Astro Bot: Accessibility Overview and Review
PlayStation’s Super Mario, but much better!
Hello, dear readers! My name is Victor, and I am a totally blind gaming, technology, and entertainment journalist. I am also an ambassador for universal design, an accessibility consultant, advocate, tester, and public speaker.
As you may remember, the nice folks at PlayStation Norway sent us a review code for Astro Bot on PS5 last week, and since then, Alina and I have embarked on this unique adventure. In case you are not familiar with the series, Astro Bot is a platformer game for the PlayStation 5 from Team Asobi, published under the PlayStation Studios umbrella. It is a sequel to the 2020 Astro’s Playroom and the third game in the Astro Bot series.
First of all, I need to tell you that the game has zero accessibility for totally blind players like myself, so I cannot recommend it if you are visually impaired.
Aside from that, the game is a jam, an experience that is colorful, joyful, endearing, rewarding, and entertaining at the same time.
The game opens with the PS5 mothership being attacked by an unknown villain, resulting in it being wrecked and leaving Astro and the bot crew scattered across the galaxies. As Astro, we will ride our trusty Dual Speeder across more than 50 planets full of fun, danger, and surprises. On our journey, we will unleash our new powers on malevolent, quirky enemies and also on some huge bosses. From sandy beaches to dense jungles and fiery volcanoes, we will explore a myriad of memorable planets in search of our lost crew! Even better, we can feel every jump, punch, boom, and crack through the DualSense controller. In our main mission, we will also get to reunite with many iconic heroes from our beloved PlayStation universe and borrow their abilities to help us along the way!
You can see one of those abilities in the Launch Trailer for the game, but I will not spoil anything for you because PlayStation fans will be delighted to discover them on their own.
The level design is amazing, and everything pops thanks to the boundless imagination of the developers. The visuals are crisp and colorful, while the insane number of planets we will explore keeps the experience fresh. Add to that the out-of-this-world haptics in the DualSense controller and a soundtrack that will make you bob your head all the time with addictive tunes, and you have in your hands one of the most polished and enjoyable PlayStation experiences to date. We’ve seen this type of implementation in the original Astro’s Playroom, but this time it is on an even bigger scale.
Even if this game is not accessible for me, I couldn’t help but love how the controller enriches the immersive experience with sounds moving from the TV to the controller and back.
Although I’m quite disappointed that this game, which has been released under the PlayStation Studios umbrella, does not include even basic accessibility features like text-to-speech, menu narration, navigation assist, or specific sound cues for blind players, I cannot find any other fault.
Astro Bot is PlayStation’s response to Nintendo’s Mario, and it is something to behold.
Astro Bot is releasing September 6 exclusively for PlayStation 5 and this is what gaming should be all about, creating unforgettable experiences that are original, fun, accessible, immersive, atmospheric, and entertaining! Sadly, it fails when it comes to accessibility, especially for disabled players, but on everything else, it delivers in a big way! If you like Astro’s Playroom or games like Super Mario Odyssey, you should pick up Astro Bot right now!
Victor Dima
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