A hidden secret in Death Stranding
A Death Stranding secret has been uncovered involving the game’s Boss Battle with Higgs, the mysterious enemy who stalked Sam and Lindsay on the shores of the unknown continent. During the fight, you can choose a pacifist route – but only if you know this trick. If you’re quick enough, you can frustrate the enemy to the point of madness, and trigger a secret sequence that’s so metal, it’ll blow your ears off.
During the battle, if you block all of Higgs’ attacks without retaliating, a unique animated sequence is triggered, in which Higgs punches poor, defenceless Sam repeatedly in the head, before biting off a chunk of his ear.
Seen it? Thought so. It’s an unmistakable reference to the infamous 1997 heavyweight rematch between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.
In the second round of the fight, Holyfield got caught in a clinch, where Tyson bit off a chunk of his ear. The animation, the ear itself, and even the animation are the same as in Death Stranding. Whether it’s a nod to Tyson’s reputation as a violent, uncontrollable monster, or simply an excellent bit of detail from Hideo Kojima, it’s a great little reference.
This tweet, which includes a video of the scene, is what brought it to our attention, although it’s worth noting that it was previously discovered by players, and hasn’t exactly gone viral before now.
I swear I didn't edit anything. This is Death Stranding, Higgs Boss Fight. You're gonna believe me or not, it doesn't matter. #DeathStranding #HiggsBossFight pic.twitter.com/VfWCI8ZQlV
It’s always fun to see secrets like this get uncovered – whether they’re secrets in general, or secrets about secrets – and it reflects the nature of Kojima’s games, where unexpected behaviours are almost actively encouraged. It’s a bit like finding a cheat code from a bygone era, but for an otherwise completely uncheatable game.
The other thing that’s interesting about this scene is that it takes place on the beach – the limbo in the game’s lore where injuries you suffer remain permanent, even after you return to the living world. So, if Sam loses an ear in this scene, it’s still got no ear when you go back to the mainland. That’s pretty permanent, and is reflected in the injuries menu.
So, while it doesn’t seem to have any bearing on the rest of the game, that ear is still damaged forever. We’ll have to wait and see if that’s reflected elsewhere.
If you want to see it for yourself, the best way to trigger the secret scene is to get the pacifist ending with Higgs, then immediately hit the grab button to try and hug him. If you do it before he’s knocked back by one of your attacks, you should get the cutscene.
The attention to detail in this one is impressive. It’s not just a bespoke animated sequence for Sam – Higgs himself also has a whole new character model. If you don’t want to go looking for it, and just want to experience it for yourself, check out our review of the game’s first-act, as we talk about the scene in question.
We may not know the meaning behind the Tyson reference, or any potential future payoff, but it certainly exemplifies the unique and surprising nature of Hideo Kojima’s games.
