Got a tune stuck in your mind?
So Psychonauts scores highly for originality in the gameplay stakes and the mind setting allows for original level design, but how does it all look? Well you know how at the beginning I said you could tell a Tim Burton movie from its visual design? Well Psychonauts reminds me very much of a Tim Burton movie… A wicked and slightly cutesy cross between James and The Giant Peach and Beetlejuice… with a touch of The Corpse Bride thrown in for good measure. With visuals like this, it’s fair to say that even though this is a platformer, it’s definitely not aimed at the younger player.
But the graphics do suffer by comparison for now being on the PS2 as opposed to the PC or Xbox versions, which is something of a shame as otherwise the game is damn near flawless in looks. Sure, there’s that lower resolution ‘graininess’ that a PS2 has on a TV screen and in some of the larger outdoor areas or when there’s a lot going on the frame rate takes a hit but overall it has to be said that Psychonauts looks as good as it can for the system its running on… and that’s pretty good anyway.
Now as up and down as the graphics maybe, the audio is simply top notch. The voice acting is excellent in the extreme with the voice work really bringing the characters to life. Raz sounds like the streetwise, slightly unsure newbie that he is, whilst Agent Nein oozes slightly off-beat confidence… Throw in all the other characters with the aforementioned high quality and, at times, truly funny dialogue and you’ve got a great experience ahead of you.
Developers Double Fine have gone to great lengths to make each level’s music and sound effects fit the style of level perfectly. For example, the ambient sounds in Coach Oleander’s mind are of screams, bombs and machine guns, whilst an orchestral style eerie tune plays along in the background. This is in contrast to the flamenco style stuff you end up listening too as you fight bull in a Spanish themed mind… Oh yes, it really does get that weird.
