Strike City is a level in Psychonauts 2. It takes place inside of just one fragment of Ford Cruller's mental world, which is known as Ford's Fractured Mind. This fragment belongs to Ford's Bowler aspect, and represents memories that chronologically occur long before the ones in Cruller's Correspondence and Ford's Follicles.
Description[]
Strike City looks like a foggy, but bustling American city that's in the middle of various construction projects. It's themed around bowling, and so the city features all sorts of warping and twisting bowling lanes and ball polishers. Additionally, its inhabitants are all anthropomorphic germs, there's sticky green mucus everywhere, and the entire thing is built inside a bowling shoe that Bowling Ford is trying to clean—his arm can be seen up in the sky, frozen in time while spraying disinfectant into the shoe. As a result of Ford's cleaning efforts, the end of the world is right around the corner for this city. While some citizens are aware of this, others brush off the entire idea as preposterous.
To get around in this level, Razputin must roll around while balancing atop large bowling balls in order to reach the world's most important feature, a massive sentient bowling pin shaped like Ford, inside of which lies one of the Mental Shards he needs to gather to fix Ford's shattered mind.
This fragment of Ford's mind represents his memories of the first date he went on with Lucrecia Mux in a bowling alley, and his feeling that good times never last long. This last note also explains the 1920s or 30s aesthetic of the city, presumably representing the period in America right before the Great Depression hit.
Sub-Areas[]
- Alley Interior: The area Razputin starts out in upon entering. It looks like the interior of your average bowling alley, though the one actual lane is enormous and leads outside. There's a counter in the back with a germ attendant and a booth selling "Snack[s] and Beer", as well as a photo booth Ford and Lucrecia's voices can be heard coming out of. This area is made up of elements of both Astral Lanes and the bowling alley Ford and Lucrecia visited on their date, as seen in the Memory Vault "Ford and Lucy's First Date".
- Downtown Center: Part of the city, right outside the Alley Interior.
- Start of the Kingpin Express: Part of the city, near where the Kingpin Express, one of the bowling lane highways, begins. One notable feature in the area is a rooftop absolutely covered in sticky green slime, which the germs appear to adore to the point of one germ father bringing his family on vacation here. The rooftop also has a few food trucks serving "Freshly brewed yeast".
- Foul Line Overlook: Part of the city, that overlooks the Foul Line, one of the bowling lane highways. There's a half-pipe nearby local kids are bickering over. This area also has tilted gravity, so Raz can roll his ball across the side of a huge neon "Joe's" sign atop a building.
- Construction Site: A building construction site manned by germ laborers. Its elevator tends to break down.
- Lovers Lane: A long bowling alley with a dark background that at first presents blue and cyan neon lines moving backwards from Raz direction, but slowly this neon lines take the form of blue and purple hearts. At specific points two bowling pins that resembles Ford and Lucrecia will appear slowly approaching each other.
- Ford's Inner Head: A small area that distinguish itself by contrasting a lot to the rest of the landscape. This small area is the literal representation of Ford's inside skull, containing facial muscles, his teeth, tongue and even the inside of his eyes; there's also a set of platforms resembling a lot like bone marrows which leads to a small brain with the Mental Shard embedded.
In Psychonauts 2[]
Under Truman Zanotto's secret orders, Razputin has to approach three aspects of Ford so he can enter into each of the mind fragments they represent and, in the end, fix Ford's shattered psyche. Bowling Ford is working in Astral Lanes disinfecting bowling shoes, though, and he claims the place is reserved for Senior League play only, meaning Raz needs to obtain a Senior League Membership Card to get in. The only remaining member of the senior league turns out to be Compton Boole, so Raz goes out to Psychoisolation to meet him, does an errand for him involving bees, and in the end goes through Compton's Cookoff inside his mind before obtaining the card. Back at the bowling alley, Bowling Ford isn't opposed to Raz checking inside his mind so long as he doesn't try to wear the bowling shoes yet, which he describes as "germ city". Raz throws the Psycho-Portal onto Ford's head like a bowling ball, and heads in.
Bowling Pin Ford & Lucy in "Lovers Lane".
In Bowling Ford's mind, Razputin pops out of one of the holes of a very large bowling ball. He finds himself inside another bowling alley, where it quickly becomes clear from the photo booth that Ford and Lucrecia used to date. To exit this area, Raz hops onto one of the large bowling balls and rolls down the lane to the city outside. Immediately, Raz spots a giant bowling pin with Ford's face that towers over the city, and assumes that's where he'll find the Mental Shard he needs to retrieve to mend Ford's mind. The pin occasionally warns Raz not to come closer. What follows is a fairly straightforward platforming challenge, in which Raz balances atop giant bowling balls and rolls across the city, as he is not allowed on the highways (the "Foul Lines") on foot. Occasionally, he repairs lane-highways by rolling the balls into giant ball polishers, which manipulate cranes holding pieces of the lane. At one point, he comes across a construction site, which he also has to climb up while on the ball.
Finally, Razputin ends up at "Lovers' Lane", the final highway that leads directly to the giant Ford pin. It leads through a tunnel of love-type dark ride, in which pairs of bowling pin Ford and bowling pin Lucrecia appear to be getting closer together, but never quite touch. Raz (apologetically) runs his bowling ball into them, then abruptly reaches the end, where he is flung onto the platform of a crane and pulled up to an entrance at the back of the Pin Ford's head. At the same time, Bowling Ford's huge disinfectant spray finally reaches the city, and all the germs are blown away.
Inside Pin Ford's head, Raz finds a room that looks like the inside of Ford's skull, complete with tongue and facial muscles. He makes his way to the brain at its center and pulls out a Shard of Agent Cruller's mirror, as Bowling Pin Ford threatens him in protest. Bowling Ford, inside the mirror shard, hands over a bowling ball to Agent Cruller as the two get a moment to talk. Then, Raz, back in the exploded cabin portion of Ford's mind, puts the mirror shard back in its place and leaves the ball on a shelf at the cabin.
If all three aspects of Ford have been completed at this point, the game will automatically move on to the next level, Tomb of the Sharkophagus.
Collectibles[]
See also Ford's Fractured Mind, for the collectibles across all parts of Ford's Mind.
Figments[]
Strike City contains 52 figments, most of which are themed around germs and bowling.
Emotional Baggage[]
- Dufflebag
- Bag: Near the first ball polisher of the level around a corner.
- Tag: Just past the Foul Line Overlook behind the massive "Eat At Joe's" sign. When the gravity on the building changes, jump onto the vertical bowling alley lane just to the left of the S in the huge sign. Follow the lane to a rooftop with the tag.
- Suitcase
- Bag: In the Construction Site beneath the ramp leading up hidden behind five bowling pins.
- Tag: After first ball polisher in the Downtown Center on the roof covered in green slime before the start of the Kingpin Express. Head straight towards the end of the roof and turn right to find the tag.
Memory Vaults[]
- Ford & Lucy's First Date: Immediately after leaving the Alley Interior turn right and go behind the billboard. Follow this path to more bowling pins and the memory vault waiting for you.
Half-A-Minds[]
- In the Construction Site, on the top floor.
Nuggets of Wisdom[]
The Nuggets of Wisdom in all of Ford's mental worlds are shaped like pieces of bacon.
- After the Foul Line Overlook and after the massive "Eat At Joe's" sign, there is a water tower in front of Raz. The Nugget is on top of this water tower.
Enemies[]
Trivia[]
- The Menu board seen in the Snack booth in the Alley Interior area is the same one that's also seen at Noodle Bowl.
- The Alley Interior plays the same arrangement of "Rock-a-bye Baby" that's also heard in the Maternity Ward area of Hollis' Hot Streak.
- Using the "plucky" pin in Strike City has Raz pick up a tall, wonky traffic cone.
- In the Lovers Lane section by hearing carefully, the humming that forms the melody in the background is the same as the one present in the barbershop music.