We had felt the blow at the Tokyo Game Show 2018, but we did not expect such a degree of mastery over the five hours that our first run required. Before getting to the heart of the matter, let's remind those who jump on the bandwagon that Astro Bot allows you to embody the little automaton of The Playroom VR (SOS Robots). This time, he will have to rescue his fellow creatures scattered over five planets (divided into four levels) of an unknown galaxy following a terrible crash which, in addition, completely pulverized their ship. No need to draw a picture: to bring together the different parts of the machine, you will have to overcome the boss that each of these worlds shelters. Yes, it's pure platforming, and we never imagined that virtual reality could revolutionize the genre to such an extent. Concretely, how does it work? Well, imagine Captain Toad but with the rules reversed: it is no longer a question of moving the camera in all directions to tame the slightest perspective, it is now up to the player to turn his head, lean, squirm on his chair. It's quite confusing at first, because if you indeed control Astro in the 3rd person, when you put on the PlayStation VR, you find yourself in the shoes of a second character in subjective view. In other words, Astro Bot has two levels of controls that sublimate yet ultra basic gameplay.
A master stroke. This is how we could sum up Astro Bot, which has understood everything in virtual reality, a bit like Super Mario 64 with 3D.
The mini-android can jump, propel itself briefly in the air, throw straight lines, and that's it. Old school controls that refer to the time of the first Mario, which did not prevent today's almost forty-somethings from taking a lot of pleasure. Team ASOBI! is however less vicious than Nintendo, since unless you jump voluntarily into the void, it is impossible to fall. In fact, every time we get dangerously close to the edge, a kind of invisible wall prevents us from taking the extra step. It will certainly not please platform purists, but it must also be recognized that the appreciation of distances, angles and depth is more delicate in VR. As for the second character that we control in FPS view, the gyroscopic features of PlayStation VR allow him to headbutt, dodge projectiles, or even shake his head to remove the molars that cloud his vision. But the most interesting remain the gadgets that he has the possibility of activity via the touchpad of the DualShock 4. Well, these additional tools are imposed according to the courses, but they have the advantage of establishing a complementarity between the two protagonists. For example, using the grappling hook's rope, Astro will be able to cross chasms, while shurikens will be invaluable for cutting ropes, freeing him from cobwebs, and creating makeshift platforms by planting them in blocks of wood.
THIS HERO OF THE FUTURE…
We also think of the Super Mario Sunshine-style water pump that allows you to cool the lava and walk on it. Personally, we loved the flashlight with which there is a way to freeze the ghosts like in Luigi's Mansion, and even to reveal passages invisible to the naked eye. What is particularly powerful with Astro Bot is that the developers manage to offer two-three distinct mechanics with a single gadget, hence the freshness that we feel in each world we discover. It's even more exhilarating when you try to recover the eight survivors in each level: some are really well hidden and you have to have a keen sense of observation to spot them. No reason to panic anyway, since around twenty survivors will be enough to open up access to the master of the place. Clearly, to earn the right to compete against the 5th golgoth, we must have 100 Astro friends in our possession. No need to force your talent therefore, which we also see during boss fights where the patterns are quite easy to decipher. Basically, the interest of these meetings lies elsewhere: they are both superbly produced, skilfully staged and full of humor. Special mention to the final fight where our opponent slaps feints that made us laugh. With a formidable efficiency, the level design transported us just as much by only relying on our perception of space which is no longer the same with virtual reality. We understand better why Nicolas Doucet, the creative director, assured us that playing Astro Bot on a classic screen would make no sense: it would be emptied of all its substance, of all those magical moments that only VR can provide. .
The immersion is so crazy that we swallowed Astro Bot in one go, without the slightest pause. Five hours of drunkenness during which we did not feel the effects of motion sickness.
The aquatic areas are an opportunity to discover a completely different atmosphere where the sound is muffled, where each of our exhalations creates bubbles on the screen thanks to the microphone. We were even surprised to lower our heads when the waves started to get rough. In short, the immersion is so crazy that we swallowed Astro Bot in one go, without the slightest pause. Five hours of drunkenness during which we did not feel the effects of motion sickness. According to what Nicolas Doucet explained to us during our meeting in Tokyo, although the player can walk everywhere with Astro, in reality, he never deviates from an axis from the beginning to the end of the level, which relieves brain and stomach. Graphically, Astro Bot looks good even if a title such as Moss is more successful in this area. It lacks details in the backgrounds, the textures sometimes make the mouth, but the game largely makes up for it at the level of the bosses who take up all the space and recall Astro's Minipouss size. And since we are talking about the things that sadden us a little, the unlimited credits and the checkpoints every two meters definitely shoot down the difficulty. However, we only have three lives against the bosses, but we have to believe that the developers did not want to frustrate anyone and play the accessibility card thoroughly. Fortunately, those looking for a challenge will be able to rely on the 25 challenges that are unlocked by staring at the camouflaged chameleons in each stage; challenges that will allow you to revisit the levels but under more tense conditions.
