Astro-Bot: Vicious Void Review

It feels like Astro-Bot just can’t miss. Maybe it’s the strong fundamentals of a great game loop or the gorgeous and smart level design or the precise balance between innovation and core mechanics but however you slice it, Astro-Bot’s greatness feels like more of a fact than an opinion at this point. And these newest levels, released weekly as part of a package called “Vicious Void”, absolutely reinforce this.

So far, each of the free update levels have focused on fleshing out the relationship between game’s central platforming and it’s powerups. Whether that was the timed trials of Stellar Speedway or the powerup playground of Winter Wonder, Astro-Bot always brought something new to the table with it’s updates. And with “Vicious Void”, it’s a punishing level of difficulty that is as infuriating as it is triumphant. This is FromSoft level difficulty tuning, pushing the player to brink of their skills but doing so fairly. Some of these levels are among the hardest in the game and by the end of them, you’ll be sweaty and perhaps even euphoric.

TICK TOCK SHOCK

This first level, “Tick Tock Shock” is really fun. It’s a got a kick of challenge, but is pretty manageable. It uses the clock power-up and requires you to slowdown time to perform it’s platforming. Overall, it’s one of the most straightforward and probably the easiest of this level set. It’s set in the icy area that reoccurs throughout the game, but has a bit more color than many of those levels.

This level kind of kicks ass. It’s not crazy, like some of the ones that follow, but it’s fast paced and involved. The Slo-Mo Watch is an awesome power-up. I’ve always found that it brings a strong start-stop tempo element to the gameplay that is refreshing. The structure allows you to approach each section one at a time, which eliminates the common frustration of these challenge levels, which is that they tend to come at you so fast, you have to learn through death after death. But thankfully, the Slo-Mo Watch, by it’s very nature, allows you to take things at your own speed.

THRUST AND BUST

Naughty puns aside, this level is a bitch. It’s probably the hardest in the game due to the sheer amount of coin flip segments. You have to perfectly time a lot of things and you’re doing it with the Bulldog Dash, which is just imprecise enough to guarantee an error when used a lot. You’re gonna die a lot during this level and you’re probably going to end up exploring a lot of different ways to get past the sections. I tried a methodical approach, a frenzied powerup heavy approach, half-half and other rations, and what I found was that there really isn’t an ideal way to do it. It’s all up to your execution.

Difficulty aside, this is a nice looking level and has some fun sections. It’s not that it’s poorly designed-it is that the sum of these really hard parts is really just a bunch of really hard parts that you can’t guarantee beating consistently. Individually, these are nice pieces of platforming business. Put together, they’re somewhat oppressive and chaotic. I probably gave this level 200 attempts. Many others have done the same. “Thrust and Bust” might sound like fun, and at times, it is- but be prepared for a struggle if you don’t get a little luck.

COCK-A-DOODLE DOOM

“Cock-A-Doodle Doom” is in a similar vein to “Thrust And Bust”, but a little shorter and a little easier. There’s still some sections of this that are pretty difficult, but they’re more spread out and more consistently dealt with. The Chicken Jump, which is basically a vertical form of the Bulldog Dash, is much easier to manage and deal with. This level’s emphasis on vertical movement as opposed to horizontal movement makes much more straightforward. In most cases, you’re either on a platform or you’re not and you either timed the jump correctly or you did not.

The environment of this level is gorgeous. It builds on the Asian theme of levels such as Bathhouse Battle and Danger Dojo, with the bamboo stalks, the neat wooden platforms and the general South Pacific backgrounds. It’s an aesthetic I was happy to revisit and it fits well here. I don’t think this was my favorite level, but I definitely felt like it struck the balance between difficult and fun more than “Thrust And Bust.”

HARD TO BEAR

This level is more fun than challenging. It also let’s you use the Teddy Cymbals, which are not present much in the main game and frankly, they’re a delight. They’re similar to the Slo-Mo Clock, but instead of acting on time itself, they act on the moving parts of the level, such as platforms. This makes for a more controllable level flow and allows you to take the sections at your own pace. It’s not too tricky, but it does offer something new.

The level itself is pretty. It revisits the Luna-Sola area (it flips from day to night), which was one of my favorites from the base game. I think this level in particular hits that awesome Astro-Bot sweet spot of fun and engaging. It’s not a pain in the ass but it tests you, especially the last section. Overall, this was like a 9/10.

ARMORED HARDCORE

The final level in this pack is predictably strong, though it’s much shorter and less difficult than some of the others. It features the Samurai Roll, which lets you turn into a steel ball and roll around, in addition to making you impervious to spikes, flames and some enemies. Take it medium speed and don’t overthink it. You’ll be fine.

The locale is cool. It blends the Egyptian themed architecture with some tropical vibes. If you fall in the water, a big fish will come and eat you. I found this level to be a bit unclimactic, but I preferred that to the end of Stellar Speedway, which had one of the hardest levels in the game to conclude. The platforming is still solid and obstacles still abound. I could see it being hard for some people, but I’m good with the Samurai Roll and tackled this one pretty easily.

CONCLUSION

There’s not to much to conclude here. “Vicious Void” is good, just as I thought it would be. It’s hard, really hard at times, but it delivers. It’s frustrating at times, but never feels unfair and it sticks to the established formula of all these update levels, which is to use powerups to reshape the main platforming experience. I think, again, that Astro-Bot maintains it’s greatness with this addition to it’s roster. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it takes for a good hard spin.