Ascension:
Secrets

The secrets of Ascension: the three teddy bears of Abracadavre, the four Matryoshka dolls of the heroes, the red telephones with Kennedy, Nixon and Castro, the six radios of Gersh and Yuri, the rocket's Double Points and the hidden details of the cosmodrome.

3 min read
6 chapters
updated 2026-10-08

Read Ascension Leaderboard

Abracadavre

The musical Easter egg of Ascension is Abracadavre, written by Kevin Sherwood and sung by Elena Siegman, a remix of the Zombies theme “Damned”. Three teddy bears holding a sickle are hidden on the map; hold the use button on each, in any order, and the song starts.

Starting room bear

On a barrel on the balcony of the centrifuge room, near the Olympia.

Lander Ф bear

Near the pad closest to Stamin-Up, behind a gate next to a Box spot, under a red star.

Lander Б bear

Near the pad closest to Speed Cola, sitting on top of a wall left of a Box spot.

Matryoshka dolls

Four dolls painted with the faces of the heroes are placed around the map. Press the use button on one and it says something in a high-pitched version of its character’s voice, with a different line for each player, who answers it.

Tank Dempsey's Matryoshka doll, model render, Call of Duty Black Ops Zombies

Dempsey’s doll

On the burning barrels just left of the Claymores, near lander Ф.

Nikolai Belinski's Matryoshka doll, model render, Call of Duty Black Ops Zombies

Nikolai’s doll

On the shelf just left of Speed Cola.

Takeo Masaki's Matryoshka doll, model render, Call of Duty Black Ops Zombies

Takeo’s doll

On the shelf just left of PhD Flopper.

Edward Richtofen's Matryoshka doll, model render, Call of Duty Black Ops Zombies

Richtofen’s doll

On a large table in a corner of the room below the Stakeout.

Red telephones

Every two to five minutes, one of three red telephones rings for ten seconds. Pick it up and one of the leaders of “Five” can be heard, the Pentagon map running at the same time as Ascension:

Kennedy

The phone left of the lunar lander in the centrifuge room, between fuse boxes. “Need some beans for the chowder here!”, then the click of an empty gun.

Nixon

Left of the power switch, through the fence and down the stairs, next to a Box spot. He fires an FN FAL and howls like a wolf.

Castro

Just right of PhD Flopper. “Come to me, the revolution dies without Fidel Castro.”

Hidden radios

Six radios tell how the cosmodrome fell: Gersh’s reports on Project Mercury, Yuri’s anger at being sent to work on rockets, the teddy bear he found in a box, the laughter in his head, and the trap he finally set for Gersh. Each radio only appears once the previous one has been played. The first three work without power.

Left of the stairs leading to PhD Flopper, between two barriers.
Past Stamin-Up, in a crate behind a truck.
In the centrifuge room, left of a window on the lower floor, between a barrel and a cart.
On a beam right of the entrance to the Pack-a-Punch room.
Between Speed Cola and Nikolai’s doll.
In the rubble next to the Box spot by Stamin-Up.

Other secrets

Shooting down the rocket

As the rocket rises, a heavy explosive such as the Ray Gun or the China Lake can blow it up. A Double Points appears under the launch platform.

Sparky’s batteries

Two car batteries under a staircase of the centrifuge room carry the Cyrillic letters “ЅРДЯКУ”, which read “Sparky”, the nickname of Treyarch developer Alejandro Romo.

The bear paw

A brown bear’s paw print can be seen on the Moon in the sky.

A broken teleporter

Next to the pad of lander Ф stands a piece of teleporter that leads nowhere.

Two unused words

Besides L-U-N-A, the game’s scripts follow the lander letters for two other words, HITSAM and HYENA. Spelling them does nothing; the lines meant for them were never added.

First Room

With the doors closed, three of these are within reach: the Kennedy telephone by the lander, which rings whenever the game picks it, the teddy bear on the balcony, and Sparky’s batteries. The bear alone does not start the song, and the radio of the centrifuge room never shows up, since the first two are behind the doors.