A warped graphical style dresses up this amazing adventure-platformer for the PC that will leave you wanting more.
Psychonauts puts you in the shoes of Razputin, aka. Raz, is a young adult that is looking to tap into his nascent mental powers at the famed PSI Camp for adolescents. PSI Camp is a place where people with Psychic powers come to train to become Pyschonauts, agents of justice that do battle with their mental powers. Raz has come to learn, but he was told that he could not attend without his parent’s permission. Raz convinces the camp administrators to let him train while they wait for his parents to show up and give him permission. The story takes you through the training of a Psychonaut, until evil forces capture all the teachers and students leaving them as lobotomized zombies. It is up to you to fight the forces of evil while reacquiring the brains to return everyone to a normal state.
Psychonauts is a visual fest for the eyes and you will not be disappointed with what you see. It has a style that is reminiscent of Grim Fandango, but with a wider color palette. Each of the characters you come across has a unique style. Even the bit players have distinguishing features that remove any sort of monotony. Backgrounds are awash with lots of colors and shapes. There is a theme of not using too many sharp angles. Everything has a rounded, if not distorted shape to show the imbalance of most of the minds in the game. For instance on one level, you encounter a character that never reached the limelight because of an inner demon. When you get into her mind, it looks like a stage show. Everything in her mind plays out on a stage. Or on another level you learn levitation from a teacher that is a 60’s party girl. Her mind is like a never ending episode of Laugh-In.
Psychonauts also presents a festival for the ears. Voice acting is superb and you truly feel as if all the actors put a lot of effort to individualize their performances. No one takes the easy route out, or phones in a performance. Richard Horvitz gives an exceptional performance as Razputin. He conveys a sense of confidence while injecting a great streak of humor into the character. Sound effects have also received a lot of TLC. From bouncing on a levitation ball, or throwing karate chops, the sound is full and vibrant. What is surprising is that you never really notice the ambient soundtrack in the background. For the most part, there is music in the background of most scenes but it does not have enough presence to stick out from the other sounds. You can try to make adjustments in the control panel of the game, but the music is just recorded at a low level.
Tim Schafer is known for creating some innovative content and it is no different here. Using different minds as the levels you play in, you are presented with a rather standard platformer. But you never notice it, because what surrounds you never keeps your focus on the generic platform jump, move, and jump formula. And the way that things are translated from textbooks to the game is quite funny. Repressed memories are locked suitcases that you have to find the key to unlock their hidden secrets. Psychic cobwebs represent the forgotten memories that have escaped your consciousness. It is a way to relate the complex nature of the brain in a simple way.
However, the game is not without its faults. Some levels towards the end are extremely difficult. Save points come in the form of checkpoints which can sometimes leave you stuck when the action gets a tad bit rough. Also, the language in the game can sometimes be a bit more than the common man understands. It won’t stop you from playing the game, but you may not get some of the deeper comments in the game. It is a bit short, even with the harder stages at the end. You will probably breeze through the game in about 10 hours.
In the end, Psychonauts is a unique game of action and adventure. The value of the game comes from its style and appearance. It will suck you in and keep you, want to know which way the story will turn. The game leaves you wanting more at the end and that is the definition of a great game.