Psychonauts

by Majesco

Product Features

• Enter people's minds and use your powers of levitation and Psi-Blasts to face people's worst fears
• Rise up in rank as you collect figments of other people's imaginations, sort their emotional baggage, clear out their mental cobwebs, and crack open their Memory vaults
• Complete special training missions to earn new powers like telekinesis, pyrokinesis and more
• Fully interactive environments - use tightropes, trapezes, ladders, poles, ledges, trampolines, climbing walls and rail slides to your advantage
• Multiple paths and sub-challenges - the nonlinear gameplay offers greater depth and better gameplay

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0008134P4
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 1.5 inches ; 6.4 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: April 19, 2005
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,744 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

A surreal action adventure that stars a powerful young psychic cadet known as Raz, Psychonauts follows an interesting story. While working on his levitation merit badge, Raz discovers that someone is kidnapping psychic children and stealing their brains. In order to foil this evil plot and earn the title of Psychonaut, Raz must project himself into the minds of one bizarre character after another to battle their nightmares and mental demons. He does all this while continuing to earn psychic merit badges for Telekinesis, Clairvoyance, Pyrokinesis and more. Players run, bounce, float, climb, swing and sneak while defeating monsters, lunatics and demons with the Psi-Blast, a mental burst of energy that will banish nightmares.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Put your money where your mouth is!, May 12, 2005

By 

A. Rosenberger (Cali) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Psychonauts (CD-ROM)

To all of those critics out there who complain that the PC game industry has degenerated into a cookie cutter assortment of FPS or RTS games, it is time to put your money where your mouth is...

I've been PC gaming since the early Sierra days on an Apple IIC, and by far some of the most imaginitive, inventive, and hilarious games I've come across over the years were created by Tim Shaeffer (Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, and Grim Fandango to name a few). Well he's done it again with Psychonauts, a platform title which lives up to the unique humor and spirit of his previous creations.

With the cancellation of recent titles, such as the axed sequel planned for the great Sam and Max, its time to send the industry a message:

THERE IS AN AUDIENCE FOR THESE TYPE OF GAMES AND IF YOU DEVELOP THEM THEY CAN BE SUCCESSFUL!

I encourage everyone out there who who remembers the imaginative grand ol' days of gaming to pick up a copy. This really is a game which is truely unique and has something to offer everyone of every age group - plus at $30 its a steal.

And if you pass on this title? Well no more complaints as you're running, gunning, and lobbing frag grenades in different, but really not so different, settings in all of your future games. I put in my ante.

P.S. To really enjoy the game you should get a gamepad...there are some control issues with the keyboard mouse combo.

51 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best so far this year, April 25, 2005

By 

Terry Mesnard (Bellevue, NE) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Psychonauts (CD-ROM)

*NOTE: I have the Xbox version of this game but wanted to take the time since the PC version didn't have a review already. I just want people to know that this is an awesome game. The only difference I have read on the PC version is that sometimes the audio is funky, like it sounds muted sometimes or there are stutters in the sound. Another thing to keep in mind is I have heard from different sources that playing with the mouse is a little more difficult than playing with a controller. I can't verify that of course but wanted to put it out there. There is a lot of platforming in this game, especially towards the end so if you are someone who likes to use a controller you might want to keep that in mind. If you own a controller for your PC this might be a good game to use it for. Or, if you have a console, it might be worth buying the Xbox game that's out now or the PS2 game that is coming out later in March. There is a patch out for the game already as my friend who has the PC version had to download it to fix some problems. Other than that, my review should be accurate as well for the PC.

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.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The cure for the common game., May 11, 2005

By 

K. Butler (escondido, ca United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Psychonauts (CD-ROM)

With "Psychonauts" on the shelf it's going to be a lot harder to carp about how there are no original games out there. Game designers can make a game about ANYTHING so why are we stuck with all the same conventions? Why not explore surreal landscapes and mind-bending situations?---Questions I've often asked myself when faced with shelves full of WW II shooters, Half-Life wannabes and GTA ripoffs (don't get me started on the overrated piece of hype called HALO). From the design of its characters to its wacky gameplay, "Psychonauts" is a totally original creation. Not since "American Mcgee's Alice" have I had such a feeling that the designers started from scratch and built a 100 perent custom world instead of borrowing whole chunks from other games.

Though surreal, "Psychonauts" has it's own internal logic which makes sense within the realm of the game. Your character is a psychic explorer which dives into the mental landscapes of some really weird characters. While there you literally sort out their psychological baggage and clean their mental cobwebs discovering what makes them tick in the process. Which is cool because--did I mention they were weird? Imagine psychoanalysing Yosemite Sam or Daffy Duck and discovering the events that shaped their personalities. Piecing together their back history is strangely satisfying in a way blasting monsters can't match. Not that you don't blast monsters. You blast them and sometimes YOU are the monster and they blast you.

There are some niggling technical issues which I should mention. The graphics, while appropriate, are obviously several years old (this game has been in production forever). And there's a patch you'll need to get to fix some sound stuttering problems. I played it with the keyboard/mouse setup and wished I'd invested in a gamepad. I was pleasantly surprised to NOT be fighting bad camera angles the whole time like I do in most console-to-PC ports--so a potential game-ruining bullet dodged there!

I would really like to see this game do well, spawn sequels, and generate pressure for other game designers to come up with original content.