Note: a few months after its release, and just before this review was finished, I heard that Psychonauts has sadly not performed well at retail. This only confirms to me the direction games are going in and is mirrored by the barely noticeable number of new games I actually still buy. The proof is in the pudding, folks.

Psychonauts is the newest game from Tim Schafer, the man who much of the brilliance of Day of the Tentacle amongst other classic LucasArts adventure games can be accredited. And during development, its had something of a rocky ride. Originally one of the many exclusives lined up by console newcomer Microsoft to make its Xbox system irresistable to gamers, and with a videogame funny man's name firmly associated with the project, it was being closely watched by gamers the world over.

Ironically, Microsoft pulled the plug and announced that it wasn't going to publish the game. It did reportedly help the developers, Double Fine Productions, to find a new publisher, and thankfully that's just what happened, so we can now enjoy this excellent game courtesy of Majesco.

At the time of Microsoft's pulling out, rumors were circulating that although the game had charm, it simply wasn't any fun to play. I don't believe those for a second, because the end product is anything but a bad game - and if it ever was, a pretty speedy job has been done to bring it up to shape. Psychonauts is first and foremost a platformer. When I say that, your head will probably fill itself of images of stereotypical console platformers - level after level of a cute little mascot bolted on top of a bland "Save the world" storyline. But oh no, not Psychonauts. The game begins as Razputin, a circus runaway, turns up at a summer camp for kids with extraordinary psychic abilities, against his father's will. From there, you're led into a very well disguised basic training stage with an Army theme. This is where the extraordinary ability of the crew at Double Fine Productions first starts to show through - it's so encased in humor, story, and most of all, excellent characterization, that it simply doesn't feel like a training level. This goes for the rest of the game to some extent as well - without getting overly repetitive, it very rarely feels like hard work.

There's about 10 'levels' in all, and each one of them is set in the mind of a different character. Each is a perfectly digest-sized story that stands up on its own, with no two minds looking alike. For example, the brain of a Conspiracy Theorist nutcase has the entire world filled with screwed-up gravity, twisting streets, and government agents. The mind of a tormented artist is black and velvet-like, and features a raging bull - the symbol of his torment - running the streets.

The grounds of Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp act as your hub between the platform-styled individual levels. Here you can explore the grounds on their own (there's plenty to soak up), go scavenging for arrowheads to buy new items with, or partake in the scavenger hunt trying to find hidden items. Just taking a break from the action by poking around the Camp grounds is unexpectedly fun. I'm not skilled enough a writer to say it without cliches, but the entire world feels alive and thanks to the extremely likeable characters, friendly as well. When night falls in other game engines, it feels dark and lonely - with Psychonauts, or any other Tim Schafer game, you know there'll always be someone or something around to make you laugh.

Psychonauts looks great. I'm going to admit here and now that I haven't played a lot of other similar Xbox games, so I'll find it hard to compare them to anything else on the system. Certainly there are some impressive bump-mapping and lighting effects employed, and a certain later level has astonishingly beautiful neon colors that really glow. The camp grounds are brought to life perfectly with just the right amount of milky pastel coloring. The "conspiracy theorist" stage is brilliantly deranged and hazy-looking. Only one level stands out as being unappealing to look at, and that's not by far.

Technically, the game keeps up a mostly steady frame rate of around (or just above?) 30 frames per second. There is the occasional drop, especially on later levels, but never does it deter gameplay or lead to your unfair demise. The back of the package lists "HDTV [sic] 480p" and although the HDTV part is a lie on the part of Microsoft (the game is in standard definition), it does indeed support Progressive Scan video. Sadly, Psychonauts features a bug present on many Xbox games - screen tearing. It seems that Vertical Synchronization isn't enabled on this game so at certain times - especially noticeable during video sequences - the top half of the screen updates before the lower, creating a nasty effect. Again, it doesn't harm gameplay, and doesn't happen too much, but it's not very pretty to look at. Many, many Xbox games suffer from this problem, so perhaps it's something that Double Fine couldn't avoid. Some people don't even notice it, which sounds incredible to someone like me. Video sequences, while fun to watch, use a very ropey-looking compression system so don't always look as great as they should. In fact, the graphics produced by the in-game rendering engine actually look better than them. Those are the only technical criticisms I can levy against this game.

The game features the unmistakable voice of Richard Horvitz playing Razputin. Horvitz is better known for supplying the lead voice of Invader ZIM, Nickelodeon's pompous alien character. The practically identical voice used here might not say anything for Horvitz' voice talent, but it transfers to Razputin's less self-assured personality perfectly and for me was the final icing on the cake for the already endearing characters. Music is composed by none other than Peter McConnell, who previously supplied catchy songs for Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, Day of the Tentacle, and Monkey Island 2. The game supports in-game Dolby Digital audio, for those of you with home theater setups.

All of the game's menu systems are nicely laid out. Hitting the D-pad in-game will bring you to your inventory and abilities screens, which are nicely presented and are easy to use. Another feature of the game that lends to its good presentation, are the Memory Vaults, which are little running vaults in each world that run away from you when you get near. If you break them open, you get a brilliant series of paintings that explains the character's backstory. Things the characters don't tell you in person, will be revealed in these vaults - but no spoilers will be given here.

Psychonauts isn't a LucasArts game in the technical sense in the word. But it's sure as hell welcome in my shelf space usually taken up exclusively by their earlier, better titles. It's the true continuation of the LucasArts graphical adventure legacy and Tim Schafer and his team at Double Fine Productions deserve one hell of an applause for bringing us this gem, especially seeing as his former employers have, to use a pretentious phrase, completely sold out and plan on bringing us wall-to-wall Star Wars shit for the next decade (and that's while canceling any promising titles that their original fan base held any interest in) .

It would seem unfair to constantly compare this game, which stands up remarkably well on its own, to earlier games which Schafer left his mark on, but Psychonauts brought back so many of these happy memories, it's impossible not to. That's why I can conclude by saying that due to a technical fault and frustrating moment here and there, the game doesn't quite reach the 10/10 quality of Tentacle, but comes so close that it hurts. With the lead voice of Invader ZIM and absurd amounts of classic adventure gaming nostalgia, it really does feel as if someone has rolled some of my favorite media moments of the last twelve years into one package. I simply can't express in words how nice it is to play a game that is neither sickeningly cute or depressingly heavy-hearted, a game that doesn't attempt to rake in sales by playing on over-testosteroned horny 15-year olds and their fast car fantasies. That's where Psychonauts succeeds the most - it's funny, insanely likeable, great to play, and I think you should pay up NOW.

Roundup

game	9
visuals	8
sound	8
presentation	8
overall	9

(All scores out of a possible 10)

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