Psychonauts

Developer: Double Fine Productions
Steam Release: Apr 2005
Hours Played: 6.4 (Completed the boxed retail version.)
Similar To: A Hat In Time / The Last Tinker / Rayman 2 / Skylar & Plux / Voodoo Vince
Rating: 5/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY

Stunning third-person action games may well be covered by triple A titles but when an indie developer adds their own and nails the gameplay firmly with a shiny hammer and sparkling nail, then it's time to take note. Welcome to the wacky world of Psychonauts; a veritable adventure playground disguised as a weird and wonderful psychic camp run by eccentric authority figures and inhabited by equally eccentric and troublesome youths. You play as Raz, a cheeky kid full of enthusiasm and energy who has run away from the circus and the oppressive regime of his father. You explore the camp's five large areas with your double jump ability while picking up collectables. Meanwhile, you'll leap into various minds that manifest themselves as further amazing surreal landscapes to explore.

BALANCE & PACE

The camp itself is an open-world affair split into five areas interrupted by swift load-screens. Fast travel opens up with the appearance of tree trunks that you leap into and represented by an underground cart system on a rickety track. There are caves to explore, buildings to leap onto, rope and branches to swing from as well as poles to climb. Entertaining cut-scenes interrupt the action to push the story on as you enter certain areas and approach characters. Minds can also be explored by revisiting a machine called the brain tumbler. Needless to say, the experience is precisely like bounding around the most exhilarating adventure playground you can imagine with the added aim of finding objects and items in both the physical and mental worlds.

PRESENTATION & DESIGN 

Psychonauts is packed with humorously absurd characters and easily wins the most laugh-out-loud moments I've ever experienced in a game. The kids' comical interactions, Chief Orleander's barking mad orders, Raz's friends' death in an impeccably well-timed explosion and Elton Fir's announcement that he won't have to eat his own arm as he's rescued and merrily trots away are marvellous moments. You'll also appreciate the hillbilly tone where a lazy honky tonk beat accompanies your trek round the camp and where Ford Cruller's distinctively croaky old voice pops up all over the place. We also mustn't forget the inventive level designs of peoples' minds either, with The MIlkman level being nothing short of genius.

PROGRESS SYSTEM

Your notebook pauses the action and can be perused at any time to check stats. This displays a multitude of items you've collected, along with the total needed if you want to max them out. These include: the Psi cards, arrowheads and scavenger hunt items littered around camp; the figments you collect and cobwebs you sweep away while in people's minds; as well as the baggage tags and vaults that also inhabit minds. While in specific areas, there is also a page that tells you how many of those items you've collected in that location or in that mind so it's easy to track and attempt to catch 'em all if you're so inclined. Jumping into the brain tumbler will allow you to retry levels to get the elusive stuff you missed first or second time round.

CONCLUSION

Psychonauts may not compete graphically or be as wide in scope as The Witcher, Skyrim or the Batman Asylum's of this world but for sheer fun and variety it's up there with the best of them. It also scores highly for its strange character and unique level designs which go so far above and beyond the usual jumping-puzzle mechanics. Personally after buying the boxed retail version around ten years ago, I had to snap it up again for my library when I saw it on Steam. Now, while on my second playthrough, it's a joy to search those nooks and crannies and explore those little pockets of delight again as bags of that exciting content pops up again. This is packed full of Double Fine goodness and comes highly recommended indeed.