Video games have come a long way. In their early years, they were mostly known for featuring simple gameplay loops, and often struggled to fit on discs and cartridges with limited space. Now, games come with innumerable secrets, amazing mechanics, and long stories that can take hundreds of hours to complete. One secret that games sometimes incorporate is hidden levels that can take quite a bit of effort to uncover.
Suffice it to say, players must accomplish some rather obtuse goals to even stand a chance of unlocking these levels. It's easier said than done, and players in the old days struggled back when the internet wasn't that widespread. Word-of-mouth and the rare online guide or two were the only things that could give them the hints they needed to unlock these secret levels.
5 Hardest Secret Characters To Unlock In RPGs
Many RPGs feature unlockable companions or characters, but some are less obvious than others and take extra effort to recruit.
5 The Secret Cow Level (The Moo Moo Farm)
Complete The Game At A Certain Difficulty To Unlock A Portal
One of the most well-known secret levels in gaming history, the Secret Cow Level from Diablo 2, turned an urban legend into reality after rumors surrounding the same came out for the first game. However, gaining access to this gag level was easier said than done. Players had to complete the game on a particular difficulty setting before replaying the game at the same level.
Following this, players must combine Wirt's Leg and a Tome of Town Portal in the Horadric Cube. This causes a unique portal to appear in the Act 1 starting area. This leads players to the legendary cow level, where they can slice and dice a bunch of bipedal Hell Bovines, coupled with a Cow King who is this hidden level's boss.
4 The Abyss
Perform A Set Of Unique Actions In Jake's Last Level, Withdrawal
Most players who checked out the legendary Hotline Miami are well aware of the secret ending, which can be unlocked by finding a letter in every level. With the sequel, the developers decided to get bigger and bolder in this regard by adding a hidden level. This time, it can only be accessed if players complete the third level of the Withdrawal level without dying, and grab the floppy disc moments later. Players need to be quick when they're taken by the 50 Blessings Manager, because they only get a small window of opportunity to grab this item.
Once players accomplish this, they should be able to take the floppy disc from the evidence locker as Evan to unlock The Abyss. This challenging bonus level adds to the surreal nature of the narrative even more. It's a nice secret that fans of Hotline Miami 2 can uncover, but the requirements are incredibly obtuse. Most players won't even know this level exists unless they check out a guide that mentions it.
3 All Hallows
Find Every Secret In the Game, Bar One
Tomb Raider 3 is a great entry in the classic series, and players are glad to get their hands on this title with the advent of the Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered collection. Fans of this game are well aware of a secret level that is unlocked in the game after finding all secrets, except for one.
Many consider it an oversight that one secret is not required to reach the hidden level.
Top 10 Best Tomb Raider Games
The Tomb Raider games have been in development for 30 years, with more than 20 releases so far, and these ones are the best of the bunch.
This level was inaccessible in the remaster, but was eventually fixed with a patch. Now, players can take a look at the All Hallows level no matter which version of the game they're playing. This lets them check out an unfinished stage that was supposed to be in the London section, but was axed because of its immense difficulty. Getting all the secrets in the game to unlock this level can be a pain. Players can only wonder how irritating it must have been to accomplish this task, only for the remastered collection to prevent any access to this level before this bug was patched.
2 Green Hill
Collect All 180 Emblems And Get All A-Ranks
Sonic Adventure 2 will elicit a mixed reaction from most players. There's no denying that the jank in this title was a huge detriment to the overall gameplay,. However, players willing to work around these issues can enjoy a Sonic game with a lot of heart in it, which is strangely addictive in its own way. Still, this did nothing to take away from the sheer irritation that players would experience if they tried to unlock the legendary Green Hill Zone as a playable stage.
To unlock this stage, players must gather all 180 emblems in the game and get the best rank in each level. It can cause fans to hate the game after a point because of how grueling this challenge is. Still, diehard Sonic fans will find all this effort to be worthwhile just to check out a nostalgic stage.
1 Egyptian
Complete All Levels On 00 Agent Difficulty
GoldenEye 007paved the way for console shooters to become the norm. Players loved the four-player local battles, and the game offered a great story mode that let players witness greatness in the making. Even on its normal difficulty, the game can be pretty challenging. So it's easy to see why the requirement to complete the game in Secret Agent to unlock the Aztec secret level was such a nightmarish proposition for many fans.
However, what truly blew fans' minds is that there's another secret level to the game. It can only be unlocked if every level in the game is completed on 00 Agent, which is the highest difficulty. It's one of the toughest challenges any video game fan can subject themselves to, and their reward is the Egyptian level.
GoldenEye 007 Vs. Perfect Dark: Which Game Is Better
GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark are some of the pillars of the FPS genre. But which one is the better game?
