Achievement Unlocked 10.15.09: Left 4 Dead 2's List
Posted by Rod Oracheski on 10.15.2009
This week on Achievement Unlocked, 411's Rod Oracheski takes a look at the recently revealed Achievement list for Valve's Left 4 Dead 2. Does Valve still have the magic touch? Plus a look at the 12-Achievement list cap on XBLA games with Call of Duty and Brütal Legend impressions and video!
Left 4 Dead 2
Burning zombies release the scent of pine.
The Left 4 Dead 2 Achievements hit this week, tipping those of us who haven't really been keeping up with the game too closely to the number of campaigns it'll have, and the names of each.
I'm not sure if five campaigns feels like enough, though for a game that's heavily focused on online play I doubt it'll be considered a knock against the game. Jumping into Modern Warfare and World at War multiplayer recently, I noticed we really only play on a handful of maps intentionally - a good deal get voted to skip, though that usually leads to us playing on a map we didn't like anyway.
In any case, the rest of the Achievement list is pretty good - maybe not up to Valve's normal standard, but still solid. There are some that offer up a good challenge, whether that's beating a campaign using only melee weapons, decapitating 200 infected with a melee weapon, getting 100 chainsaw kills, or not taking damage during a battle.
Valve also thought to reward gamers for good behaviour with positive reinforcement Achievements. 'Shock Jock' rewards you for reviving 10 dead Survivors with the defribrillator, while 'Armory of One' - awarded for deploying an ammo upgrade for a teammate to use - is both a positive reinforcement and a great name. There's even an Achievement, like in the first game, for leaving the safe room to aid another Survivor. Let's face it, some players need that incentive to perform like a regular teammate, right?
There's one that's got me a little confused though. The 'CL0WND' Achievement, for honking the noses of 10 clowns. The hell is that one about?
Clowns also feature into one that I'm behind for no good reason at all: 'Fried Piper' which is awarded for using a Molotov to burn a Clown that's leading 10+ common Infected. Clowns are creepy - period. Being rewarded for offing them is okay in my book.
There's even what seems like a throwback to a past game - the 'Guardin Gnome' Achievement. The little guy in the artwork will probably seem awfully familiar to those who played Half Life 2...
You can find the complete Achievement list for Left 4 Dead 2 here.
The Achievement list for Call of Duty's XBLA release also hit this week, a 12-Achievement list worth 200 points that brings to light a bone of contention with XBLA title's lists.
With only 12 Achievements available to developers, the prospects for a list aren't great. The limited number means any game that uses the 'beat [x] level' style Achievements are going to run out quickly. Call of Duty, for example, only has room for three additional Achievements: Gunslinger, Pea Shooter, and Survivor - all good.
What would they have done with more?
Microsoft should expand XBLA titles to 15 Achievements and 250 points. After all, the average price of an XBLA release is climbing - why not adjust those list standards along with it?
NVIDIA dominates the news this week, with rumours that they were abandoning the high-end and mid-rang PC video card market seemingly confirmed, but don't feel sorry for them as Nintendo's next handheld seems likely to be powered by the Tegra processor! In other news, AMD/ATI makes good with a so-so confirmation that the next Xbox will use their tech, plus the holiday round of price drops might not pay off in big software sales, and a GameStop executive - like IGN last week - cashes in by selling out.
Console Price Drops Don't Mean Bigger Software Sales
Games Industry has a piece up about Doug Creutz's prediction, as an analyst from Cowan and Company, that increasing hardware sales, due to recent price cuts, may not be translating into sales of new software.
This news seems almost too obvious, yet goes overlooked by a lot of people. A consumer who is unwilling or unable to shell out for a console prior to a price drop isn't any more likely to buy brand new games. While a console price drop brings in more potential sales, those early sales seem concentrated mostly in back catalog titles.
Think about it, you just shelled out $299 for a Slim PS3. Do you want to get one new game for $65 - or three older games for $20 each?
Creutz notes the used game market is much stronger than it was during last gen's price cuts, which means the beneficiary of these cuts might be places like GameStop - not the publishers/developers of the titles.
GameStop director Leonard Riggins cashed in to the tune of $60 million, selling 2.3 million shares in the company. No reason was given for Riggins saleoff of stock, but whenever an executive pulls the trigger on their own company's stock it's generally viewed as having negative implications for the future.
With increasing competition in the used games market, including retail giant Wal-Mart getting involved, and publishers finding ways (free one-time-use DLC codes included with new games, for example) to push new copies over used, it's possible Riggins doesn't see a rosy 2010 for GameStop.
It's reported that NVIDIA has essentially left the high-end and mid-range PC video card market to ATI - rumoured to be the result of manufacturing failures and performance issues. If true, and it appears to be, PC gamers are looking at a single-competitor market - at least until someone else joins the fray.
Consoles would also be affected if NVIDIA pulls out of the high-end market entirely, as NVIDIA provided the design for the PS3's RSX. Sony would need to secure a deal with ATI for the eventual PS4, work out a design deal with NVIDIA (who designed the RSX, but Sony owns the design), or find their own solution using Cell.
With NVIDIA's troubles apparently revolving squarely around poor design and performance, one of those three options seems like a poor one.
NVIDIA may find they don't need the high-end PC market, however, with rumours that a new generation of Tegra processor will power the next-gen DS handheld. The current gen of Tegra processor was tapped by Microsoft for the Zune HD.
A deal with Nintendo would mean a large and stable revenue stream for NVIDIA.
Fudzilla reported this week that the next version of Microsoft's Xbox platform will use an AMD/ATI video card. The deal isn't unexpected, as the Xbox 360 uses an ATI card and Microsoft went through the pains of switching vendors on the Xbox-360 transition and wasn't likely to want to experience that again.
The big game of the week for me has been Br�ütal Legend, Tim Schafer's newest release. As a fan of Schafer's past works, I had decent expectations for this title but found myself a little disappointed by the game.
The basic ideas behind the gameplay are solid enough - you get a handful of attacks to start and can add new combos and attack effects by visiting Ozzy in what looks like the metal version of Hell. You can even accessorize your ride here, adding machine guns, flamethrowers, rockets, etc...
Where the game falls flat is in the execution. Tearing through the repetitive enemy mobs during missions - occasionally in RTS-like battles - never really feels all that fun, and the side missions are even less engaging.
Side missions seem to have been added solely to pad the game's length, but I got so bored of doing the same three or four missions, repeated over and over, that I just quit doing them. I didn't really need the fire tribute (used to buy upgrades from Ozzy) from doing them, since the missions gave me enough to get the main powerups and the game - even on Brütal - isn't all that hard.
A so-so story, comedy that kind of falls off the rails halfway through, an environment you can explore - but with very little compelling reason TO explore... If this becomes the best-selling Schafer game I'd be disappointed, because it felt the least like a Schafer game.
In the end, I'd give Brütal Legend a passing grade - but if you're not a huge metal or Schafer fan, I don't think it's worth the $69 (Canadian) it'll run you. The multiplayer, where you play the RTS-like battles against human opponents, isn't a huge draw and the unit balance isn't great.
I played more Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising this week and would continue to recommend it to anyone looking for a more realistic shooter than the Halo or Modern Warfare style game. Secrets still present themselves, like a cache of weapons found in the Dragon Rising mission (northwest of the starting location, in the ruins on the hill above the west-most SAM site) that contains a Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle. Last week I posted videos of sniping from 300 meters using scoped weapons - the actual sniper rifle is effective for a far greater range. My best shot was a kill at 446 meters, something that highlighted the weaknesses with that kind of range.
It's not that the gun becomes ineffective, it's the engine that can't handle it. Even surveying sites where I know there are enemies present, they don't become visible until 300-350 meters. You're forced to move up to 'spawn' them, then back away. It would be possible to get shots from farther out in co-op, using the 250-meter 'tether' principle. Send the forward observer to 300 meters from the target, with the sniper hanging back 250 meters from the observer. Effective shooting distance would be 550 meters, though I'll have to test and see if targets would be rendered for the sniper at that distance.
I got into some co-op play this week and it's a better experience than the multiplayer proved to be. Despite some glitches (usually involving simultaneous use of field dressing and other activities) that crop up, the game is a lot of fun with a well-coordinated team.
In less serious gaming, Mercenaries 2 shook its way loose of the 'must finish' pile and I played a bit. I can't really remember why I put this one down, though whatever issues prompted the patch required before I could play might have had something to do with it.
I plan to get through that one before firing up Forza Motorsport 3. I need some incentive to finish up older games, and denying myself new games seems like a good one.
Darkest of Days arrived (and thanks to Reverb's Jerry Whitehead for that) and I'm going to play this one over the weekend. It doesn't look like a 'must have AAA' experience or anything, but at least the premise sounds good. I want to see if it's as bad as Jordan Williams thought. If it is, you'll find some HD video of it next week for sure!
Brütal Legend videos this week, but as I wait for those to go live on YouTube I'm throwing up an old one - my ill-fated drifting attempt from Forza 3. Check back for those Brutal Legend videos in a bit.
If you have any questions or want to request any videos, leave a comment below. Until next week, I'm out.
