It’s
a
crazy
week
for
Sony.
Just
a
day
ago
they
had
to
announce

the
closure
of
Concord,
the
live-service
shooter
from
Firewalk
Studios
that
launched
less
than
two
weeks
ago.
It
is
undoubtedly
the
biggest
flop
the
PlayStation
brand
has
ever
seen.
But
while
Concord
is
being
laid
to
rest,
possibly
forever,
PlayStation’s
latest
exclusive
is
getting
ready
to
meet
its
adoring
public,
and
the
reviews
are
nothing
short
of
glowing.

Super
cutesy
platformer
Astro
Bot
is
due
to
launch
tomorrow,
September
6
for
PS5
and
the
reviews
have
begun
rolling
in.
Critic
after
critic
have
bestowed
high
scores
on
Asobi’s
new
game.
In
fact,
based
on
both
Opencritic
and
Metacritic,
Astro
Bot
is
the
highest
reviewed
game
of
the
year.

Well,
almost.

On
Metacritic
the
issue
is
confused
slightly
because
Astro
Bot’s
impressive
score
of
94
currently
grants
it
second
place.
First
place
is
held
by
Elden
Ring:
Shadow
of
the
Erdtree
with
a
score
of
95.
Of
course,
Shadow
of
the
Erdtree
is
actually
an
expansion
rather
than
a
standalone
game,
so
it
all
comes
down
to
a
technicality:
Astro
Bot
is
the
highest
scoring

standalone
game
of
2024.

Over
on
Opencritic,
the
answer
is
much
more
clear
cut
because
Astro
Bot
currently
holds
a
95,
putting
it
one
whole
point
ahead
of
Fromsoft’s
massive
add-on.

That
mighty
impressive
score
also
means
Astro
Bot
is
now
the

highest
rated
PlayStation
exclusive
on
Opencritic,
as
well
as
the
8th
best
reviewed
game.
The
previous
best-reviewed
PlayStation
game
on
the
site
was
held
by
Kratos
in
God
of
War
2018.

Metacritic’s
history
goes
back
a
lot
further
than
Opencritic,
so
Astro
Bot
doesn’t
rank
as
highly.
Over
there,
it’s
Uncharted
2:
Among
Thieves
that
boasts
the
accolade
of
being
PlayStation’s
highest
rated
game.

Meanwhile,
Astro
Bot’s
score
of
94
ties
it
with
numerous
amazing
games,
including
the
likes
of
Gears
of
War,
God
of
War,
Call
of
Duty
4,
The
Elder
Scrolls
IV:
Oblivion
and
Devil
May
Cry.
Not
bad
company
to
be
in.

Of
course,
critical
reception
doesn’t
always
equal
sales,
so
we
will
have
to
wait
and
see
if
the
adorable
Astro
will
shift
millions
of
copies.
Anecdotally
though,
I
have
to
say
there’s
a
lot
of
hype
surrounding
Astro’s
triple-A,
full-game
debut,
especially
given
how
good
his
previous
adventure
was.