Ever since Adventure on the original Atari, Easter eggs have been a part of gaming tradition. Bungie, the studio behind Halo and Destiny, is known for placing secrets and dropping subtle references in nearly all of its games. Destiny, the studio's latest, is no different: the game's only been in gamers' hands for a week, and the community has already started to unearth a treasure trove of secrets.
Before Destiny, Bungie created one of the most iconic heroes of the past 10 years: the Master Chief. The hero of Halo quickly became the face for online gaming and Microsoft alike, but once Bungie left the Halo universe behind, few expected that the character would ever appear in one of its games again.
Players probably weren't expecting the Master Chief to appear as a building, either.
Following a short trip through the wastelands of Mars, players happen upon a seemingly innocent building, but if one heads to the backside of the building, they'll see the face of the Chief staring back at them. It's an uncanny resemblance, especially with the golden lighting, head lights and green banners. It's a nice nod from Bungie to the character it created, even if the Chief is a bit more statuesque than players are used to. Credit for the discovery goes to Reddit user SmokingGhost.
It seems that the Chief showing up on Mars isn't the first time that Destiny has met with Halo. Looking back to 2009's Halo 3: ODST, players can find a small billboard with a picture of Earth and the slogan "Destiny Awaits."
Going back even further, players were able to find a giant soccer ball in the ruins of Earth halfway through Halo 2. After this particular Easter Egg grew popular amongst fans, soccer balls became somewhat of a Bungie staple, with giant soccer balls appearing in several different Halo games. It seems that the tradition has continued on into Destiny, though not on quite the same scale:
When resting in the Tower, Destiny's peaceful player hub, Guardians can find and play with a small soccer ball. There are a few different locations where the soccer ball can spawn, but the ball will only stay on the Tower; it's not something that Guardians can bring with them into the field. The ball was also spotted back in the Destiny beta, along with a purple ball that acts more like a helium-filled balloon.
Considering just how good Bungie has always been at hiding its secrets, gamers likely still have a long way to go before all of Destiny's mysteries are solved. There could even be other ties between Halo and Destiny that are yet to be discovered!
You can find out how to get the best exotic and legendary gear in Destiny here.
