By John Walker on January 27th, 2010 at 8:00 am.
You need no more information than this. Until Thursday Steam has one of the loveliest games ever, Psychonauts, for £1. It’s hilarious, it’s so beautifully written, and it’s bursting with invention and ideas like nothing else. And if you want to complain that the platforming is often a bit dodgy, I reply with: IT’S ONE POUND. A pound.
A pound. (Or two dollars.)
27/01/2010 at 08:02 Senethro says:
Buy it, buy it you sons of mothers!
27/01/2010 at 08:08 mrmud says:
2 Euro :(
27/01/2010 at 08:19 Choca says:
Yes, the currency gods have forsaken us yet again… but it’s still a great deal.
27/01/2010 at 08:11 leonard hatred says:
Anybody who hasn’t already bought and fallen in love with psychonauts doesn’t deserve it for £1.
Fact.
27/01/2010 at 09:58 Richeh says:
They don’t deserve the pound either. Somebody take it off them.
And give them a copy of Psychonauts so they know what they’ve done.
27/01/2010 at 08:21 Bob says:
I tried the demo awhile ago and found it boring tbh
27/01/2010 at 08:24 Simon Jones says:
It’s OK, Bob, the demo found you boring, too.
A lot of people dismissed Psychonauts after playing the demo, which is a shame. While the demo utterly captivated me with its imaginative designs and great writing/music/everything, it really isn’t representative of the full game, which expands exponentially with new gameplay elements and surprisingly varied settings that continually turn the game’s formula upside-down.
ONE POUND.
27/01/2010 at 08:24 Amqz says:
I’ve nothing against humour-centric games, but it just sounds way too weird for me. And the main character is some little cartoon kid? No thanks.
27/01/2010 at 08:31 Jazmeister says:
Who’d want to be a little cartoon child when you could be a burly space marine, amirite men?
27/01/2010 at 08:57 Lilliput King says:
TITS
27/01/2010 at 10:04 Man Raised By Puffins says:
A cartoon kid WHO CAN BURN PEOPLE WITH HIS MIND.
27/01/2010 at 11:18 Drexer says:
Yeah sure, cartoon kids, the scourge of all times, just imagine how much better the video gaming world would be without those pesky cartons. We could get rid of that annoying Crash Bandicoot, Mario, Sonic, Lucas, Ness, Jak, Ratchet, etc… etc… good rid those cartoons?[/sarcasm]
I would buy it except I already have it. And now I want to play it once more.
27/01/2010 at 12:49 Rinox says:
The funny thing is that the whole “happy go lucky rainbow cartoon” feel of the beginning of the game has a very sinister undertow. There’s the two super-happy spazz kids who’re actually trying to commit suicide if you pay closer attention, and there’s the kid that blows up squirrels with his mind (and has to wear a tin hat cause he “kept exploding people’s heads”).
Psychonauts may look childish and even cheerful, but it’s all about the dark corners of our world and minds, the places we know exist but choose to ignore or forget. Dismissing it because of its superficial look is a bad mistake to make. But hey.
27/01/2010 at 14:45 Bret says:
You know, Dexter, that reminds me:
Ness and Raz get in a fight out back by the bike rack. Who you got?
27/01/2010 at 08:24 Bobsy says:
Yeah, the only reason to not buy this is if you own it already or you’re an idiot. Seriously. A beer costs more than this. And it’s over quicker. And is prone to being spiked.
27/01/2010 at 13:57 MonkeyMonster says:
and if you do already have it – seriously its a 1/3 of a pint and then you don’t have to worry about disks any more…
like I will.
27/01/2010 at 08:26 Simon Jones says:
Seriously, if you like any of the following, buy it:
- Brutal Legend
- Monkey Island
- Good stories & writing in games… See more
- Things that make you laugh
- Fun platform games
- Imagination
- Ridiculously good deals
27/01/2010 at 08:36 Gnoupi says:
And Grim Fandango, dammit!
27/01/2010 at 08:58 Bobsy says:
- Happiness
- Oxygen
- A colour (any of them)
27/01/2010 at 09:26 Optimaximal says:
or Lungfish (and the abuse of…)
27/01/2010 at 10:03 -Spooky- says:
- Sanitarium
- Dig
- The Loom
- Donkey Kong Country
- Crash Bandicoot
27/01/2010 at 11:19 Drexer says:
And turtles.
MR:POKEYLOPE!
27/01/2010 at 08:26 Vinraith says:
I borrowed the PS2 version from a friend ages ago and played a little of it. The sense of humor and story seemed good, but I couldn’t get past the shoddy platforming control, and in general I’m finding I have less and less patience for the genre.
I must say, though, it’s a statement about sales of late (Gamersgate, Steam, GOG, and otherwise) that I have such a backlog of games to play and so little time to play them that I’m not even tempted by a $2 game. Cheap or not, I doubt I’d ever get around to playing it.
27/01/2010 at 09:21 crumbsucker says:
@Vinraith
I’m in the same boat, sort of. Tried the demo, and I can see why people love it so much, but this platforming is really not my thing, great writing/story/characters/ideas notwithstanding.
27/01/2010 at 14:28 Nobody Important says:
The PS2 version wasn’t up to par to the Xbox and PC versions.
27/01/2010 at 18:46 MajorManiac says:
Being a child of the 80s I think I burnt out my urge to jump in games with Mario and Sonic et al.. So I’m not a major platform game lover, but I did enjoy this game.
Are there any platform jumping games in existance better than this one? If so I’d genuinely like to give them a try and see if I can regain my love for the genere.
27/01/2010 at 18:56 Lilliput King says:
Best platforming game I played last year was Spelunky, hands down.
27/01/2010 at 08:28 Jazmeister says:
Pffft. Tim Schafer is a sellout. I vote we all buy Ubisoft games to give our bold cyborg leaders a comfortable head start.
27/01/2010 at 08:28 Edgar the Peaceful says:
This and Vampire Bloodlines (in parts) has the best writing/ideas/humour I’ve found in my gaming life.
27/01/2010 at 08:52 Lambchops says:
Concurred. Well apart from Grim Fandango and Monkey Island 2 of course.
Seriously though, it’s one pound. It’s cheaper than two bars of chocolate or a hundred and one penny sweets (do you still get penny sweets?). You have no excuses folks!
27/01/2010 at 08:55 Lilliput King says:
They’re 2p now. Blame the global economy.
27/01/2010 at 08:31 Count Zero says:
It would be nice to have a digital copy of this, but I’ve already bought it twice on boring old physical media so far. It really is that good.
27/01/2010 at 08:33 MadMatty says:
Its a steal!
Not a classic, but pretty sweet… got it a couple of years ago- at full price i think?
27/01/2010 at 08:41 rei says:
I didn’t much care for it when I played it on GameTap (for free, which is better than $2/€2/£1). The controls are annoying, everything about the game screams “consoles! yeah!” and under the veneer of weirdness the humor is very much by the numbers. Bought it anyway, because I’m a sucker. Maybe I’ll like it more when my expectations aren’t as high as last time around.
27/01/2010 at 08:48 mrmud says:
If you dont enjoy Goggalor and the milkman conspiracy you have no heart.
27/01/2010 at 08:57 Rinox says:
Milkman Conspiracy = one of the best design efforts in all of gaming history.
27/01/2010 at 09:23 rei says:
Honestly, I didn’t get that far. I’ll try to be a better person this time, I swear.
27/01/2010 at 09:30 yaster says:
This game really starts with Goggalor. Fantastic level after brilliant one after magnificent one after… sheer force of creativity – mind blowing splendour.
27/01/2010 at 09:40 Rinox says:
Officer O’Lungfish is my personal hero.
Also,
HARD TO AVOID AREA ATTACK! OVERLY ELABORATE COMBINATION ATTACK!
/wipes tear.
27/01/2010 at 08:55 Mathonar says:
I already own it and still bought it again at this price, it’s just easier having games on steam.
especially at ONE POUND
27/01/2010 at 09:00 Psychopomp says:
You already own it? Buy it for a random person on your steam friends list! MORE PEOPLE MUST PLAY THIS GAME!
27/01/2010 at 18:15 D says:
I bought 5.
27/01/2010 at 09:04 frags says:
The milkman conspiracy lives!
27/01/2010 at 09:13 Caiman says:
Anyone posting in this thread who complains about this game for 2 measly bucks will have their IP address logged, their home addresses investigated, and a visit paid by the gaming police who will take away their fun license.
27/01/2010 at 09:20 TOOTR says:
Don’t hate me for this but…..Can you play it on PC with an Xbox 360 controller?
27/01/2010 at 09:27 Lilliput King says:
Yes.
27/01/2010 at 10:02 Caer says:
Playing it with a 360 controller is probably the better way to play it. I got through it using mouse+keyboard first time, then tried again some months later with a 360 pad and it felt better like that.
27/01/2010 at 12:28 stahlwerk says:
I bought it for 2 €. Have played the demo some time ago and quite enjoyed it.
Oh, and coincidently the mailman just handed me the 360 controller I ordered yesterday… If you build it, they will come, I guess.
27/01/2010 at 09:23 Dan says:
His milk is delicious!
27/01/2010 at 09:24 Andy says:
When I read all these comments about “Only a pound!” I wonder if I’m the only person in full time work? I think it’s interesting that when I was a student I had to pirate games cos i was poor but had plenty of time to play them, now I have a job I buy lots and lots of games but have no time to play them. It doesn’t matter if Psychonauts is free, what I really need is someone to give me an extra 2 or 3 hours a day for gaming :(.
27/01/2010 at 09:27 Lilliput King says:
You are the only person in full time work, in the entire world.
You’re getting a raw deal to be honest. The rest of us are having a whale of a time.
On a less pithy note, Psychonauts is worth your time, I promise.
27/01/2010 at 09:30 Employed says:
Getting a decently paying job does rather change your perspective, I think. For example, DLC stops becoming a worry because, fuck it, it’s only a tenner anyway, and people saying things like “yeah, if this game was $5 I’d get it, but no way am I paying $7″ suddenly seem very, very alien.
27/01/2010 at 10:21 Bonedwarf says:
There are those of who can’t work sadly. But I still do alright really. It pays to not have ANY vices. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke.
My vice? I GAME!
Just dropped the 2 for this. It better be good or all the people I’ve seen praise this owe me about 0.002 cents each!
27/01/2010 at 10:31 Rinox says:
Drinking is a vice?
27/01/2010 at 14:14 Malibu Stacey says:
Second that. Would much prefer extra hours in the day or days in the month to play all of the games I’ve bought than more discounted games.
Also I’d buy more copies of this for my RL friends but I know they’ll never bother touching it unlike the copies of TF2 & Stalker (plus directions to Stalker Complete 2009) I’ve sent them in Steam sales over the past few months. When it costs less than a drink for a game, I can’t resist especially when it’s something this good even if I do already own the retail package. I just wish more of my RL friends who play games used their PCs for something other than Football Manager & didn’t automatically reach for a games console when they want to play something slightly interesting.
27/01/2010 at 15:27 deanimate says:
I stay at home all day dreaming of becoming cat while painting colours on various walls.
Using tea bags no less.
27/01/2010 at 09:26 TheApologist says:
It has some absolutely great levels and is a steal at the price – get it.
But I’d personally caution against expecting it to be the second coming.
27/01/2010 at 09:40 deadbob says:
Sleep is overrated. :)
27/01/2010 at 09:52 Monchberter says:
Punchy Punch Punch!
27/01/2010 at 10:02 CdrJameson says:
Psychonauts starts poorly, which might be why it didn’t do better originally.
I love the game now, but I needed serious encouragement to get past the first (and, apart from the Meat Circus, weakest) level. Whoever thought that being shot repeatedly by that machine gun nest was a good idea needs to be, well, shot repeatedly with a machine gun.
As for the platforming controls, you fairly quickly get a power-up that makes jumping so much easier. If you haven’t got it yet then you’re just going to be incredibly frustrated that you can’t quite reach some areas that look like they should be accessible.
Do carry on! It has the best middle of any game in existence (and that’s about 90% of it). Every psychic journey is an absolute treat. I’ve never seen a better hidden room than the one in Milla’s Dance Party.
27/01/2010 at 13:59 MonkeyMonster says:
Gosh darn meat circus level! I will beat it this time… maybe
27/01/2010 at 10:10 Jerricho says:
I’ve just bought this for a friend as I’ve already got it. Its one of the most enjoyable games I’ve ever played. Seriously, the Black Velvetta level was jaw droppingly beautiful, there was a sharp indraw of breath when it loaded.
27/01/2010 at 10:17 terry says:
Crumbs, I thought I’d been banned or something. Note to self – Log in through that wordpress thing before clicking on comments threads in future!
I’m not an enormous fan of 3d platformers so I hadn’t picked this up before now, but at that price it would be lunacy to not purchase it.
I have a pretty low threshold for pixel-perfect jumping sections with insta-death so I can tell mindboggling levels of frustration are afoot. Just so I know – are there any particular levels I particularly should watch out for in the exasperated muttered cursing stakes? Forewarned is forearmed and all that. I do recall seeing a friend play it a bit when it was first released but other than being pleasingly bonkers I don’t remember all that much about it.
27/01/2010 at 10:20 Nameykins says:
Sometimes I feel like I’m one of the 5 people who doesn’t love this game to death. I played it for a while a some time a go and I simply wasn’t that impressed. Got bored and moved on.
Is there something wrong with me? :(
27/01/2010 at 10:56 Sam says:
No, you just don’t find Tim Schafer amusing.
Which is fine, by the way – I don’t find him half as amusing as the majority of commenters here find him, either. People find different things funny, you know?
27/01/2010 at 11:01 Ian says:
I tried really, REALLY hard to love this game but it just wasn’t happening. It’s just one of them games where I don’t have any issues with it and I can see why it’s so well-loved. It just didn’t really happen for me.
27/01/2010 at 11:41 Casimir's Blake says:
Finally, some people with sense. Not that it’s not with a £1, but Psychonauts flew under the radar for a reason, people. If you love it, you’ll defend it to the death. The rest of us will just get on with our lives…
27/01/2010 at 13:01 Lilliput King says:
Not that it’s not with a £1, but Psychonauts flew under the radar for a reason, people.
Indeed. I think it was Mr. Walker that wrote a very interesting post a while back as to exactly why it flew under the radar.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/11/05/mind-games-psychonauts-gets-gog-release/
You don’t have a clue, as usual.
27/01/2010 at 17:56 Casimir's Blake says:
And you’re being offensive as usual. Whether it flew under the radar, whether it was down to lack of marketing, some people 1) won’t enjoy the gameplay, 2) won’t enjoy the humour, 3) won’t enjoy the eccentric artistic style. Or a combination of the three.
You be one of the people that do enjoy if you want, but don’t accuse us of “lacking a clue” just because we don’t adore one of your favourite games. That just makes you sound like a fanboy.
27/01/2010 at 18:09 Lilliput King says:
Oh, not people.
Just you.
Just to clarify, when you say “Psychonauts flew under the radar for a reason, people”, what reason were you referring to?
27/01/2010 at 19:15 arqueturus says:
@Liliput
How about the fact (as stated above ) the demo was shit? Because the opening levels were shit. And it gets better the more you get into it. Except he didn’t (like me) becasue the demo was shit.
That might have something to do with why it flew under the radar. At a pound I think I’m going to try it again but I certainly wouldn’t judege other people for not.
27/01/2010 at 10:25 Snidesworth says:
Thanks to this deal I now own two copies of Psychonauts. It’s a single bloody pound. I spend more money on my lunch each day.
27/01/2010 at 10:42 Malcolm says:
I was going to ignore this, what with already owning a bona fide DVD purchased at FULL PRICE the WEEK OF RELEASE. But having read all the glowing, nostalgic reminiscing I’ve decided to buy it again merely for the convenience of having it on Steam. I don’t think I’ve bought a full game for £1 since having an Amstrad…
27/01/2010 at 10:48 Voidkraken says:
Or if you liked Day of the Tentacle, Tim Schafer also worked on that as a designer too. I loved this game so much I bought it twice – once for my PS2, and again on XBL.
27/01/2010 at 10:52 AndrewC says:
Does anyone know if there’s a level select cheat for this game?
27/01/2010 at 11:01 Nero says:
I already have it on PS2 and Steam so it has gotten my support. Buy it today or you or I will put bacon in your ear.
27/01/2010 at 11:04 PixelCody says:
Another game added to the queue of ridicuvalue steam purchases that I don’t have time to play.
27/01/2010 at 11:04 mcw says:
Already own it, twice actually, and for that price you can’t really go wrong. Milkman and Black Velvet are really great examples of creative level design. Probably should be played with a controller if you have one around …
27/01/2010 at 11:15 sfury says:
Will buy it again.
I already have it boxed, but I bought that cheap-o and it cannot be regged on Steam, so that’s a no brainer. Might even buy it for some friends, even at 2 Euro (and not 1 pound) this price is ridiculous. :]
27/01/2010 at 11:18 RagingLion says:
VICTORY! Your time has come Psychonauts. You will now be bought. Muhahahaha! (The waiting paid off.)
27/01/2010 at 11:23 IAMJETHRO says:
Finally boughted Psychonauts. Time to see what this is all about – I best not be disappointed!
27/01/2010 at 11:40 Carra says:
Bought Psychonauts during the gog.com sales.
But this reminds me that I still have to actually play it :)
27/01/2010 at 11:48 Paul Moloney says:
Works almost perfectly with an XBox 360 gamepad. I just noticed there’s 2 actions unmapped, and you can’t use the triggers to for those. But here’s a workaround from elsewhere:
“If you want to use an Xbox 360 gamepad for Psychonauts (or a lot of
other games) look for a program called Xpadder. It’s $10 to buy, with
all future updates free, and is worth every penny. It runs in the
background and intercepts controller inputs, translating them to
whatever you want. That includes the 360 pad’s analog triggers, which
many PC games (like Psychonauts) can’t deal with natively.
For Psychonauts, I just told Xpadder to make the triggers report as two
keyboard keys, which were mapped to the ‘Target Lock’ and ‘Primary PSI’
buttons in game. The rest of the gamepad worked just fine in game
already, so I only had Xpadder handling those two buttons. Played
through twice that way, completely seamless.”
27/01/2010 at 11:53 oceanclub says:
And yes, playing with an XBox 360 gamepad is definitely the way to go; it just feels a lot better and even more precise than using a mouse and keys for this particular game. I have a feeling that’s why I wasn’t enamoured with the demo when I played it originally (don’t look at me that way!) but played the Steam sale version for hours last night.
My next Halloween party I intend to dress up as Raz.
P.
27/01/2010 at 11:55 Fatrat says:
Avoided buying this at normal prices because i never could (or at least never got around) to looking for a demo to try, i guess i can’t really use that excuse anymore. Buying now!
27/01/2010 at 11:56 Wulf says:
Hey Jimmy! I see you sitting on the fence there, unconvinced, and worried about your machismo, biting your nails out of concern that playing a game like this could somehow hurt your potential man-cred. Well, hey, that’s okay, you haven’t got any! Ha ha ha, I jest. Seriously Jimmy, by concerning yourself with nothing but surly men and tits, blood and smut, and all those things that define a prepubescent, you’re missing out on a world of entertainment!
/fiddles with the projector
But it’s all right Jimmy, I’m here to save you from a life of utter mundanity and boring muscle-flexing, just sit back in that easy chair, try one of those hors d’œuvres, they’re delightfully piquant, oh they’re a party in your mouth and you’re the guest of honour, Jimmy! Now now, don’t eat them all at once! You’ll want to save some to enhance your viewing pleasure, now sit back and watch, watch Jimmy, and feel your mind expand!
/presses the butan
The Milkman Conspiracy
Still on the fence, Jimmy? Oh well, we can’t cure everyone of boringitis! Ha ha ha, you’ll live a full and complete life, I’m sure… maybe as a bean-counter or something.
27/01/2010 at 12:00 Wulf says:
I’m… not sure whether I was trying to imitate The Tick or Troy McClure with that. …perhaps some sort of bastard child of the two.
27/01/2010 at 12:21 hydra9 says:
By coincidence, I’m playing this for the first time right now. But I had to install it from 5 CDs!!!(!!!) 5!!! You young Internet-savvy kids have it easy!
27/01/2010 at 12:23 hydra9 says:
P.S. Oh yeah, *definitely* play it with a gamepad. It’s playable with mouse+keyboard but really just a shadow of itself.
27/01/2010 at 12:27 Vague-rant says:
Went to buy “Bob came in pieces” last night on steam and instead found out about the sale. I then forgot to buy the “Bob…” and find I don’t really mind.
27/01/2010 at 12:33 Super Bladesman says:
I knew you’d recommend buying this for a quid, so I pre-emptively bought it last night – ha, take that! :D
27/01/2010 at 12:59 Lilliput King says:
EDIT: NRRRG REPLIES
27/01/2010 at 13:12 Rick says:
The only downside to this game is the absolutely ridiculous increase in difficulty towards the end. Otherwise, the milk is delicious.
27/01/2010 at 13:26 Stense says:
One of the funniest games around.
Buy it.
It has squirrels in and everything.
27/01/2010 at 14:53 Bret says:
Squirrels you can light on fire with your mind!
27/01/2010 at 13:49 Tei says:
One of my favorite games is a platformer. Turrican 2 (1991).
I even played a lot Pitfall 2 (1984). But I don’t like the gimmicky of “preccise jumping”. It was something of a era, where the skill using the joystick was all. But gamming has moved away from “joysticks”, and I think the people that are still making platformer gamers have not paid attention, and are just feeding nostalgia.
29/01/2010 at 12:22 Hodge says:
It’s also the kind of thing that was more suited to 2D. I’ve never been a huge fan of platformers but I could tolerate them back in the 8/16 bit days, whereas most 3D platformers drain my patience really quickly. It’s just easier to judge where you are in relation to the world in 2D. In 3D, every jump feels like a leap of faith to me.
27/01/2010 at 13:50 Igor Hardy says:
Apart from that superb Milkman level craziness I didn’t particularly enjoy this game. It could have been so much more… Maybe if Microsoft left it alone and it wasn’t dumbed down to fit their testers.
27/01/2010 at 14:28 autogunner says:
after the entire day group effort spent trying to complete the end of meat circus I will never play this game ever again, im still amazed we succeeded.
27/01/2010 at 18:55 Lilliput King says:
YOU USED TO LIKE TO PLAY CATCH WITH ME
27/01/2010 at 14:34 disperse says:
Purchased. I didn’t even have to enter my CC information, Steam remembered it.
27/01/2010 at 21:07 Kakksakkamaddafakka says:
How convenient.
27/01/2010 at 14:40 Shadrach says:
Lovely, anyone who’s not played this should get it. I first got it retail and then got it cheap from GOG to have a digital version.
This also reminded me how sad it is Brütal Legend is not out on PC… boo… hiss…
27/01/2010 at 15:51 jsutcliffe says:
I have tried a few times to get into Psychonauts (I have it for my Xboxmachine), but just can’t get past the art style. Ugly characters and ugly environments — admittedly I’ve only done the boot camp type section at the start of the game, but I don’t think I could stomach much more.
10/02/2010 at 14:35 SquareWheel says:
The game starts off a little boring, but once you get into it you will not be able to put it down. Some of the best level design I’ve ever seen.
27/01/2010 at 15:56 EthZee says:
I’d normally be fine with buying something like this. I’ll have to try the demo before because I’m not sure this old laptop will run it.
But…
I don’t know if anyone feels like this, but I’m finding the astronomical levels of praise and hype for this game (a gushing torrent that has been flowing for years) to be slightly offputting. The more praise it gets, the better it’s got to be; otherwise it fails.
Granted, I’ve been proven wrong; I actually hated both Dark Knight and Arkham Asylum with a passion before I experienced them myself. I’ll give it a try. But still! STOP BEING SO ENTHUSIASTIC!
*whacks with sharp stick*
27/01/2010 at 16:03 Max says:
Alright, I bought it. I played the demo a while ago after Yahtzee waxed poetic about it, and though I was amused, the platforming made me want to strangle someone.
Perhaps I will yet be a convert.
27/01/2010 at 21:55 LintMan says:
I bought the game a while ago and really expected to like it based on all the online love for it. I was charmed by the story (the little I got to see of it), but it’s a hardcore platformer game, and I just don’t like platformers – even charming, intelligent ones just aren’t fun for me.
I really wanted to play it through to see the story and the puzzles, etc, but the platforming just made it terrible, so I had to quit playing.
27/01/2010 at 16:04 Jocho says:
If I’ve ever heard of an impulse-buy, it was this one. Been intending to buy it a long time, and this is just too good to be missed!
27/01/2010 at 16:35 Springy says:
PSYCHONAUTS: ONE POUND?
“That’s less than a pint!” – Anonymous Poster
“That’s two hundred thousand times cheaper than my house.” – Astonished Homeowner
“If I put a billion pound coins in a pile, buying Psychonauts would hardly make a dent in it!” – Scrooge McDuck
Thank you, ‘pint’ posters, for reassuring us the real-world value of money. We’d completely lost all grip on it recently, so it’s nice to be reminded the trade value of currency.
27/01/2010 at 16:41 CJohnson03 says:
I might buy this just so I can stomp around like Godzilla in the Lake Monster’s mind-city. That never, ever gets old..
27/01/2010 at 18:12 deanimate says:
Any opinions on how this compares to Mario Galaxy? I ask because I love Galaxy and they’re both platformers so was thinking a comparison of sorts could be reasonably valid.
Unless it’s not and I’m wrong.
27/01/2010 at 18:36 MajorManiac says:
I’m the oposite. I’ve played this, but not Mario Galaxy. I’d say if you like platform games this is a good one.
Its greatest strength is in having massively diverse levels, that each require a different set of skills. Plus it has a nice story.
27/01/2010 at 21:01 deanimate says:
Well, I bought it so as to get rid of steams limitations but I shall definitely get round to trying it out. So many people keep extolling its virtues there must be something in it.
27/01/2010 at 18:31 Durns says:
How about a PS3 controller?
27/01/2010 at 18:40 l1ddl3monkey says:
Any game that features a Godzilla spoof level set inside the mind of a giant mutated lungfish and can get a laugh from the line “Lets make out!” must be played!
27/01/2010 at 19:02 Thirith says:
I wouldn’t even describe the game as a pure platformer in the Mario vein – it’s more of an action adventure that is heavy on the platforming. I didn’t play it for the gameplay so much as for the wonderful world and characters it evokes, like the very best work of Henry Selick.
27/01/2010 at 19:08 Spaceman-Spiff says:
Psychonauts has brilliant writing. The dialogs are very funny and entertaining. The gameplay, however, is not as great. In some areas, the game gets very hard.
27/01/2010 at 19:25 MacQ says:
is funny. :D
27/01/2010 at 19:26 MacQ says:
Sorry ’bout that. It was meant to say:
This guy is funny. :D
27/01/2010 at 20:03 EthZee says:
The demo does not run well on my laptop. Ah well.
27/01/2010 at 20:24 TooNu says:
Bought 2 copies, 1 for me 1 for the awesome missus.
27/01/2010 at 20:32 LionsPhil says:
@EthZee: It’s grossly overhyped. It’s a really shitty platformer, and a complete waste of Schafer’s writing. Ignore the raving fanboys, they’re blinding themselves to its chronically broken game part to give the celebrity developer a tongue bath.
Get back to adventure games, Tim.
27/01/2010 at 21:16 SmallGods says:
People, people, no-ones asked the most important question of all yet!
….can haz Steam achievments now plz?
27/01/2010 at 22:02 MWoody says:
I wonder if the PC version of this game has some sort of control problem. I played the console version, found it of medium-to-easy difficulty all the way through and absolutely delightful. And yet I hear all the time about the final levels being tough, or the platforming giving people problems – maybe the keyboard just doesn’t work for this sort of thing, I guess.
Still, Christ on a bicycle, $2!?
27/01/2010 at 22:10 Pemptus says:
I find it bewildering that an alarming number of people seem hate the platforming and controls in this game. I completed it twice, both times getting 100%, and while being frustrated a good couple of times, the platforming seemed fun and well done. I never thought about plugging a gamepad, the keyboard and mouse felt just perfect after some fiddling with the sensitivity.
28/01/2010 at 00:09 toastmodernist says:
i’d buy that for a dollar.
28/01/2010 at 04:03 SpinalJack says:
I have this on xbox and I also played it for free on the PC with game tap. This game keeps popping up all over the place.
28/01/2010 at 08:42 MacQ says:
I tried the demo when it came out and did it again yesterday to see if I’m ever gonna play this game, since it is not my kind of genre. Well, I agree with the comments that the story, the characters and the humor is great, but I also agree that the platforming is mediocre at best. Therefore I’ll keep 2 €.
If it were a classic adventure I wouldn’t think about it one second and would get it immediately. Oh well…
28/01/2010 at 08:43 bill says:
Surely you mean “beautiful art style and beautiful character design”? Right?
Cos otherwise I would be confused and think you were playing a different game….
29/01/2010 at 12:58 Hodge says:
I love Tim Schafer’s graphic adventures of old but I could never get into Psychonauts. I remember playing the demo when it came out and it just felt like a mediocre console platformer. Even the cutscenes left me cold – some beautiful art, but way too saccharine for me (darker undertones notwithstanding).
I seem to be part of the (vocal?) minority, though – if you haven’t played it, you’d be mad not to spend the $2 and decide for yourself.
29/01/2010 at 13:12 oceanclub says:
I’m a good way through the game (6 hours, Raz is now rank 30), have a fairly low tolerance for platformers (I’ve never been grabbed by any of the Mario games), yet I’m loving it. Have I just not hit a ramping up of difficulty, or is it just the game is far more playable on a gamepad?
P.
29/01/2010 at 13:16 Rinox says:
I can’t say anything on the gamepad, but on the difficulty: there aren’t any real spikes until the final level, which is very hard. Don’t let anyone tell you that’s impossible though, because it’s not. You’ll get it right after a while.
30/01/2010 at 04:15 The Hammer says:
Made sure I bought this, as I originally had the PS2 port which, to put it bluntly, sucked the big one. But this game is so quote-worthy, so agreeably out-there, and so charismatic that I needed to get my hands on it again.
I wonder who the money goes to?
06/08/2010 at 10:06 Abercrombie clothing says:
The graphics look amazing. The gameplay sounds a bit dull though. Is there bullet time?