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Over-Achievers Article
Xbox 360 PC PlayStation 3 Article by Simon Parkin
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1. Dead Rising
- Achievement: 7-Day Survivor
- Instruction: Survive for at least 7 days.
- Gamerscore: 30
- See it done.
As if being set upon in a mall by fifty thousand zombies at the end of the world wasn't enough of a challenge, the infamous 7-Day Survivor achievement requires you to play the game for 14 hours straight, while everyone and everything in the game is turned against you and, just to top it off, while having your health constantly deplete. Sure, it's a challenge of endurance, as much as skill, but this is the longest day for the Achievement whore rivaled only by Rock Band 2's Bladder of Steel achievement for an act of sadistic endurance.
2. Crackdown
- Achievement: Body Armor
- Instruction: Use the Harpoon gun to attach 5 gang member corpses to a single vehicle.
- Gamerscore: 10
- See it done.
More fun than using a rudimentary map printed out from Gamefaqs to locate that bastard last hidden orb, Body Armour has you using the DLC-exclusive harpoon gun to impale five gang members to a car of your choosing. The harpoons disappear after around 60 seconds, but that should be more than enough time to get the set. Brings new meaning to the phrase Pimp My Ride.
3. Fallout 3
Forget killing this guy - go rescue a violin.
- Achievement: Agatha's Song
- Instruction: Completed "Agatha's Song".
- Points: 20
- See it done.
There's a cute sort of absurdity in having to trek across a post-nuclear wasteland in search of a priceless Stradivarius violin for an old lady. The instrument can be found in the depths of a pre-apocalypse recording studio (allegedly owned by one Rick Rubin), resting in a dusty violin case. Bring it back to the amiable Agatha and her melancholic strains will sound out across the wasteland's airwaves, a constant reminder that beauty can always somehow be salvaged from desolation.
4. Half-Life 2
- Achievement: Targeted Advertising
- Instruction: Pin a soldier to the billboard in chapter Highway 17.
- Points: 5
- See it done.
Valve knows better than most how to frame a good Achievement, and the developer's bumper game compilation, the Orange Box, is filled with ingenious meta-missions. Pinning a soldier to a billboard with the harpoon gun is one of gaming's most enjoyable visual puns.
5. Half-Life 2
- Achievement: OSHA Violation
- Instruction: Kill 3 enemies using the crane.
- Points: 5
- See it done.
How many times have you been sat at the controls of a 50-foot crane, just wishing you could tear off your safety helmet and start swinging its colossal steel arm around in wide arcing motions, like some sort of giant orange mace, flailing your co-workers in their faces until you achieve enough up force to take to the skies in your awesome crane-o-copter? Sadly, OSHA violation only lets us live out one of those fantasies.
6. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
- Achievement: Worst Day-Shift Manager Ever
- Instruction: Kill 12 Stormtroopers as Vader during the Prologue.
- Points: 10
- See it done.
Darth Vader was never going to make for a good boss: too much mind control and distracting asthma to make working life pleasurable. But if you're the guy with the withered face under the mask, tossing your foot-soldier stormtroopers into nearby tree-trunks so their pathetic backs snap like your estranged son's temper? Well, that's another thing entirely.
7. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Pacifism wasn't just the best Achievement for Geometry Wars, it was a blueprint for one of the sequel's best modes - not to mention the Achievement strategies of numerous other games within and without.
- Achievement: Tone Deaf
- Instruction: Beat any song on the expert difficulty with the game's sound options turned down to zero.
- Points: 5
- See it done.
Many Achievements require players to self-limit themselves in order to increase the challenge. Tone Deaf is king of this approach, requiring players to complete any song on the hardest difficulty with the music turned off, playing an audio game with just the visual cues. Sadly, you can cheat by turning the sound options off for the last couple of notes of the song only, but still, it's the thought that counts.
8. Half-Life 2: Episode Two
- Achievement: Little Rocket Man
- Instruction: Send the garden gnome into space.
- Points: 30
- See it done.
Not so much a fetch-quest as an escort quest. Carrying a garden gnome through the entirety of Episode Two is one of gaming's most delicious and yet infuriating challenges, as anyone who's tried to balance the blasted thing on the bonnet of the rickety car in the Hunter-Chopper pursuit can attest. But it's all worth it when you get to see his stupid hobbitty face light up as you stuff him in the hold of the space shuttle, right? Right?
9. Final Fantasy XI
- Achievement: Reach Character Level 75 (multiple)
- Instruction: Achieved level 75 as [insert job class].
- Points: 30 x 14
- See it done: N/A
Widely regarded as the hardest 1000 gamerpoints you'll never earn, this set of Achievements is reserved for the player who manages to level every job class in Square-Enix's sprawling MMO to a dizzying level 75. As it takes the average player anything from 12-18 months to level a single job to that level, the idea of doing so for 14 different job classes is, how should we say, a long-term project. As far as Eurogamer is aware, nobody in the world has earned the full set of Achievements legitimately yet, and nobody is likely to within the next decade.
10. Shadowrun
- Achievement: Shadowrun Fever
- Instruction: "Catch it!"
- Gamerpoints: 25
- See it done.
The only STD-based Achievement we know of, Shadowrun Fever is viral in every sense of the word. Based on the popular American online sport of tea-bagging, in which sexually-confused teenagers dip their virtual balls into the mouths of dead teenage boys, you'll need to "catch it" off someone who already "has it". Oh God. No. I just read that sentence back. What the hell am I doing with my life? Achievement Unlocked: Reached Epiphany RE: Indefensible Futility of Your Hobby.
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muscleblade
14/05/09 @ 13:11
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The Shadowrun Fever is amazing. You do not only need to kill a person that has the achievement, but you need to teabag him a good few times for it to unlock. Crazy stuff really. They got the idea from all the teabagging in Halo 2.
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most recently on 14/05/09 @ 14:13
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Don't understand the whole achievement whore thing at all. Franky it seems kinda tragic IMO.
Well thanks for that input. I take it you skipped over the bit where EG sort of say the same thing and yet at the same time acknowledge how good Achievements can really add something to a game. Alternatively, why don't you take your attitude and fuck off and leave the rest of us to enjoy the more imaginative and entertaining Achievements available? Cheers. |
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designerheadache
14/05/09 @ 13:14
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just go here: http://developer.yahoo.com/ypatterns/
for a much more in-depth analysis. Achievements aren't Microsofts idea, although they most certainly came up with the best implementation of them, which in turn has led Sony, Blizzard et all to embrace their approach. |
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designerheadache
14/05/09 @ 13:16
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my proudest platinum trophy*has* to be Demons souls.
That is one hard trophy especially considering it requires 4 playthroughs of the game at 50 hrs avg pertime and the bladestone drop rate is 0.2 (that was some serious grinding to get that bronze!) |
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Wastelander
14/05/09 @ 13:19
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I've got Zombie Genocider!
DR had some fantastic achievements. Really worked with the multiple playthrough nature of the game. |
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designerheadache
14/05/09 @ 13:21
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@Darren
although this won't be helpful to you, it looks like Sony has been thinking along the same lines, they have several Home unlockables such as costumes in SF4 that trigger when you get trophies. hopefully they will do more with this model as it grows! |
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I lost interest in Achievements about two years ago when I realised that they were actually distracting me from enjoying and playing the games normally. I can't remember the last time I noticed I had one, I think I have them disabled in the Notifications menu. So now I tend to just ignore them, which is even easier now my gaming platform is my PC, though they do unfortunately crop up in the odd game on that system too.
They're the most pointless thing ever IMO and a wasted opportunity to actually reward the gamer with something *useful*, for example, unlocking a new costume, vehicle or bonus level, that kind of thing. Even free themes and gamer card pictures or even Avatar costumes would be better than a meaningless number attached to a digital card that no-one else but you is interested in. Anyone know my Gamercard score? No, neither do I! :D
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most recently on 14/05/09 @ 14:23
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sanctusmortis
14/05/09 @ 13:22
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Achievements certainly have some great examples; getting all orbs in Crackdown felt great, as did getting every point out of Fallout 3 and Fable 2.
You need to do a 10 cheapest list, though; I vote for Avatar, Virtual On Oratorio Tangram (10 points for watching a video?) and Dash of Destruction (200GSP, free game) |
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"They're the most pointless thing ever IMO and a wasted opportunity to actually reward the game with something useful"
For you perhaps, but again read the article. There's a huge argument as to why they're great, mostly centering around the fact the best ones promote either approaching the game in alternate ways, or doing ridiculous things that are FUN. Wasted opportunity for those of us who want a little more replay value or enjoy the occassional humourous achievement? Nope. Again wasted opportunity for who? Microsoft have created a massive niche following of people addicted to these things that buy and play games on the 360 for the achievement support, it's one of the selling points of its console to a small market. Wasted business opportunity? Nope. Halo did the whole costume thing too. |
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Ashen-Shugar
14/05/09 @ 13:27
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Achievements are a fantastic thing. They promote gameplay in a way you might not expect, but end up enjoying tremendously.
Of course there are the slightly pointless 'Chapter 1 complete - 20g' type achievements, but the good ones, like speedrun, do a level unarmed, do the level in reverse, get a million points with one ball, etc. make for a lot of replayability. The system is perfect for gamers. The implementation obviously is up to developers and lazy devs make weak achievements. |
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I generally agree with N@'s sentiment. Not to say I didn't enjoy reading the article, but I really don't get the idea of Achievements – but then, I don't understand why levelling up in World of Warcraft is so great, either. If Achievements disappeared from the face of the Earth, I wouldn't blink an eyelid, but I don't particularly hold a grudge towards anyone for wanting them or getting something out of them. Having them/not having them: it makes no difference to me. It probably comes down to not being all that competitive in personality.
I do have admiration, though, towards Microsoft. Achievements have been a masterstroke for them, and they obviously have tapped into something for a great deal of people. Very innovative and clever thinking. |
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Sir_TimAlot
14/05/09 @ 13:28
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Give Agatha a sheet of music paper and ask for a reward for a sweet unique Scoped .44 Magnum Blackhawk
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PrivateFloyd
14/05/09 @ 13:29
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when i first got my xbox i would play any old tripe (case in point if you look at my tag!!) At no point did it get obsessive, just friendly banter between mates down the pub about whose e-penis is bigger.
Nowadays im alot less bothered unless i am actually interested in the path leading to "Achievement Unlocked". A good example being the recent wolverine game where the achievements led you to vary fighting styles and moves and even the little easter eggs that could be found. And a special mention to L4D achievements. Yossarian + legend ; ) My rule of thumb now is if a game keeps my attention long enough to earn a shedload of achievements, great. if it doesn't, no big deal. I have been slated many a time by alot of people by some of the shite that is on my games list but who cares, you didnt have to endure it, i did!! (although even i cringe about some of the things i have played; lost, CSI, Surfs up, Open Season - im looking at you!) |
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The two achievements I am proudest to have.
1. Halo 3's 'Annual': added a year after the game's release, this is unlocked by playing the last level of the game to completion again with three buddies, on Legendary, with the Iron skull on, and all of you driving individual Ghosts (!) instead of piling into the usual Warthogs. Hilarity and friendships ensue. 2. Left 4 Dead's 'Nothing Special': complete a campaign in one run without anyone taking so much as a point of damage from any of the special infected (hunters, boomers, smokers, witches, and, yes, tanks). Masochistic madness. |
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Wastelander
14/05/09 @ 13:30
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I quite liked Lost Odyssey's "Million points of Damage" and "500 Perfects" achevements as well.
You got them naturally just by playing the game, but they were cool little landmarks anyway. |
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TheStylishHobo
14/05/09 @ 13:30
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@ N@
There's nothing to really complain about. If you don't like having achievements just ignore them, then the people who do like them will enjoy it and everyone is happy. No one is forcing you into doing them, they are just there if you want to do them. |
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Bigglesworth
14/05/09 @ 13:35
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Don't understand the whole achievement whore thing at all. Franky it seems kinda tragic IMO.
Agreed. Trophy Whoring is where it's at! |
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12-18 months for a level 75 in FFXI is something of an exaggeration.
5 years ago that would have been accurate, but thanks to a re-profiled difficulty curve and a lot of changes to make gaining experience points easier and less dangerous its realistic to say its more like 4-6 months of casual pay. There are methods to level a lot faster than that (the fastest I've ever heard is 2 weeks), but obviously that requires supportive friends and a masochistic dedication to the grind. (No-lifers only) |
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That Tone Deaf achievement is great. A nice second is the one in which you have to complete the game both in normal and lefty flip mode, or the one where you have to use a regular controller, but they're not quite as evil as having to turn off the sound.
My 'proudest' achievement moment was getting the Lone Wolf achievement in The Lost and Damned, in which you have to kill a Rockstar employee in the Lone Wolf multiplayer mode. The very first time I tried that mode, I got lucky and came across the wolf on a long straight stretch by accident, gunned him down, and got the achievement. Either there are an awful lot of Rockstar employees playing that game all the time, or it was a real lucky shot. Best application of achievement titles is Lego Indy, for me. I didn't look at the achievement list before playing, so every time I happened to do something that triggered an achievement I was treated with an unexpected but funnily appropriate movie quote. |
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I think well-designed achievements, as this article says, can cast a new perspective on something, subvert or play with a game's design, or even bring you closer to your XBL friends. Generally they give you reasons to keep playing games long after you might have discarded them otherwise.
But bad achievements, and achievement whoring for the sake of gamerscore, are the devil's work. |
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Everybody their own I guess and if they add some extra replay value to the game then surely that's a positive thing - it's not like the game *forces* you to go for achievements..
Can't say I'll ever get into it though, just don't have the time/dedication/stamina and would fall into the same category as other posters that focus on game progression only - having said that I gained a handfull of points by accident once while playing GTA4... thought first oh no not one of those stupid OMGWTF10 errors again - before i realised it was only just a GFW notification :D |
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I really like Achievements - I'm not obsessive about them but I really enjoy trying to get them on a second playthrough.
The Gnome one wrecked HL2:Ep2 for me, though - carried the little bastard almost to the end, put him down safely for an arena battle then found some invisiwalls has appeared meaning I couldn't get him. Turned it off and never finished it.
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The ORange Box has some of the best. I loved the one for doing Ravenholm (a place they apparently "don't go") with just the Gravity Gun. Turns it into a survival horror section, where you're always mindful of where the closest bit of scenery is in case you need to pelt it at someone.
And the one for kiling with a toilet. that's always funny.
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most recently on 14/05/09 @ 14:43
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Sir_TimAlot
14/05/09 @ 13:43
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I grew quite attached to that little gnome, we had some good times, and some bad, but was truly sad to see him go as i blasted him into space...........its what he wanted.
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I like achievements. Not the full 1000 score thing cause I have better things to do, but some are really fun. It's not like in game skill challenges werent there before achievements, ratchet had them already for example. So they are the same idea only implemented better and in all games. Gamerscore is useless though, but I still like it when I hit another level.
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Ashen-Shugar
14/05/09 @ 13:52
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@yossarian
"I quite liked Lost Odyssey's "Million points of Damage" and "500 Perfects" achevements as well. You got them naturally just by playing the game, but they were cool little landmarks anyway." Had to do a doubletake there. I thought for some reason you meant a million points of damage in one hit, and 500 perfects in a row (afternoon, coffee shortage). I was on the verge of renaming myself to Nancy Rubbishtrousers.. |
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@darren
Tut tut thanks to Eurogamers linking of gamertags to your profile anyone can tell you and you invited everyone to check I suprised none has. I'm sitting at 16k ish and for a while I was trying very hard to get as many as I could I lost interest like yourself, but if the achievement inspires a way of playing the game outside the norm I can get behind that. Pacifisim from the1st Geometry Wars is a prime example of making your play the game differently in an interesting way unfortuantly that type is the minority I do not need an achievement for beating a level the story/progression should be reward enough. |
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metalangel
14/05/09 @ 13:58
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So many great achievements, and you waste two slots of the top ten with Targeted Advertising and OSHA Violation? The Gnome one is only hard because of Valve's shit game design. The "amazing" physics engine causes the gnome to clip through the car as soon as you start moving (for some reason you can't open the trunk to put it in, or ask Alyx to hold it) and there's one sequence where you leave the car and go fight. I left the gnome in the car, only to find that a scripted sequence resulted in the car being moved and the gnome didn't come with it. And an invisible wall prevented me from climbing back over the easily scaleable wall to get back to where it would be.
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kinky_mong
14/05/09 @ 14:04
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PEDANTIC POINT: Targeted Advertising in Half Life 2 is done with the Crossbow, there isn't a harpoon gun in Half Life. Agatha's Song is also a bit of a strange choice for top 10 achievements when the same game has Psychotic Prankster.
I think achievements are the best new development of this generation of consoles. I've always been a completionist when playing computer games and it's great that there is now a more visual representation of my efforts. It's unfortunate that some developers feel the need to use achievements to push their lousy multi-player modes (grinding out Kingpin in Saints Row 2 was a particularly dark moment for me) but when a really inventive set of achievements is used in a game it really extends the lifespan of a game (Valve being the kings of this). |
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Yossarian & others have it spot on. Except "the devils work" doesn't do it justice when bad achievements combine with competitive online games. Then bad achievements can actually ruin the game itself.
Can I plug my own blog about this topic here? Yep I reckon I can ;) http://agoners.wordpress.com/2008/11/24/... http://agoners.wordpress.com/2008/11/25/... Oh and my fave meta-game with gamerscore.. getting it to read exact numbers that are meaningful to me: http://agoners.wordpress.com/2009/02/15/... I'm also glad reading Super_Zee that someone else has witnessed the annoyance of invisible walls appearing in HL games. It's been driving me mad. One thing that's totally wrong about the article.. Civilization Revolution achievements being in-jokes for RTS fans? What? Firstly Civ Rev isn't even RTS (although it sort of is online I know). But its achievements are all historical or movie references or simply 'appropriate' titles & really quite widely 'got' I'd say: http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game/... |
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Negotiator
14/05/09 @ 14:20
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Off topic, anybody preorder Fight Night 4 and got the code for the demo, because I am still waiting.
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kinky_mong
14/05/09 @ 14:25
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Negotiator, is there an achievement for asking that question in every comments section?
UTFF (Use the fucking forum) |
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