonderful sense of discovery when you put on a giant spring, realize that you need to tilt the controller and squeeze your triggers to pressurize it, and aim Astro in whatever direction it needs to go in. I had more fun zipping little Astro into tiny outfits and learning how to use them than I have playing a Mario game in many, many years. The game takes place entirely within a fantasized version of the PS5’s internals, with each area of the console’s architecture functioning as a gateway to a themed location in which Astro will need to don a new robot suit in order to rise to new challenges. After playing this game, you’ll be begging for everything you play going forward to keep up with it. Which is what makes Astro’s Playroom Sony’s secret weapon. It’s mesmerizing.Īs capable as this feature set is, third party devs aren’t really incentivized to put any time or energy investing into features that won’t be included in the release of their game for other platforms. But the triggers start fighting you back since it’s not always easy to get a grip in the rain. Your character begins to slip around the environment so, to steady yourself, you use the triggers to direct it to grab on to something. Then, before you can even visually register it, you can hear and feel raindrops falling on to your controller. To get an idea of what this does, imagine you’re playing a game and suddenly you see a flash of lightning. The key to its success is its utilization of the PS5’s new DualSense controller, which touts immersive features like a built-in microphone and speaker, advanced haptic feedback, touch controls, motion controls, and adaptive triggers. This does not properly explain to you, reader, exactly what makes this game so addicting. Astro’s Playroom comes free as a pack-in with the purchase of every Sony PlayStation 5 and follows a small, pudgy, adorable little robot as it collects coins, stomps enemies, and unlocks artifacts from PlayStation history. And the game that did it is the sequel to the 2013 PS4 game The Playroom and 2018’s PSVR game Astro Bot Rescue Mission, with which I was also obsessed. ![]()
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