Psychonauts

"You'd have to be a psycho to ignore this game."

I remember last summer when my birthday had come, and I got a lot of extra money to spend that time. So I took a trip to Wal-Mart. I looked around for an Xbox game because it had been awhile since I had one, and then I saw this game. Then I remembered seeing commercials of it being critically acclaimed material. I got it at full price, but it was fifty bucks well-spent.

Story 10/10
You definitely don't see a story like this everyday. Everything starts at a summer campsite with kids being lectured by Coach Oleander (who's acting like a Drill Sargent) on how amazing the brain is and to fight for mental freedom. Special guests at the camp include Milla Vodello and Sasha Nein, who are famous psychics in the game. Then Raz, the protagonist, was spying on all of them, and Oleander detected him, he wanted to expose him. Sasha, Milla, and Oleander tried to levitate him out of the bushes, but they claimed his mental barrier was extremely powerful. Raz was exposed and introduced himself as a kid who was always hoping to become a Psychonaut, pointing things out on the camp program, and convincing Oleander that he should stay. Unfortunately, Milla says that he can only stay until his parents pick him up, and Raz gets to participate in a few activities. But it gets more complicated after the first stage.

Sound and Music 10/10
The music is subtle, but effective. It suits every environment you visit. You won't get up and dance to it or anything, but it works wherever it's implemented. The sound effects are very good. All the small effects from picking up figments to roaring telekinetic bears fit.

Graphics 10/10
The graphics are very unique. They remind me of a Tim Burton film in some sort of way. The cel shading-ish colors used in some places also kind of help balance everything out. Some of the characters have wacky designs, like that weird, annoying Bobby kid at the beginning.

Gameplay 10/10
This is where things get unique. This game is a very deep platformer. You are a boy who travels through all sorts of environments trying to achieve your goal: to collect and save the brains of innocent people (you'll find out why later on in the story).

But as you go along, you collect figments whenever you're inside a person's mind to gain Psi Cadet ranks. Other ways to gain Psi Cadet ranks include collecting Psi Cards and Psi Challenge Markers. If you gain enough levels, you can get learn new psychic powers from Ford Cruller (a man you'll meet sometime at the start of the game) or other people at the camp designated to teach you a new power. You also get merit badges for having these powers. Once you learn all your powers, you can continue ranking up to get upgrades, like for example, telekinesis that works a longer distance.

The game also has a currency. Since the campsite was built over an Indian burial ground, you can collect a lot of arrowheads around the campsite. These arrowheads actually glow purple, and bigger ones are worth more. At a place at the campsite you can spend you arrowheads on collectibles or items, such as a dousing rod (which makes it much easier to find arrowheads), Psi Cores (needed to assemble your Psi Cards together into a Psi Challenge Marker), Smelling Salts (let you exit a mind), and other valuables.

If you're wondering about any side quests, there are some. One of them is trying to collect every single thing in the game. Another fun one is the camp scavenger hunt being led by Ford Cruller. Finding these scavenger hunt items can be a challenge, so for each eight you return to Ford Cruller, you'll gain four Psi Cadet ranks, putting you steps closer to gaining powers and upgrades. Another great side quest is to find people's vaults, which are walking vaults inside people's minds that hide their deepest darkest secrets. You can break these open to find images that you can figure out to know more about the person you're inside of, then saving the information in the pause menu to view again later. There are also pieces of mental luggage that are separated from their matching tags. If you can unite them altogether, you can unlock some bonuses in the start menu, like concept art from the creators.

The puzzles and objectives in the game are also real fun. You have an organizer that helps you keep track of what you have to do next that you can check out while in the pause screen. You're supposed to get the objectives all done to win, but sometimes, big important things are written in all caps, with multiple exclamation marks, or with several underlines. The organizer makes it easier to keep track of things.

Buy or Rent?
I didn't even rent this game first, and I have no regrets whatsoever. But if you're someone who was never a fan of platformers, maybe you should try renting it first, and then consider whether to buy it or not later on.

Brains
+ Unique theme and storyline
+ So much to do
+ Ranking system to gain powers
+ Great Tim Burton-ish graphics
+ You may never find another game like this

Brawn
- I can't think of much of anything to put here, other than the music being subtle.

My Grand Total 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/02/06