Some kids can play a Chopin Mazurka just by listening to a recording of it. They go to Julliard. Other kids can blast a squirrel into a few clumps of loose fur and gristle with nothing more than a thought. They go to Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, where tots with paranormal gifts receive training to harness and control their PSI powers (including levitation, telekinesis, and clairvoyance) in hopes of one day joining the elite group of secret agents known as Psychonauts.

In this game, you play as ambitious Rasputin—or “Raz”—for whom even a few days at Whispering Rock is a dream come true. That is, until his camp buddies transform into drooling, TV-addicted morons. For this there can be only one credible explanation—someone’s been stealing their brains.

Because no one is willing to talk about the missing brains, Raz takes it upon himself to get to the bottom of things by using the Psycho Portal. Slap that gizmo on the back of someone’s head, and you’ll soon be tumbling into his or her subconscious, where the deepest secrets lurk and personal demons are on the attack.

The voice acting is superb, and the story is more satisfying than most Hollywood movies. But what elevates Psychonauts into greatness is the way the game’s puzzles rely on the internal logic of the mind you’re exploring. For instance, finding an elusive milkman in a paranoid security guard’s subconscious resolves into a ridiculous fracas that makes no sense at all—unless you are a paranoid security guard. And while you can use your PSI-powers to “silence” the hammer-wielding censors in the mind of an excessively uptight schmuck, those powers are useless in reviving the spirit of a faded actress as she crumbles beneath the humiliating insults of her monstrous inner critic.

Those are just two of the 13 fragile psyches—including megalomaniacs, melancholic artists, and a lungfish—that you’ll encounter throughout the game (and don’t be surprised if you’re forced to deal with some personal issues of your own).

Calling Psychonauts an “imaginative platformer” is like describing Half-Life 2 as an “engaging first-person shooter.” The description might be technically accurate, but it’s pitifully inadequate. Psychonauts is the most unpredictable, hilarious and—what the hell, we’ll say it—mind-blowing action-platformer ever made
—Logan Decker

ARGONAUTS: Highly imaginative; superb graphics, voice acting, and story.

POLKA DOTS: Marred by infrequent but annoying audio bugs.

Month Reviewed: July 2005
Verdict: 9
kickass=yes
URL: www.psychonauts.com
ESRB Rating: T