Split Fiction, the latest game from the studio that brought us the game of the year-winning It Takes Two, hasn't even been out for two weeks, but a pair of players have already beaten a secret challenge level. Josef Fares, Hazelight co-founder and director of the game, has offered to fly them out to the studio in Sweden to get a sneak peek at the next project he's working on.
The secret level has been dubbed Laser Hell and once you see it, you'll understand why. I'm so glad hidden features like this are still making it into video games because they're so fun once they're uncovered.
To get to the room, you have to enter a binary sequence in an elevator which one YouTuber who beat the challenge says isn't even visible in the game's code, so I have no idea how the original pair who completed it even found out about it.
First beaten by Chinese speedrunners E1uM4y and Sharkov, the pair have to complete a precise platforming challenge while avoiding several rooms filled with fast lasers and deadly falls. I've been playing It Takes Two with my girlfriend in preparation for Split Fiction and don't think we'll ever be as skilled as these two. You can watch a YouTube video of a different duo beating the challenge below. It's wild
Once they beat the challenge, an in-game video plays where Fares congratulates them personally. He says: "Wow, amazing! You have to understand that there are barely people on our team that can make it. It took us a lot of time to finish it. And I'm telling you that this is a crazy, crazy achievement that you have done."
He then takes a shot at the scrubs like me who have to watch a clip of the feat, and says: "And I’m not talking to you guys who are looking at this on YouTube. If you see this on YouTube, you should go to the game. It's a really hard challenge. But for those of you who are actually in the game seeing this video, I am super amazed."
The real kicker is the prize that E1uM4y and Sharkov are going to get, the chance to see Hazelight's next game. "I'm going to say one thing," Fares continues. "If you see me in real life, somewhere, and you can prove to me that you actually did this challenge, I can promise you, the first one to do that, I'm going to fly you to Sweden and show you footage of our next game."
And he's made good on his promise. He tweets: "Congrats to 'sharkOvO' and 'E1uM4y' for finishing the secret challenge "Laser Hell" in Split Fiction. Very impressive! I will keep my promise and invite you both to Sweden for an early look of our next game. We'll be in touch!"
I'm jealous, obviously, but I'm glad this kind of a prize is being given to people who are clearly very big fans of the game.
While you're here, check out our list of the best co-op games you can play right now.
