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Compton's Cookoff

Compton Boole seems a bit overwhelmed and edgy. I'm not sure if I trust his judgement in this state... Maybe I'll have a look around his brain to see what's cookin'.

–Raz

Compton's Cookoff is a level in Psychonauts 2. It takes place inside Compton Boole's mental world.

Description[]

Compton's Cookoff is centered around an imaginary televised cooking game show with a 1950s aesthetic that Compton is an unwilling contestant on, representing his performance anxiety and tendency to judge himself too harshly. The show, called "Ram It Down", is run by massive anthropomorphic goat hand puppets resembling some of Compton's fellow Psychonauts: Faun Cruller, Headbutt Forsythe, and Otto Meatallis are the judges, while Tincan Zanotto is the host and announcer.

Compton is too frightened and insecure to compete by himself, so when Razputin visits his mind, he initially takes over most of the cooking duties as his sous-chef. To help Compton cope, Raz must prepare various meals for the judges by taking sentient ingredients out of the show's live audience and cooking them in the giant obstacle course-like kitchen within the studio. The—also sentient—animal-themed kitchen appliances available to use include Pork Chopper (for cutting), Patty Puree (for blending), Hippo Pot (for boiling), and Froggy Flipper (for frying). If Raz succeeds within the allotted time limit, he gets a prize from one of the "mystery boxes" next to the judges.

Of all the mental worlds Razputin gets to visit throughout the series, Compton's is one of the ones he sees the least of, as there is only a black void outside of the cooking show's set. On occasion, a commercial break does occur, which briefly transports him to a separate stage with a few cameras where a food product themed around the judges is being shown off. Furthermore, the boss of the level takes place on another different area that's set on top of a large frying pan, while Compton himself cooks in a previously unseen normal-sized kitchen.

Points of Interest[]

  • Dinner Bell: The first area Razputin sees inside Compton's mind. It's simply the featureless inside of a dinner bell, where Compton tries to hide out from the obligation to perform until Razputin's actions start the cooking show.
  • Main Stage: The area where the majority of this level takes place, and where "Ram It Down" is supposedly filmed. An alcove for the judges is located front and center, with additional alcoves to the left and right—for the host, Tincan Zanotto, and for the prizes, respectively. Facing the judges, there is an open area where the contestants must plate up their dishes, which features a large food tray during rounds. On the opposite side from the judges, there are seats for the live audience.
    • Cooking Stations: Past the audience's seats, some obstacles give way to four oversized kitchen appliances: Pork Chopper, which is essentially a cutting board; Patty Puree, a blender; Hippo Pot, a pot of boiling water; and Froggy Flipper, a frying pan. Additionally, rails matching the appliances' colors allow for quick navigation between the four.
  • Commercial Set: A mostly featureless set where enemies such as Censors and Regrets present food products.
  • Double Down Stage: A stage shaped like an enormous hot plate, with a bunch of red-hot coils surrounding it. On one side, there's a pit for the judges flanked by tubes that allow Raz to pass ingredients to the Isolation Station, which is visible on large screens above.
  • Isolation Station: A normal-sized kitchen in 1950s-style pastel colors, where Compton cooks by himself in the Double Down round. This area can not be visited.

In Psychonauts 2[]

Razputin seeks out Compton to borrow his Senior League Bowling Club membership card, so he might enter Astral Lanes. Compton is reluctant to part with it or entertain Raz's meddling at all, preferring to be left alone. Suddenly, Compton comes up with the idea to ask Raz to bring back a bee to talk to using his Zoolingualism so he can find out how his once best friend Cassie, without whom he feels lost and alone, is doing. Raz brings back three bees, and Compton is overwhelmed by all three attempting to talk at once. Raz then asks if he can enter his mind with his Psycho-Portal for a wellness check.

When Raz enters Compton's mind, he ends up in a featureless metallic dome, where he and Compton are immediately attacked by a Judge. As Compton teleports away, Razputin engages the Judge. With the final punch, the Judge is flung backwards, hitting a clapper in the middle of the dome, which is revealed to be a bell. To Compton's dismay, the bell signals that it is showtime, as it opens up to reveal the mental cooking show Ram it Down, hosted by Tincan Zanotto and judged by the Gluttonous Goats, all of them mental figures that look like goat hand puppets based off of Otto, Hollis, Ford, and Truman.

Compton is forced to create dishes for the judges within a time limit. Raz, acting as Compton's sous-chef, decides to take over and cook the dishes in his place. Raz has to use the audience members as ingredients in the dishes, and prepare them using giant, animal-themed stations. For the first round, they must cook a Grulovian Drowned Egg. In the second round, they cook a Strawberry Jam Croque Madame. In the third round, they cook a Honey Pepper Pancake Stacker. Additionally, between rounds, a commercial break will occur, which briefly takes Raz to a separate area where some enemies, such as Censors or Regrets, are presenting breakfast cereals themed around the judges. Raz has to fight off a few waves of these enemies to proceed.

After every dish is finished, Raz and Compton are expected to explain their creation, something Compton initially struggles to do in a way that sounds impressive. Raz is far more easily able to improvise an explanation, and Compton eventually catches on that it's simply about the performance, and making things sound good. The judges then consume the dishes, and rate them as "Surprisingly acceptable" (Grulovian Drowned Egg), "Slightly better than a mouthful of nails" (Strawberry Jam Croque Madame), and "Moderately pleasant" (Honey Pepper Pancake Stacker).

With three dishes completed, the show goes into the Double Down round, where Compton is forced to cook three new dishes by himself: Vegetable Medley, Royal Borscht, and Jam Tarts. Meanwhile, Raz has to fight off the Gluttonous Goats, who have overeaten and grown hostile. During the fight, the overfed goats vomit constantly, giving Raz the opportunity to search the vomit for ingredients to pass over to Compton. Once Compton finishes each dish, Raz feeds it to one of the judges using telekinesis. The Headbutt Forsythe and Otto Meatallis puppets explode from overeating and are replaced with an arm holding a spatula and mixer respectively, each of which adds different attack patterns, but after the third phase, Compton gets a grip on his anxiety and stops the show before Faun Cruller blows to bits. He pulls the Cruller puppet off his own hand, and finally in control of his own mind, spurs its denizens to clean up the mess.

If Raz returns to Compton's mind later, the audience will no longer be there, nor Compton himself, and Ram It Down cannot be replayed. If the mystery boxes were not obtained during the level, their prizes are now simply out in the open. Additionally, the Gluttonous Goats are replaced with regular goats running around the judges' area. Raz notes that the show's budget must have been cut, to which Pork Chopper will remark that the budget was “chopped”. At this, Raz will muse “But they kept this guy around. Weird.”.

Recipes[]

Ram it Down - Main Level[]

Grulovian Drowned Egg

Grulovian Drowned Egg Dish.

Grulovian Drowned Egg[]

  • Onions (Pork Chopper)
  • Egg (Hippo Pot)
Strawberry Jam Croque Madame

Strawberry Jam Croque Madame Dish.

Strawberry Jam Croque Madame[]

  • Egg (Hippo Pot)
  • Strawberry (Patty Puree)
  • Bread (Pork Chopper + Froggy Flipper)
Honey Pepper Pancake Stacker

Honey Pepper Pancake Stacker Dish.

Honey Pepper Pancake Stacker[]

  • Egg (Froggy Flipper)
  • Watermelon (Pork Chopper + Patty Puree)
  • Pig (Pork Chopper + Froggy Flipper)
  • Beehive (Hippo Pot)

Double Down - Gluttonous Goats Boss Fight[]

Vegetable Medley

Vegetable Medley Dish.

Vegetable Medley[]

  • Onion
  • Strawberry
  • Egg
Royal Borscht

Royal Borscht Dish.

Royal Borscht[]

  • Pig
  • Egg
  • Bread
Jam Tarts

Jam Tarts Dish.

Jam Tarts[]

  • Beehive
  • Watermelon
  • Strawberry

Collectibles[]

Figments[]

There are 51 figments in Compton's Cookoff. Most of the figments are shaped like foodstuffs and cooking utensils.

Figments of Interest[]

Among Compton's figments, some that stand out include:

  • Compton himself petting a squirrel.
  • The shark-shaped mixer that appears after Otto Meatallis is defeated during the boss battle.
  • A figment shaped like a living Beehive ingredient, only accessible by using Mental Connection on some Dark Thoughts. This may have something to do with Compton's worries about Cassie, who is heavily bee-themed.

Emotional Baggage[]

Purse

  • Bag: Found in the middle of the grill section in one of the loops of burners.
  • Tag: In the audience seats.

Dufflebag

  • Bag: Found behind the Pork Chopper's right arm.
  • Tag: Located on the left side of the boiler, follow the trampolines down below to a set of Mental Connection nodes. Use Mental Connection to follow the nodes to the tag.

Steamer Trunk

  • Bag: Found behind the blender.
  • Tag: Inside Mystery Box Number 3. Since there is no chance to collect it before the boss fight, beating the time limit does not matter; it will always be available upon revisit.

Hatbox

  • Bag: Right above the audience seats near Pork Chopper.
  • Tag: Found at the end of a rail in the Pork Chopper section to the left of the Ram It Down stage.

Suitcase

  • Bag: Located on the left side of the boiler, down below before the trampolines.
  • Tag: Found behind the large sign for the grill. Jump on top of the frog's head to reach the tag.

Memory Vaults[]

Half-A-Minds[]

  1. Inside Mystery Box Number 1. Complete the first recipe within the time limit to unlock the Mystery Box. Otherwise, it will be available upon revisit after defeating the Gluttonous Goats.
  2. Inside Mystery Box Number 2. Complete the second recipe within the time limit to unlock the Mystery Box. Otherwise, it will be available upon revisit after defeating the Gluttonous Goats.

Nuggets of Wisdom[]

The Nuggets of Wisdom in this mind are shaped like cooking whisks.

  1. Found between the blender and the grill on a platform with a slide.
  2. Found right on top of the blender. The Dark Thoughts upgrade for Mental Connection is required to obtain this Nugget.

Enemies[]

NPCs[]

Trivia[]

  • The level is an adaptation of The Gods Must Be Hungry, a short game demo developed as part of Double Fine's Amnesia Fortnight event in 2017. The game's concept, of platforming around a giant kitchen to prepare huge dishes for judgmental gods, was pitched by Asif Siddiky, then co-founder of 2 Player Productions, Limited, and he both led this game's development team as well as working as a designer on Compton's Cookoff for Psychonauts 2.
  • In an interview with Peter McConnell, the composer for the Psychonauts series, he explains that Compton's mind was initially going to be a calmer cooking show, "more Julia Childe than The Price is Right", and that the cheery muzak played in-game at the Noodle Bowl and Reception Area at the Motherlobe was meant to be used in this early version of Compton's Cookoff.[1] It can still be heard during the commercial break segments, before the enemies spot Raz and combat breaks out.
  • Though each round poses a time limit to complete a dish, the only consequence for not completing in time is not unlocking the mystery boxes. For the first and second round, this does mean having to wait before being able to collect the Half-a-minds. However, since there is no chance to collect the prize between the third round and the boss fight, the very tight third round timer is completely inconsequential. This mirrors how Compton's anxiety is unfounded and most of the pressure he feels is his own doing.
  • Using the "plucky" pin on Compton's Cookoff will have Raz pick up a TV camera.
  • It is the only mental world in which the figments gradually appear as the level progresses. By the last dish, all of the level's figments will be revealed.

References/Notes[]

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