This isn't a game every gamer knows about and it's a game that should be more recognised than it is right now. Originally released in 2005, Psychonauts is a 3D platformer game which involves a training ground named Whispering Rock where children who are gifted with psychic abilities are sent to for summer. The whole game feels like something Tim Burton would have made if he worked with Pixar or Dreamworks and when you play this game, you may wonder why they didn't have this idea in mind in the first place.

Psychonauts had good reception when it was released, but at the same time suffered from poor sales. This may have been due to the lack of interest in platformer games since over the last few years, with the exception of Nintendo, the video game industry has been less interested in platformer games since the start of this decade or the game wasn't promoted very well during its release. Whatever the case was, this game deserved more praise than it did back then. Fortunately, Psychonauts has become more and more popular over the last few years as more gamers acknowledge its existence.

Graphics:

Although minor improvements could have been made to the graphics in this game, those minor graphical problems can be easily overlooked by the great visuals of the settings and characters. Those who aren't picky about the quality of the graphics will have nothing to worry about.

Sound:

While the sound effects are great and the soundtrack is nice and versatile, the sound doesn't truly shine until you hear the voice acting. Fans of Invader Zim will feel right at home since the main character Razputin is voice acted by Richard Horvitz, the same guy who did the voice for Zim. Double Fine, the gaming developer of Psychonauts hired a lot of experienced voice actors as well as some new faces on board. Both the experienced and the newcomers do a fantastic job here, although there is the odd one who does a terrible job in this game (sorry Tara Strong), but luckily, the one bad actor/actress can't bring the whole game down.

Gameplay:

The controls in this game are great, although there are two minor issues with them. The first being the struggle with getting on tightropes. If you grab hold onto the tightropes rather than standing on it, you may have to wait a few seconds before you can jump on top. This can be a problem at times, most especially in the last mental world.

The other minor issue is when the camera angle becomes awkward. If you're in a small room, controlling the camera won't be easy at all and you won't have a clue where you are exactly. Sometimes, the objects in the levels may block the camera view, most especially trees, so again you won't be able to see where you are and where you're going towards to. Besides these issues, there's really nothing to complain about regarding the controls.

Although this is probably just an issue with how Steam distributed this game, the game often plays in a slower frame rate, most especially in bigger areas. This issue can be solved by unclicking FSAA in the graphics options. This also cuts down loading times, because with that enabled, it can take a minute or two to fully load one area.

There are eight special psychic abilities to obtain in this game including pyrokinesis, telekinesis, levitation and clairvoyance. Some of these abilities can only be achieved by ranking up your Psi Rank, while others are acquired in the mental worlds. All these abilities will be vital in one way or another and some places/items can only be reached by using a specific power ups. Several bosses in the game can only be defeated by a certain ability, so trying to use whatever you have is required.

There are several ways to rank up your Psi Rank in both real and mental worlds. The rank goes up to 100 and the last rank will give you a bonus scene, which only lasts 60 seconds long but better than just rewarding you with additional artwork like other games do. As well as earning new psychic power-ups, raising your Psi Rank will also upgrade certain abilities, which are very useful later on the game.

The level designs in this game are outstanding. In the real world, you can explore the whole of Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp as well as entering the abandoned mental asylum later on the game. In these places (more especially Whispering Rock), you'll be searching for Psi cards, challenge markers and scavenger hunt items, which are all for the purpose of ranking up your Psi Rank. You'll also have the opportunity to talk to the other kids and the Psychonaut agents who run the Whispering Rock facility and you'll get to know more about them. This game also allows you to annoy the characters by attacking them, holding them with telekinesis and attempt to set them on fire, although the braindead cheerleaders will keep cheering you on if you do any of these actions.

The mental worlds are just as amazing. The settings range from a small lungfish town invaded by a "monster" (i.e. you) to a twisted neighbourhood involving the milkman conspiracy. All these level designs and ideas are amazing, but the one that stands out the most has to be The Milkman Conspiracy level, which is without a doubt the weirdest mental world as well as having some with the funniest moments in the entire game.

In the mental worlds, there are many figments to collect, emotional baggages to pair with their correct tags, memory vaults to open up and mental cobwebs to clear away with the Cobweb Duster, which can be obtained from The Lodge at the price of 800 arrowheads (the currency used to buy stuff in The Lodge and used for certain events). Some mental cobwebs will block your path to vital places, so it's recommended you try and buy a Cobweb Duster as soon as you can.

As great as it is to wonder around in both the real world and the mental worlds, it's not necessary to collect everything in order to reach the ending of the game. Collecting all the figments, Psi cards, etc are only for those who are determined to finish it 100%, want an extra challenge by finding everything and anyone who simply loves this game a lot, such as myself.

With the exception of the last mental world, the game's difficulty is easy, although not too easy assuming you don't hunt down for all the figments and don't ask Agent Ford Cruller for any advice. The boss fights aren't too hard either once you know how to beat them, but despite its pretty low difficulty, Psychonauts is still a lot of fun. However, an opportunity to play the game on a higher difficulty would have been a great bonus.

The gameplay in general is fantastic with several tasks to do as well as great explorations in all the levels.

Storyline:

The storyline is another major strength in Psychonauts for its very original idea, creativity and excellent humour-value. The game starts off with the protagonist Razputin (often called Raz) escaping from the circus run by his psychic-hating parents to be trained at Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp to become a Psychonaut. He sneaks into the facility one night, but is caught by one of the agents. Despite how much enthusiasm he has towards the Psychonauts, they claim his parents have to grant them permission for Raz to participate in the mental activities.

Fortunately, they allow him to participate in the activities the day after he arrived due to his strong mind and is welcomed to the camp, even before their parents gave them permission to stay here. Of course, something wrong happens to the camp along the way, but what exactly happens should only be discovered by playing through the game.

Psychonauts has a great range of characters with 21 children in the camp (including Raz), the four Psychonaut agents who run the camp and the characters you get to know about from their mental worlds. Most of the children don't tell you their full backstory and it's not necessary since what you learn from talking to them or listening out to some conversations between them is all that's needed. Out of all these characters, the most important ones along with Razputin are the Whispering Rock old-timer Lili, the Psychonaut agents Coach Oleander, Sasha Nein, Milla Vodello, Ford Cruller and the ex-Dentist Doctor Loboto. Despite the importance of these characters, the other characters are still fantastic and some you're likely to prefer over others.

The only downfall with the storyline is how the game ends. The ending only made a strong suggestion of a sequel to the game and unfortunately, there's been no real confirmation of a Psychonauts 2 yet. Who knows, maybe we'll hear something after the release of Tim Schafer's next game Brutal Legend. Despite how the game ended, with many hilarious lines and a fantastic plot with originality and such creativity, the storyline overall is superb.

Overall rating: 9.6/10 - There are a few control issues here and there and while the ending didn't have the greatest idea of all, everything mentioned about how great this game is all make up for those flaws. Psychonauts is one of the greatest platformers of this decade (or perhaps THE greatest) and is highly recommended for any fans of platformer games, gaming fans in general and of course, those who are familiar with Tim Schafer's previous works such as Grim Fandango and Monkey Island. Any of the aforementioned gamers who haven't played this game yet should get it right away, whether it be the PS2, Xbox, PC retail or Steam download. This isn't a game to miss!