Techtite's PC Game Reviews!

"This is the most fun any gamer can dream of, pun not intended.""

---from the review

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Pros: Great voice acting; superb characters that don't look like generic "dolls" from some other game engine; jumping puzzles made more fun with "levitation"(!); a new "super power" in almost every new level; a story that all but demands about six different sequels.

Cons: That big boss "gauntlet" of a final level; many amusing side-stories are "optional" and can easily be missed (!); many bosses easily defeated with one trick. 

No additional sidebar comments for this review. Yet... 

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Psychonauts

Click picture to order this PC game.

A Techtite Review

Psychonauts is quite frankly the most fun I've had in years. To say "What about Half Life 2/Doom 3/Unreal 200x" is to not get the point. This was a fun game, the same way a classic Disney movie is fun. Yes, few Disney movies ever won an Oscar as Best Movie, thanks to the epics, the dramas, and so on, though they are still timeless classics, more than worthy of any DVD shelf. That said: Psychonauts is fun. The disappointment here would only be if there was no sequel. Simply put, you really need to go out and buy this game.

The story involves a sort of summer camp for specially gifted youngsters. These kids are being educated to become "psychonauts," which is sort of like an astronaut, only the frontier explored is the subconscious mind. What these psychonauts will be used for in the real world is up to any one person's interpretation. Some of the teachers in camp seem to simply help the children deal with their psychic powers so they feel less like an outcast. Another looks at psychonauts as a sort of new age science that needs to be explored. Yet another teacher is an ex-military strategist, who sees the inner workings of the mind as the next big battleground. The problems arise when some mysterious villain starts kidnapping the children for reasons unknown. It is up to you to find the missing children, discover who the villain is, and save the day.

The only bittersweet part of reviewing Psychonauts; there is so much good stuff here, it's hard to know where to begin. Allow me to start with the overall "feel" of the game. Imagine your favorite platform game, times ten. Even otherwise typical puzzles in platform gaming have been given a major boost, thanks to the main character's psychic powers. Jumping puzzles are now right through the stratosphere, thanks to levitation powers that allow you to jump high into the air, and even float like a balloon when you get up there! Targeting puzzles are made more fun with a "telekinesis" skill that allows you to grab things from far away, or throw them great distances. There are around 8 skills you learn in this game and they each enhance the fun factor of this platform game brilliantly.

Of course, adventure game buffs need merely be told this is another fine game from Tim Schafer. Back in the day when adventure games ruled the game shelves, Tim offered two of the genre's most unique titles: Full Throttle and Grim Fandango. True, unlike those games, this newest story is an action-adventure...although everything Throttle and Fandango did to make adventures unique and inspired, Psychonauts does for the action-adventure genre. Every action game puzzle offers mini-quests that can be solved, while the story, of course, has optional mini-stories to discover. If you only play the game once, it is highly unlikely you saw all there is to see. That's something only the best games can say.

Some agnostic gamers may think they've already played a game like this, because "psychic powers" have already been attempted in games. The key word is: attempted. Unlike Psi-Ops and Psychotoxic, psychic powers are used to their most infinite, and perhaps, most bizarre potential. Consider; since the majority of the game is set in the imaginary mind, nothing is real. You can therefore use your powers for whatever you wish...and the game allows you to. Whether you use your fire powers to burn a wall of vines blocking your way, or whether you use them to give an enemy a hot foot; the choice is ultimately yours. What's even funnier is how the game design team anticipated you doing so, leading to some funny results if you let your psychic powers go wild.

This formulae of "anything goes" leads to some of the most imaginative locales in games that I've ever played. One dream world is like a 1960's dance party gone wild. A later mission is within the mind of a disturbed ex-milkman, whose  nightmare is a neighborhood whose streets twist and turn so vividly, the street you walk on may lead to one almost completely upside-down to the ground you're currently on. It's quite amusing to jump from street to street in this "dream," often landing on ground that was exactly perpendicular to where you were. These are among the most imaginative levels I've seen since...well, actually, I have no good example. These level maps are absolutely brilliant.

What really pulls this game into "thumbs way up" territory, however, is its attention to the little details. Exploration leads to any number of added treats, from a built-in game "scavenger hunt" to find lost artifacts in camp, to discovering any number of enjoyable mini-stories, of the characters in camp. In fact; it actually is recommended to visit and re-visit your favorite characters, as it enhances the story later. You will feel a lot more impact on these kids' eventual abductions if you have taken the time to know more about them as game characters.

Flaws? There are only nitpicks, really, though I must admit the final "boss" level is pretty tough. See; this isn't a game where you simply defeat the Big Bad Guy. You must enter Big Bad's mind, and fight him there, in a final "boss" challenge as large as a whole new level. It's more easy if you know the "tricks" involved, of course, but in between the "tricks" are some timed races through various deadly obstacles, and I really didn't appreciate that. One race has you jumping and jumping as you have to constantly save a little fluffy critter from being attacked by larger, meaner critters, as the littler critter jumps from platform to platform. This goes on for so long, I was almost hoping I could simply torch the little furball myself, tell the larger monsters "you win!" and jump to the finale. This isn't possible. You have to save the little critter. Then again; seeing as how this segment of the game is at best (no joke) one percent of the whole game, I see no reason to rate the game any lower. This is a 99% perfect game. How rare is that really?

As a parting thought; if at any time you find your own "Mister Fluffy Level" to nitpick, wondering if it is all worth it...oh yes it is. Not unlike the Lord of the RIngs film trilogy, this game has a happy ending that keeps going and going. It starts at the beginning of the final level, continues near the end of that level, then continues some more, to a very enjoyable, almost five minute (no joke) cinematic finale. What's more; it has an almost "The Impossibles" feel to it, as if to tell us what we already knew; this premise all but demands a sequel. Much like the game's unique premise; the nightmare is over. Totally fun gaming has returned!

---Techtite