Seven of the best Easter eggs in video game history

As a fan's find in Silent Hill 2 goes viral, The National rounds up some of the greatest hidden treasures

A mystery in the Silent Hill 2 remake was solved this week, revealing a connection to the original game. Photo: Konami Digital Entertainment

Video game developers are a cheeky bunch. Since the early days of Atari, they’ve hidden clever messages for curious players to discover. For every video game release, there’s almost always an Easter egg to hunt for, something the developers have hidden in the form of a message, an image or an in-game sequence that once found feels like a treasure.

Note: There are spoiler alerts in this story.

Most recently, a player has figured out an Easter egg in the Silent Hill 2 remake that confirms that the game isn’t just a remake but also a sequel. It revealed the main playable character James Sunderland has been stuck in Silent Hill for the past 20 years, which is when the original Silent Hill 2 was released.

While there are hints of this being the case throughout the game, what solidified it was a puzzle that was solved by a Reddit user through counting objects and aligning them with words, a real headscratcher for most who even attempted it.

Here are seven other Easter eggs that gamers enjoyed finding over the years.

Fallout: New Vegas

This post-apocalyptic game, released in 2010, pokes fun at one of the most famous scenes in the Indiana Jones film series. Specifically, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull when the protagonist hero decides to seek shelter from a nearby nuclear bomb test by hiding in a refrigerator. During the game, players can discover a refrigerator that shows a skeleton with what looks like Indy’s clothes, showing what would have happened if he hadn't escaped.

Grand Theft Auto 4

The Grand Theft Auto series has a plethora of Easter eggs to choose from but perhaps the most notable, and biggest, is the one hidden inside the game’s version of the Statue of Liberty. In the statue, which has the face of former US senator Hillary Clinton for some reason, players can find a giant beating heart that is strapped in place with wires. It's an eerie sight for sure.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

The Call of Duty games are about one thing: shoot lest ye be shot. In 2012's Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, players can take a break from the shooting and enjoy an Atari game that has been faithfully recreated inside one of the levels on an old-fashioned television. The Easter eggs require shooting a couple of mannequins to unlock, then the Atari game can be enjoyed.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Star Wars fans can’t agree on many things, but there’s one thing the vast majority can agree on: their hate for the character Jar Jar Binks. First introduced in Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace, the character has become a punching bag for fans and haters alike. In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, developers hid an Easter egg that shows just how much hate the fandom has for the character, freezing him in a carbonite slab. Carbonite was famously used in the film The Empire Strikes Back when Han Solo was frozen in it by Jabba the Hutt.

Batman Arkham Asylum

There have been many great Batman games over the years but none are more beloved than Batman Arkham Asylum in which the Caped Crusader is locked inside the institution that houses Gotham’s most notorious villains. Fans had wondered what would come after the game, and developers teased the next would take place in Gotham, revealing a map hidden behind a wall that requires a particular set of explosions to reveal.

Grand Theft Auto 5

Returning to the Grand Theft Auto series, GTA 5 also has many great Easter eggs. However, one stands out specifically for its reference to a highly acclaimed Oscar-winning film. In an event that could only be stumbled upon in a specific location at a specific time of day in the game, it’s possible to find a recreation of a scene from the film No Country for Old Men.

The scene in question is when Josh Brolin’s character finds the aftermath of a gang shootout and a suitcase full of cash. If a player decides to take the take cash bag as Brolin did in the film, they'll find themselves chased by the gangs until they retrieve their ill-gotten gains.

NBA Jam Tournament Edition

Gamers choose two players to compete against each other, trying to achieve the most bombastic dunks and alley-oops to score more points. The normal roster of players to choose from is from the NBA, but with the help of a cheat code, an extended roster can be revealed which includes, bizarrely, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Prince Charles (now the UK's King Charles III), Will Smith and Jazzy Jeff as well as the mascots of some the teams.