Psychonauts is an action adventure third person plat-former. Created by Double Fine, it was released in April of 2005 for Xbox, playstation, and Windows.  It received very high reviews; unfortunately the sales did not reflect the greatness of this entertaining, unique, and fun game. Psychonauts is about a summer camp for kids’ psychic powers, which is used to train them on how to use their psychic powers. The game is centered on a boy named Razputin (Raz for short) who runs away from his acrobatic circus family to begin his training to be a psychic secret agent. 

  Raz joins other kids whom also share in having special psychic powers, at whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp.  Raz is tasked with completing all the summer camps’ psychic training and earn merit badges which allow him to use his psychic powers.  So how do you train at a summer camp for psychics?  You astral project yourself into the camp counselors’ minds and enter a completely unique zone.  The first part of the game is getting your basic psychic powers which are used to find clues to an unraveling mystery of strange dreams and missing kids.  Psychic powers include psi blast, levitation, invisibility, and many others which are either unlocked by completing training levels, found merit badges, or by increasing your psi level.  Psychonauts is a one of the most unique games I have ever played.  Each mind you enter is completely different from each other (no two are the same).

  The minds you enter range between a war zone, to a groovy dance party, to being a giant rampaging Godzilla style monster. Combat can be customized by setting the psi power to one of three hot keys.  Set an enemy on fire from a distance, or get up close and hit them with a psychic punch.  Every npc in this game is fully voiced and has their own personality to interact with.  The music sets the tone of each zone perfectly.

  If you want a game that offers something different in a sea of sequels, or a just want to have some fun with a retro game, pick up Psychonauts on Steam for Windows and Macs at the low cost of only $10, and at the Xbox 360 marketplace for just 800 msp. This game is also available on the Playstation 2, so check your local bargain bins.