Amazon.com: PsychoNauts: Playstation 2: Video Games

50 Reviews

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
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4.3 out of 5 stars (50 customer reviews)

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50 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, creative game, August 1, 2005

By	Terry Mesnard (Bellevue, NE) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars

*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.

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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still King, January 11, 2007

By	T. Kennedy "TA FAN" (Billings, MT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars

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.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great platformer!, July 1, 2005

By	Madisen (Fruita, CO United States) - See all my reviews

Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars

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.