E3 2002Psychonauts impressions
Play as a character with the ability to enter people's minds in this Xbox platformer.
At this year's E3, we got a chance to see Psychonauts, which is in development at Double Fine Productions. Double Fine is the studio that was founded by Full Throttle and Grim Fandango creator Tim Schafer, and Psychonauts is perhaps one of the most unusual games at this year's E3. During the presentation, Schafer explained that he likes the fact that console games give you something to do if you get stuck at a particular point in the game as opposed to PC adventure games, which sometimes grind to a halt when you're unable to solve a particular puzzle. He also wanted to create a game that is easily accessible and will appeal to a wider audience. These ideas have been applied to Psychonauts, a platformer in which you take on the role of a boy named Raz who desperately wants to become a member of the Psychonauts, a CIA-like group that gathers information by invading people's minds. But before he can join the group, Raz has to go through training at a school for psychics, where he has to earn merit badges for various psychic powers.
The school level essentially functions as hub for the game, as Raz will meet up with different characters at the school who need his help. In one of the first missions in the game, one of the teachers at the school asks Raz to come up to the classroom so that he can attempt to help a girl who's been having nightmares. While traveling up to the classroom, you'll become familiar with most of Raz's basic skills, which include jumping, the ability to swing from trapezes, and the ability to walk across tightropes (which Shafer explained is due to Raz's acrobatic family background). You'll also learn how to use Raz's psychic skills (such as mind control and confusion), which you access via a thought bubble that appears over his head. This thought bubble can also transform into a ball that Raz can ride around the level and a land mine that can hit numerous enemies in a single area.
When you finally reach the classroom, you'll jump into the mind of the girl and immediately find yourself in an odd Nightmare Before Christmas-like level where there are lamps made of bacon, sinister-looking trees, and large slabs of meat at every turn. Within the first few seconds of entering the girl's mind, you'll see an odd-looking rabbit that the teacher says may be the source of her nightmares, so you're told to follow it. The enemies in this particular level are called sensors, and they attempt to attack Raz because they know he doesn't belong in her imagination. These enemies are a little difficult to describe because they look so odd--they almost look like walking stalks of asparagus--but they yell warnings at Raz in a hilarious robot voice. A few zaps of Raz's psychic bolts can take the sensors down, but it's also possible to avoid them entirely by using Raz's psychic ability to turn himself invisible.
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- GameSpot Score8.4great
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- Majesco Games
- Double Fine Prod.
- 3D Platformer
- Release: Apr 26, 2005
- ESRB: Teen
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