With me recently acquiring one of the most coveted and sought-after items on the Earth, a Playstation 5, I found myself waiting for my Demon’s Souls and Immortals Fenyx Rising orders to arrive. I needed to pass the time, and luckily, the Playstation 5 comes with a free game, Astro’s Playroom. I didn’t think much of it to be honest, I was interested to see what the DualSense could do at most. However, Astro’s Playroom was a much better experience than just a short showcase of the controller.
Visuals –
Obviously Astro’s Playroom is a free game, so not much should be expected visually. However, that being said, there is still crisp detail and scenery to be seen. I especially love how some of the details on the artefacts looked when zoomed in upon.
Game-Play –
Once again, free game. However, surprisingly, Astro’s Playroom was incredibly satisfying to play. The movement of the character is swift and fluid and the attacks feel like they land very well. There is decent variety of the levels, with their being satisfying rocket propelling, monkey climbing that was more immersive than most gaming moments I have had in recent times, and weapons such as the gun and bow that felt incredibly sturdy to use. All of the aforementioned is obviously complimented by the features of the DualSense controller, but more on that later.
The World and Collectables –
Once again, I was not aware going into this tech demo how much of a Playstation and gaming celebration it was going to be. Seeing moments such as a bot cosplaying as Aloy from Horizon: Zero Dawn, other gaming icons such as Snake from Metal Gear Solid and Kratos from God of War.
In terms of stuff to do, there is actually incentive to complete the game. There is trophies to obtain and a variety of collectables such as the artefacts, which celebrate Playstation history. There is easily enough to do in Astro’s Playroom to warrant it being a €5 game on its own.
The Controller –
The reason this game exists in the first place is to show off the controller. Out of everything I was excited for upon turning on the this console, the controller topped the lot. I was waiting for a revolutionary experience and boy did I get it. It is hard to really put into words how mind-boggling the DualSense feels. It really is something that you will never understand how incredible it is until you give it a try for yourself.
The moments of rain tapping Astro’s umbrella, or the feel of the propellers inside the controller are just some of the highlights of the immersive vibration capabilities of the DualSense. Elsewhere, the other mainline feature is the haptic feedback triggers. It added so much immersion and weight to everything it made use of. I cannot put into words how innovative and unique this entire experience of the DualSense was, and I can only hope it is something that is made use of and not abandoned for most main-line games like the touchpad was on the PS4.
Sadly, I do wonder what so much technology inside a controller will do for the longevity of the DualSense. Controller such as the Joycon have been plagued with issues, and I wouldn’t be surprised if in the coming years we start to hear about drift or other issues with the DualSense as a result of its incredibly crammed technology into such a small space.
Conclusion –
Astro’s Playroom is easily the best demo, tech-demo, or whatever you wish to classify it as, ever. I went in expecting a free game and came out with an experience that revelled in the history of Playstation whilst also providing a unique, memorable and brilliant show-case of the capabilities of the DualSense controller.
Nathan Brennan 