Customer Reviews

PsychoNauts

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

*NOTE: I have the Xbox version of this game but wanted to take the time to help people decide if they want to purchase this game or not. From what I've read, they managed to keep the game about equal to the Xbox version so my review should be pretty accurate. The only differences will be that the Xbox has 5.1 surround in game not just cutscenes and the graphics will probably be a bit better. If you own an Xbox I would recommend that version over the PS2 but honestly the game is great, and if you own a PS2 I would doubly recommend picking this up. On to my review:

Everytime Tim Schafer creates a game, I know it will be a blast. Having been on a roll starting with The Day of the Tentacle up through The Grim Fandango, each game has been delightfully intelligent, creative and an overall wonderful experience. Psychonauts is no different. In fact, it is one of the best games I have played not only this year but in a long time.

The setup is that there is a camp for psychic children who feel different in the outside world. At the camp, the counselors teach children how to harness their power to become Psychonauts, psychics who actually enter people's minds and sort out their problems. Because of this setup, each and every world is completely different from the others. Connected to a hub world of the camp, each real "level" is a person's mind. And each mind reflects the person's personality, fears, phobias etc. For instance, the beginning level is that of your drill instructor. His level is a warzone complete with mines, air plane drops, explosions, barbed wire etc.

Tim Schafer's touch is also evident in the characters who are actually characters. They all have a personality and are very emotive. I haven't laughed at a video game so hard since Conker's Bad Fur Day. This game is hillarious. From the kid who practices looking through a peep hole in the day to get practice for when it's filled with girls to trashing a town Godzilla style, the game has it in spades. However, there are some surprisingly disturbing moments in the game that are also darkly humorous. Because you have psychic powers, you also can do some pretty cool stuff from pyrokinesis, telekinesis, levitation, invisibility, etc. These moves help you progress through the levels and pick up hidden items throughout the game.

Graphically, the game is awesome on the Xbox. The levels are done in vivid colors and with a wonderful cartoon style. The campground seems alive as there are creatures walking your path. From squirrels, crows, pigeons, lizards, bears, etc, the world seems populated and just feels real. You can tell a lot of time and effort was put in to make this game come alive and it works. The game is presented in 480p, for those interested.

Aurally, the characters are voiced to perfection. Some great voice actors have been employed and it really helps create characters that are lovable. The biggest audio glitch I've noticed is that sometimes my speakers will "click" as voices come in or as the sound changes sometimes. For some reason, the sound gets funkier as the game progresses. By the last level, it was as if every time a new sound was introduced or the sound changed, the game would stutter. Definitely some bugs that could have been worked out before the game was released. But, honestly, these aren't game stopping problems and are only vaguely annoying considering how awesome the game is. The game is also presented in 5.1 surround in game.

Since the game is a platformer, all of the standards apply. In the real world and in each person's mind, there are a ton of things to collect. In the real world, there are arrowheads that can be pulled from the ground that represent cash. There is a scavenger hunt also going on that will earn you rank (which gives you new powers) and there are cards that can be formed as more rank. In each person's mind, there are also different things to collect such as emotional baggage, mental cobwebs, figments of the imagination and safes which you much punch open to reveal some of the person's past. Some of these slide shows are funny and some are actually kind of sad as you see how these people came to be who they are. I list these items to collect just as a note that the game definitely exhibits all of the charms of a platformer. But there actually is a reason to collecting everything and they fit together in this humorous world.

The game moves quickly and besides one or two intstances of panning that had the game do a wave type pattern, it is perfect. My recommendation if you play the game is to take your time talking to everyone. It helps flesh out the story and if you listen and keep making rounds after each world you will see minor breakups, makeups, humorous instances involving squirrels who tell one kid to kill everyone, and plain funny dialogue. Take your time with this one and you will definitely be rewarded.

This game is great, it's just what I was looking for. It helped remind me why I play video games. When a person can create such wonderful worlds and allow you to play in them, you realize why you play games. It is so creative. Where else can you be chased by a giant fish, rage across town as a Godzilla-like creature, be in a disco world where you must race, pin-ball style, wage war against a Napolean complex and set fire to squirrels? If you want a creative and fun video game that will take approximately 10-15 hours of your time, then this is definitely a must buy. I absolutely cannot recommend this game enough. And unfortunately, it's one of those games that will end up like Ico or Beyond Good and Evil where no one hears of it and no one plays it. Don't let that happen. Play this game because its games like this that the industry needs to keep creating.

A must buy. Creative and excellent.

The greatest heartbreak for cult hits like Psychonauts is that, unlike books and movies, the shelf-life of games is such that the ones that don't get noticed in the first few months by the mainstream will never get noticed. Technology, both hardware and software oriented, moves so rapidly in the industry games can become completely outdated in no more than a year. This is one of the prime reasons I think Psychonauts is, even at nearly two years old, still worth reviewing. Having experienced the early titles for the Wii and the PS3, I can confidently say Psychonauts has lost none of its strength in comparison - a great game is a great game, regardless of generation. The other reason is the predictable backlash the game has gotten from purists and elitists. As happens with any piece of unique entertainment that grabs rave reviews across the board, Psychonauts is now experiencing the onslaught of naysayers - the same sort of onslaught thrown against the PS1 gothic platformer MediEvil and the same sort of onslaught that will invariably be lifted for the brilliant Clover adventure game Okami in the next few months.

The most common rebuttal against the game's popularity among reviewers is the claim that it's "just a platformer", as if that wasn't obvious and as if the game's place in a genre somehow negates it's innovative aspects. Mario '64 and Banjo-Kazooie are both platofrmers, both considered classics, and both inferior to Psychonauts in terms of level design, writing, characters, and gameplay variation. Psychonauts is a platformer, yeah, meaning there's a lot of collecting and a linear progression from level to level, but it doesn't feel like a platformer. The reason for this is the sheer depth of both the gameplay and the world, as well as the concept behind the levels. Each level is, essentially, the hidden psyche of some character within the game, and each level is completely different in terms of the way you play. See some of the reviews below me for more detailed descriptions, but suffice to say, each level in and of itself could be expanded upon to create an entirely new game, meaning Psychonauts is, to say the least, never short of surprises.

There are other hooks to the game, of course. The combat is hugely varied - shoot lasers, set things on fire, throw them, smash them, look through their eyes, turn invisible - the fighting's never dull. The camp, which serves as the launching pad and recconaisance center for the rest of the game, is bursting at the seams with side missions, hidden areas, and character intrigue. The writing is supremely intelligent, flawlessly voiced, and hilarious in the way only Tim Schaefer can deliver.

This review may sound vague or over-enthusiastic, but consider it a simple urging not to overlook the game simply because it can now be considered last-generation. It's still among the very best in its field.

In a world where even games that claim to be "platformers" (like the sequels to the Jak and Ratchet franchises) are really just gun-toting action games, Psychonauts is a welcome return to the classic platforming formula. There are plenty of items to collect (with great rewards for doing so), lots of environmental puzzles, and, thankfully, little focus of combat and weaponry.

The main game has 10 levels, each taking place inside someone's mind. Each one is very creative, sometimes confusingly so. Although figuring out what all the mental world stuff means is sometimes hard, I found nine out of ten of them to be pretty satisfying. Also, all of them have plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, from jokes about main character Raz's goggles to tiny, screaming charicature of Napoleon who struts around on stilts.

However, it's the parts outside of the main storyline that really sold me. There are tons of things to do when you don't feel like advancing the plot. You can crack memory vaults to get the characters' backstories, dust "mental cobwebs" to exchange for rank upgrades, and sort "emotional baggage" to unlock concept art--and that's just in the mental world. In the physical realm, you can explore a fully-featured summer camp, collecting PSI cards, having funny conversations with fellow children, and discovering an assortment of humorous scavenger-hunt items.

Although I wish the game would have given me more opportunities to use my psychic abilities, they were still very fun. Levitation was the most useful, but I couldn't get enough of telekinesis. And things just got more interesting when I leveled up, making my powers even stronger and cooler. These powers, as well as all the normal moves such as jumping, fighting, and swinging on things, are relatively easy and intuitive to use, thanks to a simple control scheme. Also, it's almost impossible to get stuck, thanks to a well-crafted in-game hint system.

Overall, I would highly reccomend this game to gamers who enjoyed real, true platformers like Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, and the first Jak game. Although I'm forced to bring it down to 4 stars for a sometimes-confusing plot and the PS2's noticeable technical disadvantage to the Xbox, it is all in all a fun, enjoyable ride.

My housemate and I got a Playstation recently. It's been awhile since I've played video games, and I found few of them interested me, until I came across Psychonauts.

The creativity, humor, story and even voice-acting were miles above the other games I'd encountered. Gameplay is typical -- you shoot and jump your way around obstacles while using a variety of techniques (invisibilty, levitation, shielding, etc.) to protect yourself. But everything else is unique, from the clever, funny dialogue (one character has an ongoing, ill-fated argument with the camp squirrels) to a storyline that pokes good-natured fun at the evil-mastermind-taking-over-the-world cliche. Make sure you talk to the characters multiple times -- their dialogue is worth it.

Since your character travels into the minds of the people around him, the levels have the distinction of being entirely different from one another, which keeps you from ever getting bored as you play. For example, one level requires you to run an obstacle course in an ever-shrinking bubble, while another has you recruiting soldiers to fight in a board game against Napoleon. It would be a crime to reveal too much about my favorite, a Japanese-movie scenario laced with hilarious cutscenes and propaganda broadcasts from the game's bad guy. In fact, the game's cutscenes often have the kind of comic timing you find in well-written movies or tv shows. Many times I found myself laughing out loud.

I'm a little surprised to hear some people had problems with the gameplay. I've barely touched a game in over 10 years and I did fine. The final level did have a couple frustrating obstacles, but with some patient repetition (or a dip into the online walkthroughs) you can figure out how to get around them (Hints: let a trampoline carry you past the second wheel; balance on top of the first screen and jump to the inside of the second). If anything, I think the gameplay was possibly a little too easy. I definitely would have liked some tougher puzzles.

To sum up, I enjoyed just about every minute I spent playing this game. Grab it if you see it -- this kind of creativity should be encouraged.

This game is a great, quirky, funny platformer. You get lots of cool Psi powers that you sometimes have to remind yourself that you have and try to use when you get stuck.

The level design is intelligent, you need to do a little thinking to get through it all. The art is amazing.

All in all, a great immersive world and a funny, hugely entertaining game.

Of the current generation of platformers, I give this my top rating, equal or better to the first Ratchet and Clank.

There's not much to say about this game, except it is hilarious. The cartooney feel and design is great, and really adds to the mood of the game. The main character, Raz, is a lot like other boys his age, and makes the game feel real. The characetrs are great, you can really get attached to them. I found myself with an odd liking for Fred Bonapart at the end of the Waterloo World level. The story is great, and takes you through lots of twists and turns, and you find out more about Raz every level it seems. The twistedness of some of the mental worlds is great, and makes you want to keep playing for days on end. The only bad part about this game is the frusterating platforming, and just as it seems you have mastered a certain move, the game adds some element to it that makes it hard again. I'm almost through with the game, but I got stuck at one part on one of the last levels, where there are jumps I just can't pull off, especially on a time limit. Overall, a great game, and no game collection should be with out Psychonauts.

this is definitely the greatest game i have ever played ( this and jak 3). first of all , let me say , thew three most important things in a game are : free roaming , variety , and good gameplay. this game has all of them . it has great graphics , and also lots of free roaming . the main HUB in the game is the camp in which you stay in , and it is HUGE ! there is a store there (and there are alot of things you can buy there ) , and there is alot of exploring to do . there is a scavanger hunt you can do there , you can talk to various people, you can collect all kind of different things , and alot more . so, like i said , there is alot of free roaming . and , in case you didn't know , most of the levels you travel in are the insides of people's minds. and each mind is shaped like their owner's personality. for example, there is a level inside a butcher's mind , and everything is filled with meat.but there is alot more to it than that . each level is different than the other ones. and by that i dont mean that they are just different by the characters , enemies, level design and so on . each level is different is gameplay. like in one level(which is in the mind of a paranoid madman), there are alot of detectives and spies around , and they wont let you pass through some places . so , you need to go around finding different disguises so they will let you go .in another level , you play sort of a boardgame against someone. in another level you need to get around on a thing that's sort of a skateboard , and in another level you play as a giant in a city of little creatures and you can smash up everything. also , in the second half of the game , you are in an insane asylum and it's really nice checking out the minds of the crazy people there . also , the game has pretty funny humour in it . there are also alot of different psychic powers you can use. so, in conclusion , this is a wonderful game, and i highly recommend it .

When it comes to originality and creativity, Tim Schafer is a true master. He's been gifted with the ability to turn the most outlandishly wacky ideas into some of the most funny and original games ever created. Day Of The Tentacle, The Secret Of Monkey Island, Grim Fandango and Full Throttle are all excellent games, with clever writing and engaging yet fun stories. However, Psychonauts is Schafer's masterpiece. Psychonauts is a one-of-a-kind game full of all kinds of wacky characters, über-creative levels, subtle dark humor, innovative gameplay mechanics, responsive controls, and mature themes under all those bright colors (the Memory Reels are quite tragic and sad, mirroring the losses and hardships we've all faced). I consider Psychonauts to be one of the finest games ever made, and I guarantee that no matter what type of gamer you are, there's something for you in Psychonauts.

Where to start? With the heart of game: the characters. Psychonauts has a wide variety of memorable characters that are amazingly fleshed out and perfectly designed. They're an eclectic mix of witty, serious, nutty, psychotic, and all around goofy, and that's what makes the game so original. Nowadays, games are all about realism and I'm afraid developers have forgotten that games are supposed to be a fun escape, not a chore. The characters in Psychonauts showcase more creativity than 20 other games combined. The main character of Raz is likable and funny, really giving the game heart. His design is clever (I love the goggles/leather pilot helmet combo) and his voice actor (Richard Horvitz) does a fantastic job. The supporting characters are what really elevate the game from great to amazing. Each is wonderfully designed with their own personalities and quirks. There are too many to list, but my personal favorites include camp mentor Ford Cruller, who has multiple personalities and reminds me of Doc Brown from Back To The Future; the portly Coach Oleander, who is scarred by both his abusive father and the horrors of war; and Boyd Cooper, a tweaky milkman with paranoid delusions about the government and double agents. Even the very minor characters have personalities and deliver funny quips.

Along with each of these eccentric and memorable characters comes a completely original and beautifully designed level that reflects the character's current mental state. Again, there are too many to list, but the standouts are a trippy black-lit Spanish villa being terrorized by a giant pink bull, a minature metropolis populated entirely by talking lungfish, and Boyd's government conspiracy level (which is one of the coolest levels in any game, ever). There's not one repeated idea throughtout the 10+ levels either. It is this uniqueness that is Psychonauts' biggest strength, never making the game feel boring or forced; it all flows naturally and seamlessly. A rather deep and complex story ties all the levels together, so if you're one of those people who complains there are no longer any games with compelling stories, here's a game that will pleasantly surprise you.

Now a game can be the most original thing around, but if the gameplay stinks it renders all that creativity moot. Luckily Psychonauts excels in the gameplay as well! Being a psychonaut, you have an impressive arsenal of psychic powers at your disposal. You can use levitation, pyrokinesis, telekinesis, and clairvoyance, among others to your full advantage. Don't feel like fighting that enemy? Set them on fire and then levitate to a safe location until they're dead, or pick them up with your mind and throw them off a cliff. The powers are fun to use and easy to wield, thanks to the excellent controls. Each level has a different theme, with a new gameplay element central to beating the level. For instance, in the government conspiracy level, you must collect ordinary household items that disguise you as double agent performing a certain task in the eyes of the bad guys. If you're holding a plunger, they see you as a plumber and you can pass by undetected into the sewers. Every level also encourages you to use your powers in a way you wouldn't have thought to use them, like using clairvoyance on a crow feather to spy on enemies from the crow's point of view. In short, the gameplay is excellent.

If you love collecting things like I do, than this game will definitely satisfy your appetite. There are thousands of items to collect, all of which upgrade your psychic powers, actually giving you a reason to collect them instead of just for 100% completion. There are figments (as in figments of your imagination), mental cobwebs (which clutter your brain), memory vaults (for those repressed memories), emotional baggage (which is actually baggage, like a suitcase or storage trunk), scavenger hunt items, stolen brains and loads more. I had so much fun collecting these items, some of which are very cleverly hidden.

The music, sound effects, and voice acting is superb. The music, composed by Tim Schafer regular Peter McConnell is great and compliments each level nicely. The sound effects are top-notch, each with its own memorable sound - I love the sounds the enemy censors make. Each character's voice perfectly suits their design, even the minor ones. The voice acting is professionally done and doesn't feel phoned in by anyone. I was highly amused to hear the voice of Earl Boen (Dr. Silberman from The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day) as a boss character.

So is there anything wrong with Psychonauts? No, nothing that takes away from the extraordinary gaming experience. I only have a few minor nitpicks: There are long load times, but this is understandable considering the intricacy and amount of stuff going on in each area. The targeting system and camera could use some tweaking. Sometimes I couldn't get a lock on an enemy or the camera would cause me to miss a platform I was jumping to. Finally, and this is strictly my opinion, at the end of the game Raz removes his helmet and we get to see his ridiculous hair-do. Talk about hat hair...let's just say he should never take off the helmet! However, none of these tarnish Psychonauts' brilliant shine.

All in all, Psychonauts is one of the best games ever made, of this or any generation. Everyone, no matter what your age or gaming experience, should give this masterpiece a try. You won't regret it!

This sadly underrated game is different from most anything you've played before, and this is certainly a good thing.

You play as Raz, a youngster who's gate-crashed his way into a government sponsered summer camp for psychically gifted kids. His goal (despite his father's wishes) is to ultimately become a psychonaut--one of an elite government unit using psychic powers.

The game's environments are not only great to look at, they're fun as well, with plenty of hidden goodies to stumble over and search out. Besides the campground, you're eventually able to hop into various people's subconscious minds and encounter drastically different and intricate levels in each. These are just a few:

- The mind of an artist is rendered as a stylized world that looks like a black velvet Spanish painting
- You can tromp through a city in which you're Godzilla sized, able to crunch buildings at will, and swat airplanes from the sky.
- A paranoid mental patient's mind is a bizzare neighborhood controlled mysterious agents. Surveillence cameras peek out of nicely manicured hedges.

The writing is pretty hilarous at times.

For the most part, the game is well balanced: hard enough to be a fun challenge, but not so hard you end up repeating boss fights a thousand times.

My only complaint comes with the later part of the game when you're suddenly required to do some intense platforming with a time limit while projectiles are being hurled at you. It seems out of character with the rest of the game, and it's intensely frustrating because suddenly you're required to use the sort of platforming skills the game hasn't required of you before, and it's a "one chance or you die" situation. I actually almost quit playing the game at this point because I failed this section so many times.

However, if you weigh the incongruous and difficult section near the end against the hours of crazy fun you've already had, and I think this game still definitely comes out as a keeper.

Psychonauts is a well put together game by all means. Psycohonauts is an awesome game and is really neat. To all the different characters to talk to and the story is real cool, and the backround is gameplay is interresting. The story mode is about a interesting boy name Rez who is real pumped up to be psychonauts. The Graphics are nice and you are allowed to rome around the camp and see all the wierd kids. The gameplay is nice, you have psychic moves to go around and find your way out of sticky situations. And Romance....... yeah. Psyconauts will have you falling in love with all there is to do in this game. So much to keep up with, like the rankings and all the different stuff you find and turn in. The game is wierd in a good way. Psychonauts is a really fun experience. I give it 5 stars... people