Easter Eggs Only True Fans Caught In Deathloop

Fans have been waiting to get their hands on "Deathloop" for a while now. Despite the fact that the PlayStation 5 exclusive was delayed, the hype for the game just didn't seem to slow down. The game was the best part about the Sony State of Play back in February, even if it was because of the stellar song with the game trailer.

Now that it's here, critics are praising "Deathloop" with great reviews, and fans seem to love it as well. The revolutionary title also has a crazy multiplayer that can keep the game entertaining even after you beat it. Above all else, "Deathloop" encourages players to analyze small details, which leads to some pretty crazy Easter eggs that are easy to miss.

From the very beginning of the game to the very end, "Deathloop" has plenty of hidden secrets for fans to discover. However, only true fans of the genre would be able to catch these Easter eggs.

If you're someone who plays a lot of first-person shooters, then you might recognize these four numbers. The sequence is found in a lot of different FPS games, and it's referenced in both of the "Dishonored" games, many "Bioshock" titles, and even the "Deus X" games (via a Through the Looking Glass forum.) The question is where exactly did it come from.

Well, many gamers think that the code actually came from the dystopian novel "Fahrenheit 451." It would make sense — as one Reddit user pointed out, many FPS games where the code is used have some type of dystopian theme to them.

However, that's not quite the truth. According to an interview with Origin-cofounder Warren Spector at Polygon, the 0451 code is generally a tribute to Looking Glass Studios. According to Polygon, Looking Glass Studios questioned and pushed the boundaries of immersive FPS games with games like "System Shock," and the code went on to appear in many dystopian-themed titles. 

The code appeared in many Looking Glass titles as well, which is where other games got the idea from. However, Spector mentioned in a "Deus X" Let's Play that the code itself was the real-life key code to the offices at Looking Glass itself. With that being said, he did mention to Polygon that the door codes were a reference to "Fahrenheit 451."

All in all, "Fahrenheit 451" might be the original source, but game studios are most likely making a statement about Looking Glass Studios when you see it in your games.

GamesRadar writer Ali Jones noticed an interesting similarity between the worlds of "Deathloop" and "Dishonored" that hints at the fact that the games might just be set in the same universe.

Without getting into too many spoilers, the end of "Deathloop" will present the player with pistols that use oil to function and are called "vintage." Jones noted that these oil cartridges are the same as "Dishonored," where society used whale oil instead of the traditional gunpowder. Jones also realized that the pistols at the end of "Deathloop" look very similar to pistols in "Dishonored."

Coincidence? Probably not. Both games were developed by Arkane Studios, and fans have been wondering if they would be set in the same universe for quite a while now. Back in March 2021, Game Informer asked developers if the two games would be part of the same universe, and the answer was pretty vague: "['Deathloop'] is set in the 'Deathloop' universe." This answer didn't confirm or deny anything, but the pistols seem to hint that the two games are related on some level.

There are several classic arcade cabinets which can be found inside Frank's Club on the morning of each loop, or otherwise individually scattered across Blackreef Island. Each of them seems to feature a fictional version of a title from Bethesda's massive library.

For instance, the first cabinet is called "Yerp '17" — most likely a reference to the 2017 game "Prey," since it has the same title spelled backwards. Then there's a cabinet called "Hell Crasher," which uses the font made popular by "Doom" and features a pixelated image of the series' horrifying Cacodemon. 

The "Blüdenstein 4-D" cabinet seems like an obvious reference to "Wolfenstein 3D," and this homage gets backed up another cabinet titled "Young Wolf." The screen for this second cabinet notably shows the option for a two-player mode, which suggests that it's most likely a reference to the co-op entry "Wolfenstein: Youngblood."

The "Dishonored" series gets several more nods here as well. There are three cabinets titled "Honorless," "Super Honorless 2," and "Touch of the Stranger" which seem to reference the two main games and standalone expansion "Death of the Outsider," respectively.

There are several more arcade tributes to Bethesda: "The Bad Inside" is a thinly-veiled "The Evil Within," "Skydaggers 5" is "The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim," "Fax Balista" is "Arx Fatalis," and "Shadewire Edo" references "Ghostwire Tokyo." Lastly, "The Crossin'" could be a reference to a game Arkane was developing in 2007 called "The Crossing," which was later cancelled (per Polygon).

There are several moments in "Deathloop" where Colt can stumble upon people having conversations, allowing you to eavesdrop. However, taking the correct actions will allow for some rare interactions. There is one such opportunity in the complex loot control center at noon, where you can overhear Dr. Wenjie Evans debriefing three Eternalists over the radio. 

Executing the three of them before the conversation ends will reveal some hidden dialogue. If Dr. Evans' subordinates do not respond promptly, she will say, "Hello? Hello? Answer me." At this point, Colt will have the opportunity to reply. He raises the tenor of his voice just a bit and says, "Situation is under control." Evans sees right through this however and asks, "Colt? Is that you?" To this, Colt humorously replies, "No?"

This comedic scene is highly reminiscent of a similar one from "Star Wars: A New Hope," in which Han Solo attempts to dissuade the Empire from sending reinforcements by unconvincingly impersonating a Stormtrooper over the radio, saying, "Everything's under control, situation normal." 

There's a small chance that this exchange was not intended to be a direct reference to the film, as the dialogue is somewhat different, but there seem to be too many similarities for it to be entirely coincidental. Either way, it's easy to miss this hilarious moment if you don't violently interrupt this particular conversation.

Developers tend to hide some crazy things in their games — including nods to themselves. It isn't entirely unheard of for the people responsible for making a title to find creative ways of slipping their signature in somewhere for players to find. For example, one of the places you probably didn't know you could explore in "Cyberpunk 2077" is a secret developer room. In a similar fashion, a few members of the environmental design team at Arkane managed to hide their names in an even more innocuous place: the trash.

Curious gamers can find environment artist Maxime Goichot's first name written across the bottom of a plastic container, while the surname of lead environment artist Philippe Garibaldi appears on what looks to be an old red coffee tin.

The vibrant design of the game makes most of Blackreef Island appear stunningly beautiful, as well as a place the player will want to keep revisiting, which is a testament to the work that the team put in. That might be why it's so clever (as well as ironically funny) that these team members hid their names amidst the trash, where players are least likely to look.

While many Easter eggs seem to be some sort of reference, attempting to draw comparison or else pay homage to some other piece of media, that isn't the case for all of them. Sometimes an Easter egg is just a really funny or clever sound-bit tucked away in some hidden corner of a game where only the most dedicated of gamers will find it. Dr. Henry Stenhouse, associate editor of AllGamers, found out that some of the Eternalists in "Deathloop" were spending their time differently than most others.

Stenhouse posted a clip on Twitter from his playthrough, which shows Colt approaching a door in Karl's Bay, only to find it locked. However, gamers can hear two voices moaning and making various other noises of an "intimate nature" just beyond. It sounds like these two are a pair of Eternalists who've decided to spend their looped eternity in each other's company rather than standing between Colt and his targets. Smart.

And of course, you'd never find this hilarious rendezvous if you hadn't stumbled upon the right door at the right moment.

As fans have already discovered, not all Easter eggs are visual. Sometimes it takes a keen pair of ears to pick up a connection between two pieces of media. One of the more notable of such references in "Deathloop" is the inclusion of the "Drunken Whaler" theme song from "Dishonored." You can find the song on a tape recorder in the secret spy bunker along with a note that says, "Picked this up off the transmission tower this morning. You know what it is? ... Kind of makes me want to stab someone. Your guess is as good as mine." As well-hidden as this hint may be, it further indicates a connection between the violent worlds of "Dishonored" and "Deathloop."

The other audio Easter egg is less obvious, however. There are several hidden areas concealed around the island, and a certain tune plays whenever Colt discovers one. Reddit user Nogarda suggested that the sound is very similar to a tune that would play in the old "Tomb Raider" games whenever Lara Croft uncovered a hidden area. The sound isn't identical, but it's similar enough in both composition and intent to invite comparison. If nothing else, it seems as though the folks at Arkane wear their influences on their sleeve.