You’ve triumphantly completed a game, unlocked those achievements and pulverized those enemies, so what’s next? That’s right, it’s time for the Easter Egg hunt.
Easter eggs are those added bonuses, secrets and jokes that feature widely in video games and can make your gameplay that little bit more special. Slipped in by developers, the added features can be amusing, rewarding or sometimes even a bit scary.
From Zelda to Gears of War, here are our top Easter Eggs from some of our favourite games. Be warned, there are spoilers in here!
1) The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past – The Chris Houlihan Room
Back in 1990s, a guy called Chris Houlihan won an amazing competition to have his name included in in a future NES game. The room in Zelda is actually not meant to be part of the normal gameplay but features as a crash prevention measure.
There are least five ways to enter the room, which you can view below:
According to the Zelda Wiki, the room also exists in the GBA version of the game however Chris’ name does not feature.
2) Gears of War 3 – The Lambent Chicken
This one is quite random. In Gears of War, if you sing “hello” into one of the pipes, a small chicken will pop out and mess around with with the player. It definitely has the classic feel of an inside joke. See the chicken in action below:
3) Dead Rising – Jill’s Sandwiches
Anyone for a bite to eat at Jill’s? This Easter Egg that features in Dead Rising, is a nod to Capcom’s Resident Evil and Jill Valentine.
In the first game of the series, Barry Burton exclaims to Jill “You were almost a Jill sandwich!” after she’s almost flattened during gameplay. Voilá, Jill’s Sandwiches.
4) GTA: San Andreas – No Easter Eggs Here
Nab yourself a jetpack and head to the bridge between San Fierro and Las Venturas and you’ll see a lovely message from the developers. The irony of course is this is in fact an Easter Egg.
5) Silent Hill 2 – The Dog
Lovers of Silent Hill 2 will definitely be aware of this gem. The story itself follows a man called James who’s searching for his dead wife while repeatedly getting attacked by strange creatures and the infamous Pyramid Head. The horror video game surprised everyone with this less-than-terrifying joke ending to the game.
Yes. It was a dog all along (that or James has actually lost the plot).
6) Left 4 Dead 2 – Portal 2Tribute
Left 4 Dead’s tribute to Portal was quite something else. Unlike the majority of Easter Eggs that only feature for a few minutes or last a few seconds, this one went all out in a bonus feature like no other. No more words, take a look for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKseCg8wuBk
Bonus –
Red Faction: Armageddon – The Unicorn Gun
Yes, that is actually a real thumbnail from the gameplay. The unicorn gun is definitely one of those more bizarre Easter Eggs scattered across the gaming universe. Mr Toots was a unicorn gun that, you guessed it, fired rainbows out of its backside at enemies.
The bizarre gun was an unlock reward for the Red Faction: Armageddon demo after it was downloaded more than a million times. You can see it in action here.
