Achievement Unlocked 02.28.08: Making it Count

Posted by Rod Oracheski on 02.28.2008

Returning from the fabled 'cold of the century' Rod talks about making Achievements matter to people who don't care about Gamerscore.



Take it from me folks, when you get the sniffles you don't need to go to the hospital. Just call in sick and hit the couch with a blanket to enjoy some quality soap operas. When you get a fever, it's time to consider that hospital visit. When your fever tops 40ºC (104ºF) though, it's time to go to the hospital - period.

Not me, though. When my fever hit 40ºC, I figured I'd tough it out like the pioneers did and I covered a hockey game. Smart idea. Turns out a lot of the pioneers - who were at least smart enough to stay at home when sick - more often than not died from those minor infections and diseases, something people really gloss over when talking about the 'good old days' like they were there!

Thanks to modern medicine I'm not dead, but I did test the limits of safe Benylin usage. I can see why it's so popular with the homeless...



Anyway, as I mentioned in an earlier column, while I really like the idea of Achievements, I don't really care about Gamerscore all that much. Unfortunately that means that, when a game doles out Achievements in a 'boring' manner, the thrill of 'achieving' is lost. We all know games like that - a game with 10 levels and 10 Achievements, one for beating each level.

Fortunately some developers award more than just Gamerscore along with the Achievements - developers like BioWare with recent hit Mass Effect.

Giving in-game rewards for playing the game, not hitting Marketplace and buying them? Talk about old-school...


The most obvious Achievement-based rewards are the Expert/Mastery/Specialist ones. Get 150 kills with the Shotgun, Assault Rifle, or Sniper Rifle, for example, and you unlock that talent for your next character.

This allows for a greater degree of freedom in your future playthroughs, while also encouraging you to play through the game again. After one run through the game as a Soldier, for example, you could play as an Adept (a strictly 'magic' using class normally restricted to pistol only) who can wield a Shotgun or Assault Rifle.

If you played through the game as an Adept first, then perhaps you'd prefer a second run as a Soldier who can use Singularity, Throw, or Warp? Maybe an Adept who can also use Hack on Geth enemies? There are a lot of potential combinations, of varying power, to experiment with - all powered by unlocking these Achievements.

These Achievements also pushed me to try out skills that I likely wouldn't have used, or at least used nearly as much. Neural Shock, for example, which wasn't a skill that I saw the power of until I was 'forced' to use it because I wanted the Achievement.

Unfortunately, while unlocking a talent through a completion Achievement was nice, it was also limited. You could only unlock one talent for a new character build, leaving you with a finite number of 'useful' builds to experiment with.


Fortunately that's where bonuses granted by other Achievements picked up the slack. These bonuses, generally percentage increases, provide rewards that affect every character you have created, as well as any you'll create in the future.

Unlocking Completionist, for example, something easily done on your first playthrough of the game, will bump up your experience rewards by 5%. You should also get Dog of War and Geth Hunter Achievements on your first playthrough, granting +10% health and +10% shield strength, respectively.

You'll probably also hit 50 on your first play, granting another +10% experience reward bump from the Power Gamer Achievement.

On one play of the game (getting the Soldier and Krogan ally, Dog of War, Geth Hunter, Completionist, Power Gamer, and Tactician Achievements) will leave you entering a second play with +15% experience rewards, +10% damage reduction, +10% health, +20% shield strength, and regenerating 1 hp/second.

Complete the game twice and you can stack on another 5% to weapon damage for the Long Service Medal Achievement. Got to 60 with a character on the second play? Give yourself another +5% experience rewards for that Extreme Power Gamer Achievement.

It's not all fun and games, of course. If you want to beat the game on Insanity, you'll probably want to get a good deal of the Achievements out of the way first. Having all those bonuses really helps get that last Achievement - Medal of Valor - and the N7 gamer pic that accompanies it.




Sadly, thanks to being sick as hell, I haven't played much this week aside from Lost Odyssey and Call of Duty 4 multiplayer. Lost Odyssey does none of the things that Mass Effect did right with Achievements - including giving out four 125-point Achievements, one for completing each disc.

Still, it's a fantastic game that I wish I'd had a clearer head for. The in-game stories are great, but when you're floating along in a cough syrup haze it's easy to doze off and lose the thread...

Speaking of 'losing the thread' I remembered one more game I played in the last week: Commanders: Attack of the Genos. This Xbox Live Arcade title is one I'm preparing a review of, and I can already say that it's probably worth a look if you're a strategy fan. It's got some well-planned Achievements, like Survivor for making it through a mission without casualties, and some strange - but addicting - music.

Check out the demo for that one while you wait for the final word.