Out of Bounds: Eight Videogame Places You're Not Supposed to Go
6/10/2009 12:33 PM | 16 Comments | Page 1 of 2
North Korea. K2. The Mariana Trench. The globe is dotted with remote regions that are nearly impossible for most of us to visit. That doesn't stop people from trying -- the difficulty of getting there only stokes our desire. Game worlds have their own forbidden locales, and just like on Earth, there are dogged adventurers who insist on seeing them firsthand.
The eight far-off realms in this article exist for different reasons. They could be developer test areas, or forgotten pieces of landscape that somehow made their way into the final code. Whatever their reason for being, they all have one thing in common: They weren't meant to be explored by the likes of you and me. But through persistence, hacks or some combination of the two, you can take in these rare delights for yourself. Pack your bags.
GoldenEye 007: Dam Island
In early betas, the developers of
GoldenEye envisioned a sequence where Bond would take a boat to this island at the end of the first level. (Some fans have theorized that this is where you would get the bungee cord for the daring jump that concludes the mission.) That bit of action was cut from the final product, but the island, complete with an observation tower and a sad little turret gun, became a part of
GoldenEye lore.
How to get there: Using a GameShark (with the original hardware or in a Nintendo 64 emulator),
turn off clipping. Jump off the docks at the end of the level and Jesus-walk across the water to the opposite end of the bay.
What to pack: A tackle box. This is the most quiet area in all of
GoldenEye, and there's nothing but water around. The
fish should be biting.
World of Warcraft: Newman's Landing
Getting to this remote seaside shanty involves a lot of tedious work with dubious reward, which makes it catnip for RPG players. The landing, which consists of a dock and small shack, was abandoned and eerily empty until a recent patch. Now it's populated by three unremarkable goblins.
Speculation abounds regarding the purpose of Newman's Landing. The most popular theory holds that it's where new Alliance players land briefly to be loaded into the system before beginning the game -- hence "New"-man's Landing. That's probably too cute to be true, but Blizzard ain't talking.
How to get there: Head to the north end of Stormwind Harbor. Hugging the shoreline to prevent fatigue, swim north for approximately forever. Put on some crappy alt-rock and record yourself (optional).
What to pack: The Scooby Gang. Some players claim Newman's Landing is haunted. Zoinks!
Shadow of the Colossus: The Secret Garden
[Mild spoilers ahead.] Apropos of a Fumito Ueda game, the story behind
Shadow of the Colossus' secret garden is tough to pin down. Normally, you only glimpse this sun-drenched courtyard during the game's final scenes. Yet a demo distributed at E3 2005 contained a diagonal-jumping glitch that allowed players to find the garden area prematurely and explore it on their own time. Later releases fixed the bug, but explorers found another way to reach the garden.
So is it a mistake, or is it one of the many purposeful secrets that
Shadow offers its devoted fans? Either way, this idyllic retreat is worth a visit.
How to get there: On the northeast side of the temple shrine, find a wall covered with ivy. Either use short diagonal jumps to climb, climb, climb to the top or, if your version of
Shadow has been patched, jump straight up. In the latter case, though, you'll need to finish the game at least three times to get enough stamina to make the ascent.
What to pack: Potato salad, bologna sandwiches and other picnic fixings. There's fruit in the secret garden, but don't eat it, or your health will be permanently reduced.
Fallout 3: God's Mailroom
PC users get all the fun. If you play
Fallout 3 on the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, you're stuck in the Capital Wasteland that Bethesda wanted you to see. Unlike your PC friends, you can't teleport into the weird developers' test room where, like a scene from "The Matrix," six mailboxes somehow contain every item in the world. Of course, your PC friends are cheating jerks for going there, so there's that.
How to get there: On the Windows version of
Fallout 3, enter the text console and type the phrase "coc testqaitems" (without quotes).
What to pack: Nothing. Literally everything you could need will be there.
