| | A 3D platformer from a famed former Lucasarts adventure game designer, Psychonauts didn't help itself in retail by having a kiddy look but rather complex, darkly comic content. The very first stage, for instance--after really overlong briefings of annoying, ugly children (who look like after-school cartoon rejects) by a loud drill sergeant--puts you into the middle of a hellish, torn-up war zone, with artillery falling around you constantly, your sergeant barking at you from films projected on trench walls, and very dark, difficult-to-navigate 3D platforming areas. You don't do any fighting in this stage; you just jump around and try to find your way to the end. Even just this is tough, as it can be very hard to see where to go next.
And man, those screechy, ugly kids are annoying.
Now, in theory this all fits in with the "psychonaut" theme of being an explorer of the inner psyche (the first stage is in your drill sergeant's mind, you see), but the result is a game that doesn't go far out of its way toward being likable right off the bat. Am I ever going to go back to it and see if it grows on me? No. |
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