Psychonauts Review (PC)

Age Rating:

12+

What is it?

A bizarre and wacky adventure game from the creator of Grim Fandango and Full Throttle. UK release date of 03/02/2006

Is it fun?

Yes.

Is it worth the money?

(£17.99 from play.com) US$9.99 from Good Old Games

Yes, absolutely.

Why?

It has quotes like:

“I hope you learned something today”

“Yes! Shooting things is fun. And useful”

“Uuh… no.”

And

“Now why are you still talkin’ when you could be burnin’ stuff?”

Psychonauts is a chirpy light-hearted video game where you help Raz (your psychic trainee hero) learn his new skills to earn his Psychonaut merit badges while wandering through bizarre mind-worlds to sort out entanglements in his and his teachers’ brains. These worlds are brilliantly diverse and psychedelic is the only appropriate word for the level designs.

Puzzles are mostly of the shooting or jump-about-platforms variety but with enough mad locations and twisted pathways to keep them interesting. The plotline and one-liners are intriguing enough to keep you going, although if you weren’t amused by the quotes above, this game definitely isn’t for you. I particularly like the freedom you have to explore and collect items – it’s story-driven but you never feel rushed into the next section. There’s always plenty of time to wander around for the scavenger hunt, or stop and chat to your crazy fellow students.

Another very nice point is that the game’s restore points are very conveniently placed, so if you do die you don’t have to play through miles of platform that you’ve already completed just to get back to the tricky part.

Stylish design, entertaining plot and cheesy jokes. Just my thing!

Links:

Official website
Tim Schafer

Screenshots:

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