Thread:Vorknkx/@comment-1915529-20120523190003/@comment-1496755-20120605190928

That's right - what happened to secret areas? They were the best way to motivate players to explore.

There were times when secrets were vital to survival - like Wolf 3D's dreaded E6L9, in which all the health and ammo is in the secrets.

Also - secret levels. It's one of the best features of classic shooters, especially if the level includes some unique feature not seen anywhere else in the game (like the low gravity in Quake's E1M8). I miss that in modern games. There are a few hidden areas in Doom 3, actually, but you don't really get any special credit for finding them. They are not vital for beating a level.