20 Hidden Secrets In Grand Theft Auto Games
Secret Credits
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In GTA III, many players weren’t even able to get the dodo airplane off the ground. If the player did manage to master the flying nightmare, they were better able to traverse long distances. If the player flies north of the city (leaving the city bounds), they will see the names of towns on the map's radar. Garystown, Les County, Arronsville, etc. These towns don’t actually exist outside of their names on the radar, as this area was never meant to be accessible. The names are made by, referencing, and put into the game by the artists and designers of GTA III, so there's no skipping those credits!
Beat the Cockerel
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So this video doesn’t get taken down, we’ve tweaked our title to Beat the Cockerel... but in GTA, that name is very different, and a bit more euphemism-ey. In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, many players may not have taken time to work on their muscles in the in-game gym. If you did however, you may have noticed a poster on the wall advertising the... *clears throat* beat the c**k challenge. The challenge takes place every weekend at either Santa Maria or Palomino Creek beach. If the player takes time out of their regular GTA schedule to pop down to those locations during the day on Saturday or Sunday, they will be able to take part in a running, swimming and biking triathlon, which is ACTUALLY a whole bunch of fun. The only goal, beat the chicken man. These races are long, REALLY long, so put some time aside.
Heart of Liberty
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Grand Theft Auto IV hides a really weird, and kind of gross secret inside its Statue of Liberty parody, The Statue of Happiness. Only accessible by helicopter, if the player gets close enough and jumps to the unreachable platform surrounding the statue, they will find a closed door with a plaque that reads “No Hidden Content This Way”. Ignore the plaque, and walk through that door. Once the player has ascended the ladder inside, they will see that the statue has a chained, beating and organic heart inside. It’s equal amounts gross and intriguing. The heart is indestructible, and seems to do AND offer nothing. Just like mine.
The Moon
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A staple of the GTA series comes in the form of a secret that a good handful of players still aren’t aware of. In the classic 3D era of GTA, (this includes GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas, Liberty City and Vice City Stories) the player can aim their sniper rifle at the moon and shoot it to change its size. Shooting the moon will shift it between 8 different sizes, except for in GTA III which has only 2 sizes. I tried this in real life, and the only thing that changed size is my bedroom... I went to jail, did that joke land?
Locked in
GTA V offers a new boundary for players, that players of previous GTA games didn’t have to worry about. GTA V was the first of the series to not randomize its oceans. This meant that the map didn’t just continue on forever and ever, so if players decided to keep flying beyond what was charted on the maps, the game needed to implement a countermeasure to stop them seeing undeveloped areas. Unknown to those who didn’t attempt this, the player's aircraft can either shut down due to engine failure, or pieces of the aircraft can simply break off, sending the player hurtling towards the ocean, where they will crash and be eaten by sharks. The same fate awaits players who use a boat to go beyond the bounds of the map, but instead of falling out of the sky, they slowly sink, only to be gobbled up as well.
Sultan RS
Possibly the rarest and best car in GTA IV, the Sultan RS is surprisingly easy to get your hands on once you know its secret location. On the final island of the game, if the player heads to the northernmost part of this area, they will find an old mansion which seemingly offers nothing more than a great view. If the player heads behind the garage, they will find the Sultan RS parked in a bush, ripe for the plucking. This is practically the only way to find this car, and it’s right there.
Hidden Coop
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This is one of the bigger “well, duh!” entries on our list for players who are aware of its existence, but many casual GTA San Andreas players may have missed the secret locations for co-op gameplay around the map. It’s hard to miss co-op mode once the player gets their first girlfriend, Denise, but player 2 doesn’t JUST have to play as Denise, there are actually 5 free roam co-op locations hidden around San Andreas. These locations allow the players the opportunity to start free roam co-op from better sections of the map than around the corner from Grove Street, whilst also giving player 2 a selection of playable characters to choose from at each location. Would you prefer to play as a preacher instead of Denise? GTA San Andreas has you sorted.
Ghost Town
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In the opening scenes of GTA III, the player watches a cutscene play out in a location that doesn’t seem to be in the actual game. That is, until you get your hands on the dodo. The unreachable location just outside Shoreside Vale is now reachable, and the player can see the location up close and personal. In reality, the area is nothing more than a few rendered buildings and flats to flesh out the cutscene, it’s not populated and it’s not solid, meaning the player can’t land and explore. It is however hidden, secretive, and was very fun to find back in 2001.
The Easter Egg
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Easter eggs, and secrets are not exactly the same thing, but when Rockstar keeps an Easter egg as secret and hidden as this, we’ve gotta talk about it. A little while after GTA Vice City was released, players discovered that after heading to a helipad north of the city, going to a corner of the helipad and jumping through a seemingly inaccessible window, there was an actual physical Easter egg atop a plinth that read “Happy Easter”. They should make a 3-hour documentary about the first person to find this hidden location, because I’m pretty sure they’re a wizard.
Shazam
Here’s a good one! The radio in Grand Theft Auto is a thing of beauty, especially for music lovers. It offers something to keep interest high when driving becomes second nature. There’s nothing like driving through the hills of San Andreas while blasting “All My Ex’s Live in Texas” as loud as you can. In GTA I, the game offers a nice trick for players who want to add these songs to their Spotify. Much like the song identification app Shazam, if players dial ZIT-555-0100, the in-game app ZIT will message them the name and artist for whatever in-game song is playing. Pretty neat.
Aliens
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Aliens are a consistent theme throughout the GTA V world, but did you know that the earliest glimpse of aliens can be seen right at the start of the game, during the prologue? Once players have escaped the bank, they begin the game robbing, and during the brief patch of time before the cops have identified their vehicle, the player can veer off the road below the train bridge, where they can see an alien frozen beneath the ice. Look at that thing! Imagine accidentally stumbling upon this on your first playthrough!
The Golden Tree
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Greek Mythology tells the story of Midas, a king who wished and then gained the ability to turn whatever he touched into gold. I don’t really have a segway from this to the main topic, but guys there’s a big f***ing golden tree in GTA V. In Braddock Pass, players may miss the seemingly glowing golden tree, but at nightime, its 24 carat branches become much clearer. Now look, it’s probably a texture glitch, let’s be honest, but it doesn’t change the fact that this secret treat is only known to a special few, which you are now a part of. Congrats, you’ve won a big stupid golden tree.
Hot Coffee
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This minigame is so secret, it was hidden deep within the code of the game. Obviously, hot coffee was never meant to be found, but that doesn’t change the fact that it was and has now become one of the most infamous secrets/finds in video game history. Rockstar was forced to cut this particular minigame from the final release (which allows CJ to have animated intercourse with his in-game girlfriend), in order to get their ‘mature’ classification. Instead of removing it, they simply made it inaccessible to players. That was until it was found, and the inaccessibility was modded out, now everyone is enjoying that delicious cup of coffee.
No Easter Egg
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GTA players know from experience that it’s worth exploring every inch and corner of each game's world to find Easter eggs and secrets. In GTA San Andreas (often using the later accessible Jetpack), players could fly to the top of the Gant Bridge, and find a small sign that reads “There are no Easter eggs up here. Go away”. It seems as time goes on that Rockstar is reading us like an open book... and I’m okay with it.
Helicopter Message
This one is so secret, players can only find it by installing a first person mod! In GTA IV, inside the Maverick helicopter, a message reads "This helicopter might crash but we really don't care if it does. Refer to flight manual for help." The message is only readable when the player can see the inside of the cockpit. It is genuinely funny that Rockstar put this in here, knowing nobody would be able to read it with the base game.
The Last One
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Even though this in game mission is not SO secret anymore, it is worth acknowledging. Once the player has 100 percented the GTA V campaign (which is not a small task), a Strangers and Freaks mission will open up for Franklin which has him hunt down and shoot the infamous Sasquatch. Bigfoot is a thing of legend in the GTA games, so players were naturally filled immediately with excitement to get a possible resolution to this in-game urban legend. Unfortunately, the Sasquatch turned out to be a man in a suit, and the legend lives on. This secret mission is silly, fun, and a nice nod to the biggest GTA urban legend of them all.
Gloating Graves
We know Rockstar are great, but it turns out they’re also bad sports... lowkey funny though. In Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, players may have missed the “opposition memorial” in Hashbury. From the offset, this memorial, which features 72 graves, seems like a war memorial, but upon closer inspection, each grave reads “RIP Opposition 1997-2004”. This implies that San Andreas has "killed" the competition, competition including Driver, and True Crime… For our younger viewers, Driver and True Crime were video games from… you know what, don’t worry.
Hidden Mini-Game
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In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, many players are still unaware of the cute little mini-game located on Starfish Island. When exploring the island, head to the first house on the right when crossing the bridge from the west. In the backyard, you will find an empty pool with a lone beach ball sitting at the bottom of it. With some tricky maneuvering that genuinely takes a good amount of skill, you can get the ball off the ground and begin bouncing it on your head. After a few bounces, a small indicator will appear that tracks your keepy-uppy score. A combo of 5 will unlock an achievement, while a combo of 85 will make you the world record holder according to GTAForums.com.
UFOs
Here’s a creepy one. After getting 100% in GTA V, the player can find UFOs in-game at 3 different locations. Above Sandy Shores and above Fort Zancudo, the player can fly very very high to find these UFOs floating ominously in the sky. The UFOs can do some very strange things to both the player, and the player's aircrafts, but we’ll let you guys have some fun with it. The final UFO can be found floating around Mount Chiliad significantly lower than the previous 2, but only at 3am AND only if it’s cloudy… so needy.
Peyote Plants
Removing Bigfoot from the equation, a significant number of players aren’t even aware of the existence of peyote plants across GTA V. Once found and eaten, the plants induce a hallucination which allows the player to take the form of some kind of animal. It’s a fun little mini-game that can be done at 27 different locations. After eating all 27 peyote plants, golden ones will appear; one in a different location for each day of the week. When eaten, they will turn the player into Bigfoot. If consumed in order from Sunday to Saturday, after consuming the last golden peyote on Saturday and growling, the player will hear the growl of another creature in the distance. Following the growls as well as a trail of victims will lead to a fight with a creature known as “the beast”. If the player wins, the hallucination will end automatically, and the two creatures will be unlocked in Director Mode. Also, the player needs to have 100% in game, and have also completed the Stranger and Freaks Sasquatch mission for any of this to even be possible… Is it too convoluted? NAAAAAH.
