OMG, it’s… Psychonauts!!
It’s not a brain-training program.
It’s not a productivity tool.
It won’t make you more creative.
But it is immensely amusing and SO perfect for MindTweaks that I can’t believe it took me three years to discover it…
What is this astounding bit of excellence?
Psychonauts: a video game that involves both collecting and going inside other people’s brains! I ask you… Does it get any cooler than that??
Turns out, the game was actually released in 2005 to rave reviews, but very little commercial success. I’m not a gamer, so I was totally unaware of it till I saw a used PC copy in the Half Price bookstore last year. Then somehow I stumbled across a free download of it via GameTap, downloaded it on a whim, and I’m addicted.
The graphics, the story line, the characters… all are brilliant, and really, really weird.
The main character, Razputin, is an aspiring PsychoNaut who crashes his way into summer camp, only to uncover a dastardly plot to steal campers brains in an attempt to take over the world. It’s your task to guide him first, around the camp, and then through a series of twisted minds, sorting emotional baggage and clearing emotional cobwebs.
I’m currently stuck in a level that.. well… it appears to be a circus made of meat. And I’m trying to save a cute fat little bunny from mutant meat grinder rabbits, but I keep falling off of the T-bone steak aerial platforms.
It’s all very disturbing.
The game involves a lot of leaping around on platforms, walking on tightropes and swinging from tree limbs, and it can be a bit fussy and frustrating at times.
But the levels are well designed, with increasing levels of difficulty that are just right - making each step just enough of a challenge. I’ve been playing it with keyboard commands and been doing ok with it (thanks to a walkthrough guide)
Wanna give it a whirl?
You can download the PC version free through GameTap - which requires downloading their software thing, but you don’t even have to register. ( I had no problems installing it on XP, but my Mom couldn’t get GameTap to work on her Vista setup, though some folks apparently have it working. )
You can also pick up used versions of the game through Amazon
. I couldn’t find any new boxed versions of the game still available there, but I didn’t look very hard. Versions for Xbox and Playstation 2 are also available.
One warning:
It is extremely addictive, may cause you to laugh outrageously loud and scare the cats. And the music from the Meat Circus level is stuck in my head and refuses to leave.
Now I’m off to save the bunny. Again.
MindTweak: “I’ve got the brain of a little girl back in my lab that could power a whole army of Psycho-Blaster death tanks… What’s so funny?” - Kochamara
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
This was one of the most fun games I’ve played in many years. It is truly addictive as you said. I picked it up when it first came out and was surprised that it didn’t do better. I think it may have just been poor marketing because I’ve yet to meet someone who has played it that has a bad review to give.
This looks like a really fun game. I’d love to try it out but….no Mac version!! Darn
Michael
Quote: “It is truly addictive as you said.”
Oh dear. Is this competition to the Big Blue Button?! Yikes I don’t think I should tempt another addiction…..
@Ian From the little bit I know about the game industry, they’re great at appealing to hard core gamers, not so great (or even aware of) the rest of us. Seems the year Psychonauts was released, the competition included one of the Grand Theft Auto games, and got left out of the buzz. It’s a shame, because I’d love to see a sequel. Maybe someone will port it for the Wii, and the whole thing will take off again? (Or maybe I’m utterly clueless about the game industry, too)
@Michael Can you do that ‘Run as Windows” thing Mac people keep telling me about? (I’m cluess when it comes to Mac, except that their advertising program is serious win. )
@Robert: I do not think a Psychonauts addiction will pose as much of a problem to you as my Blue Button in the sidebar - Psychonauts, does, indeed, have an end… you can win it, beat the evil nemesis and restore the campers brains, and then you’re done. With my Blue Button (in the sidebar!) there is no sense of completion, no sense of finality, and so you just keep pushing it endlessly, mindlessly, being hypnotized by my brain until you will do my bidding! BWahaha HA.
Oh the temptation.
Beware the Ides of Xmas…….Beware the sultry temptress called Psychonauts….beware…!
Yeah OK you catch my drift. But I still have far Cry 2 to complete. So I may only take a peep at it. A snifter, a taste a teenyweeny play and then resist the urge to go further.