New impressions for Team Asobi’s Astro Bot are available courtesy of PlayStation Blog, which went hands-on with an early preview build. While PlayStation confirmed over 80 levels spread across multiple galaxies, they’ll fall into one of three difficulties – Easy, Normal, and Hard.
Sky Garden is an Easy level and described as the “vision of idyllic paradise with pink robo-flamingos wading in inviting blue ponds.” There are also plenty of Sakura trees to admire as the player ventures across interconnected floating islands. Construction Derby is less organic, as the Normal difficulty level has “cranes, i-beams, scaffolding, and other equipment reach above the clouds, making for precarious platforming.”
As for the Hard stages, there’s Swinging Sentries, described as “deceptively simple” and “bite-sized” but packed with spiked ball-and-chain-wielding enemies and numerous platforms. Completing it unlocks Slowdown Showdown, featuring enemies, platforms and environmental obstacles that move way beyond regular speed and require an Hourglass item for Astro to traverse.
Both levels will challenge experienced platforming fans, though they also offer quick respawns on death. Interestingly, they’re themed after the classic PlayStation face buttons, seemingly implying that two more deadly levels await.
Astro Bot launches on September 6th for PS5 and retails for $60. It will also receive free post-launch DLC, including new challenge levels.
