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Psychonauts
This is one trippy game.
Having first come out on XBox and PC, the Psychonauts is a quirky story
about kids with psychic powers, and whilst the traditional platform
elements are present, we also have the powers of the kids to take into
account as well.
You play the part of Raz, a former circus child who
wants to join the Psychonauts and infiltrates their camp. After being
allowed in until he is picked up, the story truly begins and you truly
get to play with the title. As is often the case, it’s up to our little
unassuming hero to save the whole camp.
Graphically the game looks great and the really cool
thing is that most of the time you get to explore the minds of people
who are in the camp. They form the hubs of the game worlds that you get
to explore and they are all pretty darn twisted. The personality and
fears of the person you are inside forms the basis of the appearance of
the world and make for some interesting experiences.
How well does this title hold up against all the
other platformers in this market? Really well actually as Psychonauts
takes the time to tell a good story at the same time. The controls on
the game are easy to pick up and use with a minimal learning curve that
most will be able to pick up.
Adding to the fun of the game are the puzzle
elements. There are board games that you can use your psychic powers to
find out the answers to and also end of level boss battles to be fought
that are very challenging. Having only 3 powers at a time to use also
makes you think on the fly as you have to make sure that you are using
them properly to take full advantage of whatever the game throws at you.
Raz has some really cool powers at his disposal too that will delight
most players.
Adding to the game is a lovely soundtrack that takes
you deeper into this twisted world that you are visiting whilst playing
the game. The ingame music is perfect and the voice acting really is
excellent. Voices chosen for characters seems bang on the money and
shows the level of care and attention that the developers have put into
the game.
Possibly the only downside is that there are the rare
times that the game chugs a bit, although it doesn’t ever majorly affect
the way that you play. The textures seem to lack a bit of the hue of the
other incarnations of this title, but that is more due to the
limitations of the hardware than the actual game itself.
I give this one the thumbs up. It took me roughly 18
hours to make my way through it and that was without fully exploring and
getting a perfect 100% finish of the title. I would say that you’d have
at least 25 hours or so if you want to have a crack at it. Give it a go
and see why this game is so cool for yourself.
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