Psychonauts (PC)

“Amazing as hell just really bad graphics (you can even see compression artifacts on the textures).”

“Amazing as hell just really bad graphics (you can even see compression artifacts on the textures).”

“One of the most fun games I have played in years. It's silly, ridiculous and corny at times but that's part of the charm. Check this one out for some laid back fun.”

“One of the most fun games I have played in years. It's silly, ridiculous and corny at times but that's part of the charm. Check this one out for some laid back fun.”

“Psychonauts is an action-adventure (if you're willing to apply that label. I'm not.) set in a summer camp. The only way to differentiate said camp from all others on earth is that it's attended by children with latent psychic talent. The camp...”

“Psychonauts is an action-adventure (if you're willing to apply that label. I'm not.) set in a summer camp. The only way to differentiate said camp from all others on earth is that it's attended by children with latent psychic talent. The camp supervisors are government agents whose goal it is to weed out the finest psychic minds to train them as 'Psychonauts"" -- special agents with psychic powers, if you hadn't guessed that already.

Out of nowhere comes a young boy named Razputin. He escaped from his acrobat family at the circus, and wants to become a Psychonaut. His psychic talent being above the bar, he is permitted to stay in camp until his parents pick him up. Before he can leave, however, he becomes caught in the middle of an evil plot to take over the world, as if that particular villainous trope hasn't been cut down to its roots. So, Raz must explore the minds of others around him in order to save the campers' brains. Along the way, he'll learn new types of psychic powers that allow him to set stuff on fire, turn himself invisible, and look through someone else's eyes. All of the psi powers work well, and it doesn't take any time at all to pick up how to use them effectively.

The mechanics are somewhat typical of ""action-adventure"" games. You run around attacking various types of enemies, performing acrobatics, interacting with other campers, and COLLECTING ITEMS!!! Finding various types of nicknacks is a big part of what you'll be doing throughout the entire game. While the variety in the level design makes it nigh impossible to become bored, you will find yourself going on treasure hunts approximately 80% of the time.

In a few places, it's almost impossible to progress without having to backtrack slightly, which is only slightly annoying, but sufficiently rewarding when figured out. As mentioned above, the level design is incredibly varied, with approximately a dozen different minds to explore. You get to change size and descend onto a giant strategy board game, Terrorize a faux asian city populated by fish a la Godzilla, and avoid government agents in a small, twisty, suburban neighborhood in the sky. The interface is a bit frustrating. Primarily because I played this on PC, I presume, since PCs and "action-adventures" don't work well without a gamepad in between them.

The Writing is funny as hell. Even the characters that you don't interact with a lot are well defined. Each character is unique, and it's impossible to go through any particular dialogue scene without smiling at the very least.

Psychonauts is much like a pretty librarian: Intelligent, with good looks and a beautiful voice to back them up. The voice acting is outstanding. The graphics are not earth-shattering, but good. At the time of release, they were a bit above-average, unless I'm mistaken. The art style could be said to have been heavily influenced by Picasso: the characters are caricatures in a plethora of different shapes and sizes, each instantly recognizable.

On the whole, Psychonauts is a humorous, witty adventure: well worth the time it takes to finish (10-15 hours). You won't need to play through it more than once unless you absolutely have to find every collectible you OCD freak. Finally, I've heard a fair number of people argue that Psychonauts is the "best game of all time." While I agree that it's a wonderful piece, it is not perfect. Having a "best game of all time" is something that we can't expect to be agreed upon until game design becomes a more serious medium to study and express one's self creatively with.”

“A game filled with humor, action, an intriguing story, and great art. An overall great game.”

“A game filled with humor, action, an intriguing story, and great art. An overall great game.”

“Fun game is fun.”

“Fun game is fun.”