First-person shooter Borderlands 2 offers up a ton of guns and a huge, open-world map with more in-jokes and Easter eggs than you can shake a boom-stick at. With the help of our friends over at Aspyr (publisher of the Mac version of the game), we’re going to share with you four of the hardest-to-find secrets from within the post-apocalyptic sci-fi video game.
Plus, read till the end and you’ll get a special deal exclusively for Cult of Mac readers who want their own copy of the Game of the Year edition of Borderlands 2 (the one with all the DLC packs along with the basic game) at a heavily discounted price.
Double Rainbow Guy
Have you seen the viral video by ex-MMA fighter Paul “Bear” Vasquez, in which he waxes rhapsodic about a rare double rainbow in Yosemite National Park? If so, you’ll love this hidden gem in Borderlands 2. Here’s how to get there.
You’ll need to get to The Highlands first, but once there, make your way to the Hyperion base near the center of the Highlands map. You’ll have to kill all the engineers and loaders first, but once you do, you’ll find a cliff edge. Look down the cliff to find a little tent set up at the bottom; jump down to check it out. Look up into the sky when you’re near the tent and you’ll hear some ecstatic commentary from either Hyperion’s erstwhile leader and bad guy Handsome Jack or wacky robot sidekick Claptrap. You’ll unlock an achievement while you’re at it. Whoohoo!
Tannis Rides Again
The first Borderlands game had a tough-to-find Easter egg that had crazy scientist Tannis jumping through water over flaming pillars on a giant fish. Weird, right? Well, she’s back in Borderlands 2 and will do even more crazy stunts for dedicated players.
To find her, head out to the bay at the southern edge of the map in Sawtooth Cauldron. You’ll see a bunch of explosive barrels scattered around the place. To see this crazy Easter egg, you’ll have to shoot them in a very specific order. First, shoot the blue barrel, near some tall, cactus-like plants near the water. Second, head to the small building on the west side of the map and shoot the red barrel. Next, hit the green barrel on a small island out in the bay, then head to the yellow barrel behind the fence just southeast of a campfire. Finally, next to a pile of tires by the campfire, you’ll see a purple barrel – shoot that one last.
Once you shoot them all in the right order, sit back and watch the crazy scientist and her fishy friend do their stuff out on the bay.
That’s A Pretty Dark Soul
There’s a small island in the middle of the toxic lake on the east side of Caustic Caverns, the place where you fight the giant crystalisk named Blue. If you have enough health, shielding and some skill tree investment in buffering negative status effects, you’ll be able to make it to that island and find a little camp named by a dude named Solitaire, as well as a phantom knight sitting at a campfire. Both of these refer to cult-hit Dark Souls, a brutally punishing video game with a knight named Solaire and many ghostly combatants.
Sssssss … BOOM
While you’re there in the Caverns, head up to the northwest corner of the map and find a mine track. If you head slightly off the path, you’ll find a cave blocked by pixelated blocks in an homage to indie-hit game Minecraft. Smack through the blocks with your melee attack moves and you’ll be inside the cave and attacked by Creepers, the exploding bad guys from Mojang’s runaway success. Take them all out and get Minecraft heads, skins (for your character in Borderlands 2) and maybe even some legendary loot.
Who’s Your Big Daddy?
You’ll need the downloadable content Captain Scarlett and her Pirate’s Booty DLC installed for this one. Once you’ve got it all downloaded and ready, head over to Magnys Lighthouse. If you hang around for a bit, you might see a pair of enemies named Mr. Bubbles and Lil’ Sis, the Borderlands 2 references to BioShock’s Big Daddy and Little Sister. If you kill Mr. Bubbles without also killing Lil’ Sis, you’ll get a unique Little Evie gun, which increases your character’s action skill cool-down rate. Nice!
Cult Of Mac Reader Bonus
As a reward for sticking with us for the entire ride, we’ve got a special deal for you. We’ve teamed up with Aspyr’s GameAgent portal to offer Borderlands 2 to you for a special rate only for Cult of Mac readers.
Click here to go to the GameAgent Store and save 75 percent off the Borderlands 2 Game of the Year Edition when you check out (Cult of Mac gets a cut of every sale). This deal is only available for 48 hours, so grab your discounted copy before July 9, 2014.
