Minecraft Dungeons' secret level is a love letter to longtime fans of the dungeon crawler genre, as it harkens back to the infamous yetbeloved secret level of one of its greatest inspirations,Diablo 2. While that connection is plain as day and easy to make for anyone vaguely familiar withDiablo 2, there is another link to a more recent popular game which is somewhat obscured. The latestMinecraftgame may have ties to the highly anticipated upcomingThe Last of Us 2in a somewhat strange and convoluted way.Spoilers aheadfor the secret level of the game, so those wanting to discover and experience it for themselves should turn back now.
After beating the game on Default,Minecraft Dungeonschallenges players to return on Adventure mode and find 10 hidden runes throughout the game’s 10 main levels. Doing so will unlock the secret level, titled “Moo?” in which the player must face throngs of hostile mooshrooms. These are extremely rare mobs found in the base game ofMinecraft, but are essentially cows with mushrooms growing out of their backs. In that variation, they are passive, however, and only spawn on the Mushroom Island biome, on which no hostile mobs can spawn and mushrooms can grow in the day time.
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Moo?
Clearly something is different here, because these mushroom infested cows want nothing more than to eat the player and their friends. As the player traverses the level, droning moos can be heard from every direction. The beasts come in veritable throngs, but are slow moving and easy to handle for the most part. Their aggressive nature is odd given their portrayal in the original Minecraft, but it may be that this was changed for more than one reason. Obviously evil cows is a reference toDiablo 2’s secret cow level, but the mushrooms could be pointing at a connection toThe Last of Us.
Diablo 2’s secret cow level was so unforgettable because of how ludicrous and difficult it was. The level was simply crawling with large, bipedal cows wielding some kind of halberds, and they were some of the toughest enemies in the game. Players that managed to find this level at all would struggle to get through it, but the rewards were great for those that did.Minecraft Dungeonstakes a similar approach, unlocking the level is quite difficult, and the enemies are certainly no joke. It may not be quite as challenging asDiablo 2’s secret cow level, but unprepared players will struggle to take on the hordes of enemies without astrongMinecraft Dungeonsbuild.
The Last of Us - Cordyceps Virus
The Last of Us' main threat (at least at the beginning) are the infected that roam the world. 20 years before the events of the first game, the Cordyceps fungus mutated and produced a strain that was capable of infecting humans. For those that don’t know thebackstory of the Cordyceps, it is actually a real parasitic mushroom which can latch onto ants and take over their motor functions, effectively turning them into zombie ants.
Obviously, when this happens to humans, things don’t go too well for the survivors. The Cordyceps virus quickly spreads around the world, plunging humanity into a post-apocalyptic setting. The defining trait of these infected are the fungal growths sprouting from their bodies. Essentially, they are people with mushrooms growing out of them that want to eat and infect other people. Could it be thatMinecraft Dungeons' Mooshrooms are not the peaceful animals found inMinecraft, but some form ofCordyceps infected cow? Of course this isn’t actually the case, but it is an interesting connection which makes fans wonder whether or not it was purposefully done.
Minecraft Dungeonsis available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
