PsyhoNauts (Review)

"You're moving like molasses going up hill, in January - with crutches!" - Coach.

This mind-busting adventure follows Rasputin (Raz): a young boy born with psychic powers, that has run away from home to Rock Psychic Summer Camp. This is no ordinary postcard hideaway -- the camp is secretly a training ground for gifted child psychics who are training to be international psychic spies.
 
Tim Schafer's comedic knack for story telling lends itself nicely this sort of stylized game. That's to be expected from the mind that designed The Secret of Monkey Island. The character voicing in this game is cleverly written, and superbly executed. All the personalities found in Rock Psychic Summer Camp are prone to dispensing witty whimsical banter.

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The campsite acts as a central hub, It's where Raz can freely frolic about and interact with an eccentric cast of characters, while delving deep into the mystery of missing brains, and international psycho-espionage.

The game really takes off when the mission to become a fully fledged Psychonaut calls for Raz to delve into psyches of the various characters he encounters within the camp. Each mind Raz enters is a stage. Each stage is a playground of discovery and danger. Unique personalities have wonderful minds, and the game's colourful graphics, imaginative design, and delightfully quirky music attests to that.

The game's designers love to play around with perception a lot in this game. This play-on-worlds shifts the title into an unique conceptual playground. Gigantic sea destroyers and war planes suspended in mid battle clutter the landscape. A multidimensional cube transforms into a platforming stage, allowing Raz to walk it in 360 rotation - while blasting away an abomination. In each mind, there are nooks and crannies that require Raz to return with a new assortment of powers, adding another layer of cranial penetration to an already massive adventure. 

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In my favourite level, The Milkman Conspiracy, Raz has to navigate a rural neighborhood, while avoiding intrusive Milkman personalities. Raz needs to find disguises to trick enemies into believing he's part of their factions. The entirety of the level is suspended in the sky, with streets and houses inverted and folded onto themselves - think Inception. Another level places Raz inside the mind of a giant Lungfish: a place where an entire island population of Lungopolis city is terrorized by a gigantic flying Luchador moth. If you're a fan of giant monster movies, you'll feel at home in this wacky level. 

Brainwalking about, you'll encounter clever puzzles, raging censors - who roam about keeping out thoughts that don't belong (Raz), figments of memories, personal demons, and even emotional baggage. With each mind conquered, Raz upgrades his psyhonaut badges and rank, which in turn unleash his impressive psychic repertoire.

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Fierce foes bogging you down? Set 'em on fire with Pyrokinesis. Buried under junk? Move it with Telekinesis. Need to reach a far off ledge? Form a thought bubble and levitate around. All the powers come in handy when trying to reach the highest rank possible. And all the unique abilities gained throughout the game will be helpful when dealing with local camp wildlife such as, levitating black bears, and pyrotechnic prone cougars. 

How do I know all that? Clairvoyance, of course!

Psychonauts will tickle your brain with a hallucinogenic toothbrush, wiping your memory cortex clean of any previous crusty gaming experiences. This crown of all adventurers is a shinning deco for your cranial plate.

"The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts." - Marcus Aurelius. 

Developer:    Double Fine Productions, Bobcat Productions
Publisher:     Majesco Entertainment
Platform:       PS2, PC, Xbox 360
Released:     2005
Genre:          Platformer