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Psychonauts is a platform game currently in development at Double Fine Productions, for release on Microsoft Xbox console, the Sony PlayStation 2, and the PC in 2005. It is the first game from Double Fine, a company founded in July 2000 by Tim Schafer, known as a creator of graphical adventure games whose previous work at LucasArts includes the games Full Throttle and Grim Fandango. He has earned a fan following through his sharp, original storytelling and dialogue.In Psychonauts, the player controls Raz (short for Rasputin), a mysterious new arrival at a cadet training camp for Psychonauts - elite special agents who are deployed to gather information by using psychic powers to enter people's minds. After arriving, Raz discovers that someone is abducting cadets from the camp with the purpose of stealing their brains. He must discover who is behind this sinister plot and stand against this evil.
Psychonauts combines traditional console platformer elements with the kind of strong storytelling, humour and dialogue found in an adventure game.
The game features ten levels which let the player, as Raz, enter a different person's mind. Each of these levels therefore has its own unique visual design and set of challenges, related to the demons, nightmares and secret memories of the mind that Raz is exploring. Three other levels are set within the real world, making a total of thirteen levels. As the player progresses through the game, Raz acquires new psychic powers, including telekinesis, invisibility, pyrokinesis, clairvoyance and confusion. These are directly involved in the puzzle-solving aspects of the game, which tailor to the player's own playing strengths.
Tim Schafer's team on the game comprises several people he worked with on Grim Fandango at LucasArts, and a number of new people. Amongst the art design crew are background artist Peter Chan and cartoonist Scott Campbell . Voice actor Richard Horvitz (best known as Invader Zim) provides the voice of Raz.
Psychonauts was originally to be published by Microsoft themselves for release exclusively on their Xbox console, but in March 20042004 : January February March April May June July August September October November December Deaths • 08 Abu Abbas • 20 Queen Juliana • 28 Peter Ustinov • 30 Alistair Cooke More March 2004 deaths Ongoing events EU Enlargement Exploration of Mars: Rovers H, Microsoft pulled out of this deal. It emerged in August 2004 that Double Fine had negotiated a new publishing deal with Majesco to release the game on the PC as well as the Xbox. Tim Schafer was quoted as saying "Together we are going to make what could conservatively be called the greatest game of all time ever, and I think that's awesome." In October 2004, it was revealed that Psychonauts would be released on yet another platform, the PlayStation 2, ported by Budcat Creations . The projected simulatenous release date for the game on all platforms is early 2005.
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Adventure games
