Psychonauts is truly one of the most creative platformers in years, and everyone should have a chance to experience it.
You control Raz, a psychic who has run away from his home at the circus to Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp. This camp serves as a training ground for psychics to hone their unique skills. What seems to be an uneventful stay, however, quickly takes a turn for the worst. The innocent campers' brains are being stolen, turning them into television-obsessed zombies. With the camp instructors nowhere to be found, Raz is the only one left to retrieve the brains.
Psychonauts is a platformer at heart. Raz walks on tightropes, swings on trapezes, jumps to and fro, and performs other acrobatic feats. He also collects things such as mental cobwebs, emotional baggage, and figments of the imagination. The main elements in a platforming game (acrobatics and collecting items) are present, along with elements from adventure games. Solving puzzles and interacting with fellow campers play an equally large role.
This works very well, but what makes Psychonauts stand out is its creativity. Each level has its own unique flavor. These levels take place in peoples' minds, which Raz has the ability to project himself into. Every mind is stranger than the last since some belong to extremely weird individuals. The mind of a paranoid security guard is a suburban neighborhood where someone is always watching, be it from a trash can or by peeking through the curtains. A genetically mutated lungfish's mind balloons Raz to a gigantic size as he terrorizes a city full of lungfish. Hours will fly by as the player continues just to find out what could possibly be next.
Unlike many platformers, however, the overworld connecting the minds is fun to traverse. Even though it's somewhat ordinary, Whispering Rock Summer Camp is as well-defined as any of the wild levels. What really keeps the player coming back, however, is the characters themselves. Not only does the bizarre art style give everyone a distinct personality, the dialogue is humorous and well-written. The graphics are difficult to describe, but they do resemble Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. The speech is superbly acted and has some laugh-out-loud moments.
Psychonauts isn't perfect, but its flaws are minor. The combat is bland, since Raz only has a basic melee attack and a few ranged options. It only becomes challenging when enemies are encountered in large groups. Towards the end of the game there is a spike in the difficulty since the final level has some very devious platforming sequences. The psychic powers Raz can tap into feel like wasted potential; they don't seem to be used as much as they could have. Outside of the occasional puzzle or combat sequence, Raz's powers aren't utilized very much at all.
With a great art style, hilarious dialogue, and fun gameplay Psychonauts is an absolute must-own. This is one of the most creative platformers ever released. Unfortunately, it sold rather poorly so any potential buyers could run into trouble locating it. However, I encourage them to search long and hard for Psychonauts, since it truly is a game that everyone needs to experience.