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Psychonauts (Xbox)

Release Date: 10/02/2006

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Summary

Developer:: Majesco
Publisher:: THQ

Psychonauts is a wildly surreal action-adventure game in which players use paranormal powers to plunge into the minds of bizarre characters. Players journey deep into crazy worlds of infinite possibility to thwart the secret plan of an evil madman and realize the ultimate dream of joining an elite force of psychic superheroes, the Psychonauts.

Players delve into people's minds as Raz, a powerful young cadet at psychic summer camp. While working on his merit badge in levitation, Raz discovers that someone is kidnapping psychic children and stealing their brains. To foil this evil plot and earn the title of Psychonaut, Raz must project himself into the mind of one bizarre character after another to battle their nightmares and inner demons. He does all this while continuing to earn psychic merit badges in subjects such as telekinesis, clairvoyance and fire-starting.

Features:

Blast, think, dodge. Players use cunning wit, paranormal powers and logic to solve twisted puzzles inside other people's minds. Players run, bounce, float, climb, swing, sneak and scoot through this bizarre psychic journey, defeating monsters, lunatics and demons with the Psi-Blast, a mental burst of energy that will banish nightmares.
All in the mind? "Psychonauts" is the only game ever to take place in the minds of the insane and the world in which they live. Players will face the fears, neuroses and bizarre thoughts of villains and lunatics - and even see themselves in a new light - as they progress through a twisted, imaginative, colorful and scary yet fun journey.
Master the powers of the mind. As the game progresses, constant training will unleash in Raz new powers of teleportation, telekinesis, levitation, fire-starting, prophecy and invisibility. Players will use these in the quest to become a stronger, more dynamic hero and to fulfill Raz's lifelong dream of joining the elite force of Psychonauts.
Feature-film quality. Handcrafted animations breathe life into every character. From the sound of sneaking footsteps to the crash of a Psi-Blast, rich sound effects make the worlds come alive. The original soundtrack was recorded to match the action and mood throughout this twisted journey.

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Screenshots

GAME Reviews
Customer Reviews Customer Reviews

Psychonauts; Author: Mark Scott ; Published: 02/02/2006

Deformed, surreal, and mind-bendingly bonkers. And that's just the reviewer…

Psychonauts is an odd one. In fact, 'odd' doesn't even cover it. Part platformer and part graphic adventure, it plays like the illegitimate lovechild of Rayman and old 3D PC puzzler Grim Fandango, with a look lifted straight from the subconscious of Salvador Dali. Odd most certainly isn't the word; try insane. To be honest, we've not seen a game like this in...well, we're not sure we've ever come across a release quite like Psychonauts. It's acutely abstract, but also imaginative, mature and a creative benchmark for the entire games industry. For that reason alone it's worthy of mainstream attention - especially in the current release-lite gaming climate.

Sadly, that's probably the one thing it won't get. Despite enormous critical acclaim from all corners of the gaming globe, the popular trend is for idiosyncratic titles such as Psychonauts to slip into obscurity. This is by no means your Generic Urban Street City Shooter 37, and that may damage what is one of the freshest concepts of recent years - but we say it shouldn't. Bizarre as Double Fine's game is, choose to overlook this character-filled, mind-bending masterpiece and it'll be you that needs your head checking.

Acutely abstract, but also imaginative, mature and a creative benchmark for the entire games industry.

Okay, so it's not the slickest looker on the block. Psychonauts is light on realism and heavy on playschool imagery. Its short, stumpy characters with disproportionately large heads populate a rainbow-bright realm, and frequently delve into the downright weirdness of other's inner psyches, where things get truly surreal. Far from childlike though, Psychonauts' angular, colourful scrawl proves the perfect depiction for its compelling platform play - wrapped in some decidedly witty scripting that makes it an experience to savour.

Of course, to those who've heard of its creator, none of this will come as a surprise. Already boasting the aforementioned Grim Fandango on his CV as well as legendary point 'n clickers Full Throttle and Day of the Tentacle, Tim Schafer has again maintained his immeasurable contribution to interactive entertainment with another flat-out bonkers tale to have you in stitches at every turn.

The player character in Schafer's latest laugh-a-minute outing is Rasputin (or Raz to his friends), a psychically gifted, goggle-wearing half-pint who sneaks into Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp at the start of the game, intent on becoming a fully-fledged member of the world's premier mental-powered mindguards, the titular Psychonauts. However, Raz has just a day until his dad arrives to retrieve the runaway rascal, and all is not well at Whispering Rock. As he hurriedly endeavours to earn his psychic badges Raz soon discovers a conspiracy to steal his fellow camper's minds, leaving them empty, TV-gorking shells of their former selves.

In his quest to safeguard his new friend's psyches, Raz must explore the entire camp and even delve into his classmate's minds; tasked with running, punching, swinging and double-jumping through a diverse ensemble of ingeniously designed platform perils, and facing a taxing set of puzzles rooted firmly in the psychology of each memorable character.

Basic Braining

For instance, the first proper mission, 'Basic Braining', happens in the mind of the drill-sergeant-styled Coach Oleander, and in one section lets you lead a projection of your dumpy buddy Dogan to safety through a mental minefield that reflects the Coach's battle-ridden past. Later in the game, in the best tradition of the graphic adventure, you'll be using inventory items to solve puzzles around the camp, and even undertaking tasks in character's minds as bizarre as battling a stampeding cartoon bull.

Complementing the game's platforming prowess are Raz's psychic powers themselves. Learned over the course of the game, all levels in the physical and mental realms offer abundant options for abilities like pyrokinesis, telekinesis, levitation and even invisibility. These allow you to solve all manner of puzzles that you couldn't with Raz's purely physical skills; setting wooden planks on fire, lifting heavy objects with your mind, wandering right past the game's (admittedly not-so-bright) array of bad guys, and finding the harder-to-reach collectables - of which there are three types, and hundreds in total. Psychonauts is definitely a game with a lot going for it, and one that completists will indulge in for hours longer than the main story - itself weighing in at a pleasingly lengthy 12 to 15 hours.

If right about now Psychonauts seems like just another pleasant platforming experience, that's completely ignoring the game's defining feature; its sheer, unremitting charm. Yes, it has your usual conventions - from Sonic's rail grinding to Rayman's gliding - and a large amount of boss battles, puzzle solving and off-the-wall minigames, but it's also so much more. An affecting audiovisual experience, its music, dialogue and visuals combine for a hilariously engrossing experience unlike anything the platform genre has ever produced.

It seems a crying shame, then, that such a genuinely innovative and entertaining title may fall by the wayside when faced with competition from better-recognised (and distinctly more soulless) gaming heavyweights. All we can do is celebrate Schafer and co.'s commendable vision, and implore you to do the same. Psychonauts shows how giddily gleeful gaming can be; it's a celebration of supreme silliness, and a brain-bogglingly delightful adventure every psychic step of the way.

You'd be mental to miss it.