Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End / “It’s stage fright”
Let’s start with a first example from the side ofUncharted 4: A Thief’s End with the trophy titled “It’s stage fright” on PS4. To unlock it, you must remain perfectly still for 30 seconds when arriving at the market, just before continuing into town.
A scenario which echoes what happened during E3 2015, at the time for Naughty Dog to present a demo of the game which crashed in this same place, Nathan Drake then remaining motionless and no longer responding to commands. A somewhat embarrassing bug that the developers ultimately chose to make self-mockery via a trophy in the final version of the game.
Left 4 Dead 2 / “Zombie Genocide”
On the Xbox and PC side this time, it’s Left 4 Dead 2 which is illustrated with the achievement “Zombie Genocide”, an achievement which lives up to its name since it asks the player to kill exactly 53,595 infected people. It’s not nothing, but it’s far from being trivial because it directly refers to another success from Dead Rising“Exterminator”, which requires killing 53,594 Zombies. A number which also corresponds to the fictional population of the city of Willamette, serving as the playground for Valve’s cooperative FPS.
In short, the developers are having fun repeating this same idea here by pushing the cursor a tad further, with just one more zombie to kill. A little joke which takes on even more meaning in the original version, where the successes in question are respectively titled “Zombie Genocider” in Dead Rising and “Zombie Genocidest” in Left 4 Dead 2the difference then playing out on the words with the use of the superlative.
What’s more, the trend seems to have continued ever since, becoming a sort of video game tradition in the genre: Dead Nation offers for example an achievement/trophy requiring you to eliminate 53,597 zombies (“Genocide”), while Back 4 Bloodmore recently, pushes the counter to 53,600 Infected (“Deep cleaning!”). Who says better?
Assassin’s Creed Mirage / “Hoarder”
Other trophies/achievements will particularly attract the attention of fans, like “Hoarder” in Assassin’s Creed Mirage which requires accumulating 2007 dirhams. Once again, this figure owes nothing to chance since it refers to the year of release of the very first opus of the saga. A more discreet nod, but all the more symbolic, this episode having been presented as a real return to the sources of the license by Ubisoft. But also a wink that will speak more to players from the very beginning, that doesn’t make us any younger.
Borderlands 2 / “Tribute to a Vault Hunter”
Otherwise, another, more touching example is found in Borderlands 2with the “Tribute to a Vault Hunter” trophy/achievement. Here, it’s about recovering an item from an NPC named Michael Mamaril, but behind this innocuous action hides a real story. In fact, this character is inspired by a fan of the series, who unfortunately died far too early at the age of 22. At the time, one of his relatives contacted Gearbox Software to ask them to pay tribute to him through a replica of Claptrap. The American studio finally went even further by directly integrating Michael Mamaril into the game, with an associated achievement/trophy, thus allowing players to cross paths with him and keep his memory alive. A beautiful tribute, which gives this success/trophy a profoundly human dimension.
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales / “The Best Fries in Town”
Speaking of tribute, the “Best fries in town” trophy in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales invites players to “pay homage to a legend on the Upper West Side”, a legend who is none other than Stan Lee, the creator of the Marvel universe, who died in 2018. More concretely, Insomniac Games has chosen to integrate a statue of him, right next to Mick’s Diner, the same place where he made a cameo in the very first episode, Marvel’s Spider-Man. Recollecting yourself in this place then allows you to unlock a trophy which is not missing, controller in hand, to remind you that certain legends are not forgotten, especially since the game was released exactly two years after its disappearance.
Infamous 2 / “Closing session”
Finally, let’s end with an anecdote that circulates on the web around the “Closing Session” trophy in Infamous 2 on PS3. According to feedback from some players, it would refer to the frustrations of the first game, in which Cole could not climb certain fences, thus limiting exploration. Here, the title of the trophy says it all, all you have to do is “climb a wire fence” and “enjoy yourself”, which many interpret as Sucker Punch’s way of inviting players to take full advantage of this newfound freedom. And this even if the American studio has never really confirmed this intention.
And you, do you know of any other trophies/achievements that hide a real story or a little anecdote? Feel free to share them in the comments below.