5 of the Best Gaming Easter Eggs in Recent Years

Grand Theft Auto V

Rockstar has always been known to add in the occasional easter egg to their games and more often than not, they’re pretty big.  Previous games from the Grand Theft Auto series include secrets like huge signs that told you that you shouldn’t be there, a haunted baby stroller on a rocky beach and many in-game references to previous (and future) characters, places and vehicles.

Grand Theft Auto V has served us all well with more easter eggs, secrets and extras than we could have ever imagined.  Ranging from the very small to major, some of these easter eggs consumed more of our time than the missions themselves.

1. The ‘Infinite 8 Killer’ took over the internet as gamers traveled all across Los Santos and Blaine County to solve the mystery of Merle Abrahams and the murders that occurred. Creepy poetry was found written on rocks and walls, bodies were found as well as an abandoned shack full of old media exploring the story.
2. ‘The Ghost of Jolene Cranley-Evans’ is considered one of gaming’s scariest easter eggs to this day.  At the top of Mount Gordo between the hours of 11pm and 12am, Jolene’s pale and disturbed spirit can be seen hovering aimlessly. Many people thought that was it as whenever you got too close, she would fade away.  However, a little detective work has uncovered the story to be a lot deeper than that.
3. Aliens have taken residence in GTA V! The most obvious encounter was during your trippy mission with Michael (although those were probably in his head). There’s also the Space Buggy side mission and the ominous shrine to our intergalactic friends just south of Blaine County. Finally, there is the creepier and undisclosed UFOs that become discoverable after 100% completion of the game and the Area 51-style Fort Zancudo, of which could still be hiding some uncovered secrets…
4. Some smaller eggs include sightings of CJ and friends down Idlewood from GTA: San Andreas, the real sighting of Bigfoot during a sniper mission and the face of Walter White from Breaking Bad etched into the side of Mount Chiliad.

The Talos Principle

They don’t make em’ like The Talos Principle much anymore. The Talos Principle is a first-person puzzle game that has stormed the gaming charts since its original release in 2014, and its recent PS4 release in 2015.  Whilst the gameplay is thought-provoking, intelligent and unique, it still finds plenty of time to throw us off with some entertaining and clever easter eggs. Here are a few examples:

1. A diamond sword can be found tucked away in World C-6 that’s straight out of Minecraft. With the same square, pixel edges, finding this gives you the same buzz as when you find diamond ore in Minecraft and it contrasts beautifully with the fantastic graphics of the world of The Talos Principle that surround it.  The sword can even be used!
2. Considering that the game is from the same people as the Serious Sam series, there are many references to this throughout your adventure and across several rooms.
3. [Spoiler Alert for Portal 2] Remember at the end of Portal 2 when Wheatley got thrown out into space?  Well now we know where he is.  In World B, you’ll find a perfect view of the moon and this is where you can find him.  Turn the moon around and you’ll see the Aperture Science logo.  Look through the telescope and you’ll see Wheatley sitting on top, looking right back at you.
4. If you’re a Pink Floyd fan, you may have found a secret room containing the prism from Dark Side of the Moon.  You can even listen to the full track.

Portal 2

[Spoiler Alert for Portal 2] Like The Talos Principle, Portal is a very abstract first-person puzzle game that challenges other video games released alongside it with its dry wit, unique strategy and unconventional gameplay.  The sequel gave us even more of this, including a darker expansion of its own storyline, part of which is considered to be a giant easter egg of it’s own.

1. Whilst the main concept of the game is to get the protagonist, Chell, out of the Aperture Science test chambers and away from the evil GLaDOS, the side story of Doug Rattman, a mysterious assumed survivor is thought to be lurking around. Easter eggs scatter the different test chambers and corridors, with many clues to his whereabouts hidden within them if you stray from the beaten track. The story is expanded further through the short comic ‘Lab Rat’, which goes into much more detail.  But be warned, you may be researching for a very long time…
2. Valve fans will already know that the Half Life and Portal universes are intertwined through the competitive science companies Black Mesa and Aperture Science.  But the rivalry could be a lot deeper and detailed than we originally thought.  The Borealis is a vessel said to hold a potentially dark secret and is rumored to have been stolen from Aperture by Black Mesa.  Interestingly, a secret corridor in Portal 2 will lead you to a large and empty dock, where a life preserver sits, the word ‘BOREALIS’ written across it.
3. Turrets feature heavily in the game, especially during the closing sequence where they sing you farewell.  However, quite early on in the game, you can find one that sweetly tells you ‘I’m different’.  If you rescue it from a conveyer belt, it will thank you and should you continue to hold it, it will give you clues such as ‘the answer is beneath us’ and interestingly, ‘her name is Caroline’.
4. It’s not all mystery and puzzles though, some of the easter eggs are light-hearted and humorous such as prior to your battle with Wheatley. If you come back when he asks you to, he will speak for a good couple of minutes about the wonderful things that he promises you’ll find if you jump into the abyss below

Call of Duty Series

The Call of Duty series has been around for a long time now, and every single game continues to keep fans engaged.  But for those fans that enjoy more than just running around and aimlessly shooting people for hours on end, there are some pretty interesting easter eggs that show another side to the series and even a sense of humor. With the series being annual for quite some time now, there’s even more easter eggs to find with each passing game.

1. Music is a very common style of easter egg to be found throughout, including the original Black Ops where performing certain stunts three times in a row unlocks music tracks and another where beheading the mannequins in Nuketown within 15 seconds earns you ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ by The Rolling Stones.
2. References to other games is another common easter egg through the series, such as in Ghosts where there are references to The Legend of Zelda and Zork.
3. In Modern Warfare 3, in Sanctuary, you can crouch over to the corners where there are large patches of grass. Staying around there for a while will activate eerie and ghostly voices from a young child and a parent telling them ‘don’t get too close to the road’.
4. In an updated version of Black Ops’ Nuketown mannequin decapitation easter egg, Black Ops II will instead reward you for doing this with playable Atari games.

Totaka’s Song (Nintendo)

This is an easter egg that transcends video game generations. Totaka’s Song is a simple (and kind of creepy TBH) melody that Nintendo sound designer Kazumi Totaka has hidden in many of the projects that he works on. You can hear Totaka’s Song in older games such as Mario Paint, but also in new games as well including:

1. Mario Kart – Yoshi’s that are off track on certain courses will very faintly hum the tune.
2. Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer – If you use the DJ KK Slider amiibo card, enter his house, and place the turntable, you’ll hear the tune.
3. Yoshi’s New Island – To hear it in this one, wait long enough on certain world maps, the song will begin playing.

Doom

Bonus round! While certainly not a recent release, in preparation for the anticipated Doom comeback next year, let’s take a look back at one of the forefathers of the video game easter egg. The Doom franchise has come out with some brilliantly innovative and actually quite creepy easter eggs, that most likely served as inspiration for many other games, such as:

1. The Head of John Romero: In Doom II, this very well hidden and eerie easter egg is probably the most well-known of the series if not of all video games.  During the final boss, you’ll hear a gravelly, satanic voice speak to you.  If you reverse this recording, you’ll hear the words ‘to win the game you must kill me, John Romero’.  John Romero is one of the minds behind Doom and id software, and using a cheat (or two) you’ll find his real face behind the original head of the boss.
2. The game will literally mock you for dying in Doom 64 – all you need to do is wait around for a while after dying and moments later messages will start to appear at the top of the screen, teasing you for your appearance and your performance.  Even though it’s a scary game, it still manages to find its sense of humor.
3. Doom 3 is already creepier than the others due to its improved graphics and more realistic environments.  But there are several jump-scare easter eggs thrown in for good measure – just in case it wasn’t scary enough for you.  One of these includes the image of a skeleton with its mouth open – but blink and you’ll miss an original character being eaten by it if you take a closer look.
4. Possibly the scariest easter egg in the series is again in Doom 3.  If you find yourself in a bathroom, don’t stare in the mirror too long.  If you do, your character will become possessed by it and begin to age at super speed as the surroundings morph into a strange and bizarre background.

Have you found any other easter eggs from these games?  What are your favorite in-game secrets?  Let us know in the comments!

This post was originally written by Claire Pulpher.