The best Easter Eggs to come out of the past year of gaming
Happy Easter, humanoids. To celebrate us all having a few days off, allow us to present a list of the best Easter Eggs found in gaming:
1. Grand Theft Auto V – Thelma & Louise
Let’s face it; Ridley Scott hasn’t made a brilliant film since Thelma & Louise – and no, Gladiator doesn’t count. Rockstar clearly agrees with us as they’ve plugged one of the most iconic scenes in modern cinema into their multi-billion selling open world behemoth as an Easter Egg.
If you head to the Chiliad Mountain between the in-game hours of 7pm to 8pm, you’ll see what looks like a stand-off between the authorities and two desperate protagonists. The cops won’t approach until the car moves – and the player has the option of slotting themselves into the driver’s seat – and then the end of Ridley Scott’s iconic film is recreated. Then you can go back to killing people.
2. The Order: 1886 – Hello Sackboy!
Ready At Dawn’s Tesla-Punk shooter has its issues, but it also has a rather decent find. When you’re jumping through some of neo-Victorian London’s more crumbling estates, it behoves you to keep an eye out because you may find one of Sony’s more beloved mascots,
Yes, Sackboy is waiting for you in The Order: 1886. It’s a pity you can’t actually take him home.
3. Diablo 3 – My Little Ponies of Doom!
When was the last time you ran into adorable enemies who could hand you your arse on a platter? Well, Diablo III has these day-glo adversaries in store, and we suspect it’s because of the complaints levelled at the game before its release.
Before Diablo 3 came out, a number of fans took issue with some of the concept art, which to their mind looked a little cute. We’re not saying that the existence of Whimsyshire is a direct reaction to this, but this is probably the first time in a dungeon crawler you’ll run into My Little Pony clones who are actually quite deadly. Just don’t let it ruin your childhood.
4. P.T. demo – You are not safe in the menu
This is a gimme. We’re not going to tell you what happens if you leave the demo of Hideo Kojima’s take on the Silent Hill hanging for more than four minutes. We’re not even going to post a video.
Just download it. Hang out. And don’t blame us if you have a heart attack.
5. Batman: Arkham Asylum – Arkham City’s Blueprints
When Arkham City was announced way back when in 2010, a lot of naysayers opined that its very existence was just a cash-in on the part of Warner Bros. – how could a new game be in the works so quickly when the last one wasn’t a proven entity? Turns out that Arkham City was always on the cards.
There’s a secret room hidden in the Arkham Asylum Warden’s office that houses some concept art and blueprints for RockSteady’s second Batman game. Blast through it and you’ll find that the powers that be in Gotham were already planning a super-prison – as was RockSteady – as far back as the British developer’s first Batman game. Paint some explosive gel on the wall – a few times – and you’re in.
6. Dying Light – Everything about Zombies… EVERYTHING!!
[Clip is NSFW]
Dying Light is a virtual cornucopia of in-jokes. References on everything from Mario to Destiny to The Silence Of The Lambs pops up in Techland’s Zombie Apocalypse Parkour shooter. For our money, though, the nods to other zombie games are the ones worth searching out.
Tool about in Dying Light’s environment and you’ll find Easter Eggs that reference Left 4 Dead (Left 4 Bread graffiti), The Last Of Us (a clicker zombie lurks for you in a bunker) and there’s even a reference to the developer’s last game, Dead Island (The Right Hand Of Glova). For our money, though, the best undead-inflected Easter Egg in this game is hidden in the “Broadcast” mission. Take a zipline down from the Tower and head right. Once you find a small flower you’ll be punted to an area where you’ll be able to watch a game of Plants Vs. Zombie unfold.
7. South Park: The Stick Of Truth – Keep it in the closet
South Park has a reputation for slaughtering sacred cows. The show also has the lineage involving skirting very near the knuckle when it comes to Hollywood royalty.
We’re not saying who’s in that closet in South Park: The Stick Of Truth. We’re not even going to allude to the episode of South Park it references. We don’t want to get sued. Just click the link.
8. Battlefield: Hardline – Driving the couch
Fancy tooling about on a sofa in a multiplayer shooter? Come on! Who hasn’t? Well, luckily for you, Visceral Games has heard your call and they’ve plonked a drivable couch in their new shooter.
Run over enemies in your home-from-home. It seats three fighters and only one of you has to be in charge of driving this contraption. Rumour has it that the developers are going to patch this sucker shortly, so get it while it’s hot.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
