Braveheartless is a secret level in Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko. It can be found in Lake Flaccid; when climbing up to the bridge leading to the Western Station TV, the first mine Gex comes across contains the entrance to the secret level. Following the previous games' references to other games developed by Crystal Dynamics (the Crystal Dynamics logo in the first having clips from some of their games at the time, including Gex, and Nikki from the Pandemonium! series making a cameo in the ending of the second), this level is based on Akuji the Heartless (which was released the same year as and built on the engine of Gex: Enter The Gecko), with Gex dressing up like him. Collecting all 50 Fly Coins in time rewards Gex with the skull token for the Vault in Mission Control. A Lost Gex Tape can also be found here.
Strategy[]
Braveheartless is unique among secret levels, at least on the PlayStation and not in the same way as Cheesy Rider. Unlike the other stages, which are non-linear and therefore the player can get Fly Coins in any order, this level is mostly linear and has a much stricter time limit than the other levels.
It begins in a watery chamber where a Fire Fly TV is located. Falling in the water disables the power-up, so collecting the Fly Coins in the trickier parts of the area should be priority one. Once the Fire Fly is buzzing around Gex, enter the main chamber, where there is a small maze. Collect the Fly Coins on the bottom floor and then head up, eating the Fire Fly all the while. Collect the Fly Coins as you go until you reach the top. Gex needs to collect a rather tricky Fly Coin by karate kicking across to a platform that leads into the room with the skull.
The Lost Gex Tape is on the top floor, but is located in a strange place directly across from the entrance to the watery chamber. To get it, utilize the Fire Fly, which the player most likely ate by now, to burn a gold Gex statue, revealing the Lost Gex Tape. Once this is done, invisible platforms will appear, making getting to the tape both possible and difficult, as one false move is a one way trip to the bottom. Thankfully, a wall near where the player is meant to shoot the statue from will reveal a stopwatch that Gex can obtain to increase the time he has to get the tape and the Fly Coins. Once the tape is obtained, head to the watery chamber and swim underwater to collect the remaining Fly Coins. This will cause the skull to spawn nearby. Once it does, swim to the surface and collect your prize.
Easter Egg[]
Out of all the easter eggs present in the Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko, this is the notable of the bunch. This is because it's first easter egg to be discovered and documented in the game. In the Braveheartless level, its known for having a hidden secret room which cannot be accessed by normal means during gameplay. This is due to being impossible to reach within the short time limit before the player is kicked out of the level. However, the footage of secret room would be uploaded to Youtube by Gex speedrunner, kyasarintsu (ant ant) on September 11th, 2016 through OOB glitches.[1] A more detailed guide to how reach the secret room would be documented by Daluigi208 on June, 23rd, 2017.[2] The video was aimed to demostrate to the speedrunning community that it is possible to open the proper entrance to the room. Additionally, it highlighted the method can be performed on the Version 1.0 copy of Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko. It was later discovered that the secret room can be reached in the Version 1.1 copy of the game. The footage would be documented by Leusarnecochip on February 4th, 2021.[3] Interestingly, unlike Version 1.0; the room would undergo many differences.
As for the room itself, it would vary depending if you own Version 1.0 or Version 1.1 of the game. In Version 1.0, the room has golden statue of Gex in the top corner of the room with a Blue Fly Power-Up TV behind it. Also, there's several crescent moon doors that would change Gex's costume upon entry. However, due to the nature of the glitch, Gex's character model just disappears from view when the action is performed.
In Version 1.1, the crescent doors were replaced with red doors which containing red sludge. In addition, they would have a single Blue Fly Power-Up TV to the left of the golden statue. Upon entering either of the doors, Gex costumes can change from Astronaut Gex, Gex Capone, RoboGex, DracuGex, Fireman Gex, Snowboarding Gex and the Glaidator costume which only appears in the N64 version of Mythology Network. Upon exploring the room, using the ice power-up. The player can freeze the gex statue creating a platform to reach the Red Fly power up. From shooting certain walls, it would reveal four developer photos of the Crystal Dynamics' employees. This easter egg is very interesting as it varies from each version of the game. It's possible that it was a last minute addition by the developers as newer copies were being distributed at the time.
Gallery[]
December 30th, 1998[]
Miscellanous[]
Trivia[]
- The level's name is a portmanteu of both Akuji the Heartless (along with Gex's costume for the level being named in a parody of that game's title) and of the film Braveheart.
- Akuji's name is also used for the various gag panels advertising various parody products.
- There is a secret room in the level that can't be accessed during normal game play.
- Due to being based on Akuji, the level uses an adapted version of the music from that game's Pluton level. Some of the gag panels also incorporate the Voodoo Spell sprites from that game.
- Like 'Dial "A" for Arson', this level was substituted with a different one in the N64 version (in this case, Temple of Gloom), partly because its source material was PS1-exclusive, but mostly because Akuji was a game that featured heavy violence.
- The Easter Egg photo of Crystal Dynamics' producer, Jeffrey Zwelling appears in the December prototype. Same photo appears in Dial "A" for Arson.
- This level's secret room apperance varies depending on if you own a copy of Version 1.0 or Version 1.1 of Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko.
- It's the only known Easter egg which cannot be discovered through normal gameplay means. Instead, the player has to break the game in order to discover the room. It's currently unknown if there's a legitimate route.
References[]
- ↑ "i... am... GEXICUS", kyasarintsu (ant ant). Posted on September 11th, 2016.
- ↑ "Gex 3 (PSX) - Braveheartless's Secret Room (Version 1.0)", Daluigi208. Posted on June 23rd, 2017.
- ↑ "Gex 3 Braveheartless secret room.", Leusarnecochip. Posted on February 4th, 2021.
Levels in Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko | |||
---|---|---|---|
Gex Cave (hub) | |||
Mission Control | Holiday Broadcasting | Mystery TV | ||
Lake Flaccid | Tut TV | Army Channel | Western Station | The Buccaneer Program | ||
Slappy Valley | Mythology Network | Fairytales TV | Anime Channel | ||
Funky Town | Gangster TV | Superhero Show | ||
Boss levels | WWGex Wrestling | Lizard of Oz | Channel Z | ||
Bonus Levels | Marsupial Madness | Gextreme Sports | War and Pieces | True Grits | What a Crock! | ||
Secret Levels | Dial "A" for Arson / Peg Leg Polka | Braveheartless / Temple of Gloom | The Abyssmal | Cheesy Rider | ||
Unsused Levels | Fish Frequency | Gtown1 | Fvilla1 | Jaws1 | Pirate88 | Proto55 |