Psychonauts is a superb and highly original platformer / adventure game developed by Tim Schafer and his talented team at Double Fine Productions. It's quite a big game too, taking years to develop and weighing in at 5 cds. In it, you play as a young psychic named Razputin who flees home to Whispering Rock summer camp. Whispering Rock is a special camp where psychically-endowed kids are trained and the ones that show potential go on to become Psychonauts, which are kinda like psychic secret agents. Despite his attempts to remain hidden among the paying campers, however, Raz is quickly discovered and has but a single day at camp before is father comes to pick him up. During that time, you'll meet the other eccentric campers and do a ton of platforming while uncovering a mysterious threat facing the camp. You'll also have a very good time doing all of this.

The gameplay in Psychonauts is solid and highly refined platforming. Raz can double jump, climb, swing, walk tightropes, and even grind down rails--quite impressive, even for a kid who grew up in the a circus. Complementing the acrobatics is a healthy portion of combat, boss fights, and even puzzles (though rest assured that none are too hard). But what differentiates Psychonauts from other similar game are (surprise!) the psychic powers. Though Raz doesn't start out with any, over the course of the game he'll earn 8 powers in the form of merit badges. The powers are all fun to use, and using them in unusual ways really keeps the already-fun gameplay fresh.

You'll explore a wide variety of levels during the course of the game. The Whispering Rock campgrounds itself is very well detailed, and it's quite fun to explore for any hidden items and to see what the other campers are up to. But the real meat of the gameplay occurs in other people's minds. At first, you enter the minds of the camp staff to earn your first few merit badges, but later you'll meet a wide variety of crazies who need their inner demons to be exorcised. Each of these 10 stages is really unique and imaginative. I don't want to give any of the surprises away, but you'll be quite amazed at home cool, weird, and/or clever each new stage is. And wherever you are in the game, there are always lots of things to be collecting; most of these raise your psychic rank (which grants you more powers) though some unlock the game's concept art or memories from the characters' past.

Though the gameplay is good, what really makes Psychonauts so much fun to play is its story elements. The main plot is quite amusing and original (a word you'll hear a lot in this review, along with "psychic"), but the many characters you'll meet really steal the show. The other campers are always doing something at Whispering Rock, and searching around to see their latest antics or listening in on their conversations is its own reward. But the 19 campers and 4 faculty members are only a tiny portion of the many, many characters you'll meet in Psychonauts. And every one of them is well-characterized and fully voiced. The dialog is very funny and some of the best I've ever heard in a video game (or anywhere, for that matter). Psychonauts' quirky sense of humor goes a long way in making the whole experience so enjoyable.

There are a few minor (and easily forgivable) problems with the game, though. The first is that its a bit on the easy side--I rarely ran out of lives or got stuck for long at any of the puzzles. The control scheme is decent, but the keyboard and mouse don't really lend themselves to the precise control needed for a platformer. But since Psychonauts isn't hard to begin with, the controls are never a real problem. Also, there are a bit less of those great character interactions about halfway though the game, which is a real pity. Lastly, Psychonauts isn't very long. Taking my time, it took me 20 hours to beat the game. I bet I could do it in about half that if I just wanted to plow through the game. There isn't much in the way of replay value (really just hunting down the various items scattered throughout the game) except to experience such a fine game again. Psychonauts clearly prioritizes quality over quantity.

Psychonauts scores big points in the graphics department. I'm no expert on graphics, but to me the game looks really sharp overall. The water effects are amazing and there are some good fog effects too. Everyone's eyes look moist and reflective, which I thought made the characters look a lot more organic. Even the loading screens look nice. Stylistically, Psychonauts is also a winner. The whole game has this interesting twisted cartoonish aesthetic to it, giving Psychonauts a look all its own. It is quite unlike other games out on the market that are striving for greater and greater realism.

As impressive as the graphics are though, Psychonauts audio is even better. The game has a great score with the pieces being as diverse as the stages themselves. The music ranges from lazy guitar tune you'll hear on the main grounds, to the obvious Godzilla-theme knockoff in Lungfishopolis, to the orchestral and energetic main theme you'll listen to at the end credits. The voice acting is simply flawless. Each character is fully voiced too--there are no silent text windows like in many RPGs. Heck, the game's subtitles are even disabled by default. This is quite a feat, especially given the game's massive cast. And given the excellent dialog (as I mentioned before), you'll want to hear everything a character has to say, even if that means hitting, lifting, and burning everyone you come across. It's even fun to talk to the animals!

Psychonauts glows brilliantly with the Light of Excellence. It is one of the best and most original games to come along in years. The gameplay, story, graphics, and audio really come together to create a wonderful experience. A lot of work has gone into making Psychonauts and it shows. Though there are a few minor flaws, they are easily ignored given the game's outstanding quality and mere $30 price tag (for the PC version, at least). Regardless if you are young or old or if you're a casual or hardcore gamer, if you like a originality, creativity, and a good storyline in your games, leave home right now and pick up Psychonauts.