Long time fans of LucasArts or adventure gaming will be no stranger to the genius of Tim Schafer, the man and mind behind some of the all-time greatest games like Grim Fandango, Full Throttle and at *least* half of Day of the Tentacle. After a career at LucasArts including the aforementioned games and other gems like Monkey Island 1 & 2, he left to form Double Fine Productions, a company with more talent per square-metre than the Playboy mansion, and there they laboured for many years. Now, even more years later, PAL regions around the world have finally gotten a chance to see their new masterpiece, Psychonauts.

Psychonauts tells the story of young Rasputin, known as Raz for short, a circus performer who, tired of his carnie-lifestyle, runs away to Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp. This fun-filled retreat, run by the ESP-elites of the Psychonauts, is like no school camp you've ever been to: heads explode, campfires are lit mentally, and group activities consist of a mind-meld in a cerebral dance-club. Not only that, the camp hides a terrible secret, and an evil plan is about to be hatched. Despite the fact Raz isn't allowed to stay and his old man is due to pick him up tomorrow, it will be up to you to set things right when the grey matter of kids and counselors alike mysteriously starts to vanish.

Psychonauts is first and foremost a platformer, with a splash of adventuring and puzzle solving thrown in for good measure. As a young cadet, Raz begins with only the ability to summon a mental bouncy-ball called a Thought Bubble for a double jump, and in a clear nod to his World Heroes namesake, a psychic hand-slap to give you a fighting chance against enemies. Of course, Raz has enormous talent, and like most kids, soaks up knowledge like a thirsty Chux. You'll gain new abilities in two ways: as part of a scripted event in the game, and by advancing in ranks by collecting items.

It should be said now that if you don't like games that involve collecting items (i.e. the entire modern platformer genre), then Psychonauts may not be your cup of Tetley's. You'll need to find psi-challenge cards, 9 of which form a psi-challenge marker, which can also be located in the game, there's a scavenger hunt, psychically enhanced Indian arrowheads and that's just in the real world! Once you enter the human psyche, you'll be looking for emotional baggage, mental cobwebs, repressed memories and figments of imagination, all of which are crucial if you want Raz to reach his full potential.

This potential includes a host of abnormal abilities, including levitation, clairvoyance, invisibility, psi-blasts, as well as pyro & telekinesis to name a few. Like any good platformers, Psychonauts places many collectibles and goals in plain sight, while making them inaccessible until Raz has advanced a little bit further and gained those new abilities. This really encourages you to work for that next rank upgrade, and explore a little further to find those items you need. The real-world aspect takes place in the Psychic Camp and its surrounds, and there is pretty much total freedom to explore the game world the minute you're done with the tutorial.

However Psychonauts really hits its stride once Raz gains the ability to delve deep into the psyches of characters he encounters in the game. You'll get your first taste early on- a tutorial level in the troubled mind of ex-army man Coach Oleander, one of the teachers at the camp. It's here that Schafer and the team at Double Fine can really go, well, mental! It would be a disservice to the experience that is Psychonauts to reveal too many of the locations, suffice to say that you'll be stomping cities like Godzilla, engaging in a life-size game of Risk, and twisting through a variety of levels that would confuse the hell out of M.C. Escher.

The level design is absolutely superb- though amazingly lavish, there is nothing gratuitous or wasteful about the designs, and you won't be forced to jump through hoops just to extend the playtime of the game. The artwork is brilliant too, and at times you'll feel as though you're directing an animated feature film rather than simply playing a game. The characters look fantastic, like some sort of heavenly blend of Tim Burton & Schafer. The graphics are great from a technical standpoint too: detailed and crisp, without compromising on framerate or draw-in.

Most importantly for a platformer would have to be the controls, and in Psychonauts it's a no-brainer. Raz moves responsively, and the buttons are mapped in a logical manner. Black, white and the right-trigger are user defined, allowing you to have three psychic skills at the ready, which is handy. The jump mechanic is pretty forgiving- Raz can grab ledges if it's a near miss, and most platforms are a decent size. If we had to pick faults, well, the load-times may annoy some, as will the camera controls, but really, in a game that twists and contorts this much, there are places that even the best camera would fall down crying in a heap. On the whole though, there's nothing really wrong with Psychonauts at all, which just goes to show: talent + a long development cycle can produce great things!

Although the game world itself is quite large, Psychonauts is not a huge game, weighing in at around 10-15 hours for most players. However, unlike so many modern games, there isn't much "filler" stuff or unnecessary backtracking. In fact, Psychonauts is so well designed that any revisits seem like your own great idea, to grab that previously unreachable psi-card, or jump up to that ledge that was just a tad too high before. The incremental advancement system works wonders here too, rewarding players every five or ten ranks with a new or improved ability.

More to the point, Psychonauts is a very user-friendly experience, and not in a bad, hand-holding kind of way. Raz has a journal that keeps every bit of useful information you come across, including a To Do list of your current goals, and a map of whatever area you're currently in. Plus, at any time you can summon retired super-agent Ford Cruller, who'll provide hints if you need them, or give you a rundown on whatever enemy you may be facing. The enemies are great too, ranging from psychic bears through to inner-demons and self-censors, as well as whatever your host can conjure up when you visit their psyche. Staying alive will mean collecting mental health, as well as little balls of hate to provide ammunition for your psi-blasts. There's also some great boss fights and set-piece battles; staples of the platformer to be sure, but somehow they feel unique in Psychonauts. Combat is challenging but never frustrating, and you'd have to be pretty hopeless to ever reach a game-over screen, if one even exists!

Nor does it hurt that the world of Psychonauts is truly hilarious- even if you are struggling, you'll want to talk to all the other kids at the camp, and explore every single nook and cranny just so you don't miss a joke. The same goes for the psychic worlds, which do an outstanding job of creating immersive alternate realities filled with the neuroses, dreams and fears of the crazy cast of misfits and madmen. Every line of dialogue in the game is fully voiced, and every one suits perfectly. You'll also get to initiate conversations and choose topics with some characters, which definitely enhances the feel of an old-school adventure game. And Psychonauts is such a beautiful game set in such an intriguing universe, that you will want to discover all that you can during your brief, but exhilarating stay.