Psychonauts

"Psychedelic"

Looking at the last few years of gaming, you would think it near impossible to find a 3D Platformer that is original. This gen has pumped out heaps of them and hey, I love them. Still, it does start to feel like it's just the same game with the slightly different comic relief character and the slightly different baddie who is trying to take over the world in a slightly different way. If I went on here and explained the nitty-gritty of this game to you, it would probably appear little different. You have your main character who runs and jumps and punches through different worlds collecting items and beating baddies. Sounds as cliched as it gets, right?

Well, the area where Psychonauts is different and, indeed, the area that makes it so good is in how it does all this. It doesn't mess with the fundamentals that make a great 3D Platformer. What it does do is present it in a unique, original and funny world, a world positively beaming with imagination and whimsy. You can say what you like about the gameplay, the graphics, hell any part of the game, but there is always one underlying feature that remains throughout - this game is really, really fun to play. And at the end of the day, that is all that should matter. Just to add a nice bonus to it though, it gets pretty much all the fundamentals right as well.

GAMEPLAY - 9

Like I said, in terms of the basics, Psychonauts doesn't try to change too much. You run and jump, collect, etc. The story it self, however, is startlingly original. You play the role of Raz, a ten-year-old boy who has ran away from his home at the circus to go to a summer camp for young, aspiring psychic cadets. Throughout the game you will enter the mental world of a wide variety of people in order to help fix up their subconscious problems. One of the most impressive aspects of this game is the variety of worlds that you will enter - these range from a giant board game to a city where you are as big as the buildings, to a neighbourhood as seen through the eyes of a totally paranoid security guard and many more. Psychonauts does everything possible to avoid the whole fire level, water level, ice level, etc that many other platformers stick to. The objectives in each level are completely different as well, and are not always a lead-up to some kind of boss fight.

Another very nice and original inclusion are the Psychic Powers that you gain throughout the game. These range from Telekinesis, allowing you to move objects with your mind, to Pyrokinesis, allowing you to burn and many more. These play a vital role in solving the games puzzles, and suit the theme of the game very well. Psychonauts also gets down to the mass-collection of items, but most of these are more or less purely optional. There are the Psy-Cards and Challenge Markers scattered around the real world that allow you to gain levels, the mental cobwebs hanging around in the mental world and the arrowheads in the ground and in items, just to name a few. There is one part of the game where you have to collect a lot of arrowheads, but it does break up the gameplay quite well. For item-collecting enthusiasts, there are plenty of things to find in this game, enough to keep you going for hours after the game proper has been completed.

GRAPHICS - 8.5

The graphics in Psychonauts are generally very impressive. One thing that must be noted is the artistic beauty of the characters and worlds that, while not always stunning in a purely graphical sense, are very unique and interesting, and go a long way to helping the originality of the game as a whole. The cutscenes in particular are very impressive, and at its best is around about as good as I've seen on the PS2.

HOWEVER, this game (for me anyway, playing the PAL version), does have a tendency to get quite choppy in frame-rate. Its not all the time, and it rarely gets too bad, but it is noticeable. The game also clips around a bit, and does have a few glitches. Its nothing to stop you from playing this gem, but it is clear that the graphics control was just a tad rushed. In general though, the game is presented very well with a nice "cartoony-yet-serious" look that reminded me of Tim Burton movies.

SOUND - 10

The major standout of this game is its sound. Both the soundtrack and the voice acting are just amazing. The voice acting in particular is very impressive, and is quite possibly the best I have ever seen in a game. I'm always a little iffy about voice acting in games, having played several that have been nearly ruined by its inclusion. But Psychonauts really nails it. The great jokes in this game are given a whole new level by the energetic and inspired voices the characters are given, bringing them to life right in front of you.

The soundtrack it self is also very nice, with quite a few memorable tunes. The music always hits the mood of the area spot-on, light and cherry or dark and melodramatic when it needs to be. All in all, the sound aspect of this game really helps it to stand out above most others, and really does make the game much more enjoyable. People who despise bad voice acting like myself will be delighted with this one.

CONTROLS - 8

Psychonauts handles the controls well enough, and the camera will very rarely get stuck. There are a few times when it will be positioned in a tricky angle, making what would be an easy jump quite difficult, but it doesn't happen too often. Generally speaking, the controls are good enough to let you do what you want, and rarely get in the way. Thats really all you could ever ask for anyway.

LASTIBILITY - 9.5

I honestly can't imagine anyone playing through this game and not doing it again. I played this through a second time almost as soon as I had finished it the first, and found it just as enjoyable (although quite a lot easier). This game is also one of the funniest ones I've seen, and is great just to go through and have a good laugh. There are a tonne of things to collect and conversations you can find. Honestly, there are literally hundreds of voiced conversations that you can miss by rushing through this game, so there is plenty of new dialogue to see on a second play through. As I stressed before though, this is a fun game to play, and as a result I see this being one that you go back to again many times in years to come. You're probably aware that this game sold quite poorly - take no head, the gaming masses are filled with idiots. This game deserves to be in your collection, it is a true gem and one of the best games of this generation. Sure to be a cult classic in years to come.

FINAL MARK - 9.5 (Rounded down to 9).

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/19/06