Achievement Unlocked 04.25.08: The Top 10 Gaming Achievements and Your Input

Posted by Rod Oracheski on 04.25.2008

What are the Top 10 Achievements in Gaming thus far? 'Body Armor' from Crackdown? 'Now offering non-stop flights' from Smackdown vs Raw 08? Rod Oracheski tells you what he thinks, then invites you to tell him why he's wrong.



OK, I'll level with you...this game release drought is killing me. I don't think I've added much to my Gamerscore in the last few weeks, though I have absolutely no doubt that changes in the next week when I'll be rolling in the Grand Theft Auto IV Achievements.

With GTA IV out of the way, there seems to be a bit stronger release schedule over the next month, though the retail channel doesn't really kick into gear again until June. I'm going to rent Iron Man after playing the demo. Though it took a few plays to get the control scheme, which seems bizarrely unintuitive, under control, I think the game's going to be worth the rental. Bionic Commando Rearmed is a no-brainer for XBLA. I might pick up Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, but that's going to depend on how GTA IV's multiplayer holds up.

June is looking good though, with The Bourne Conspiracy, Grid, The Incredible Hulk, LEGO Indiana Jones, Ninja Gaiden II, Don King Presents: Prizefighter, Battlefield: Bad Company, Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath, Alone in the Dark, Hellboy: The Science of Evil, and Unreal Tournament III.



You've probably noticed the tagline under the column title in the header image changes every week. Hopefully you noticed it changes each week, otherwise I wasted a lot of time making all those header images.

Some taglines from the past include:

• Your mom loves a big Gamerscore.
• This week in nerd scorekeeping.
• Like leveling in WoW, only less cool.
• Pointless, but exploited.
• You'll hear that *ding* in your sleep.

While I don't really have a problem continuing to make up new taglines, I thought I'd throw the opportunity out there. If you have something you think would work, feel free to shoot me an e-mail with it. If I use it, I'll be sure to credit you so everyone knows how incredibly smart and witty you are. Make sure your submission will fit the space - no epic monologues, please.

With work keeping me busy this week, and not much new happening on the Achievements front, I'm going to the filler copy this week! Everyone else gets to do Top 10 lists, so I figured I throw together one on my Top 10 Achievements.

I always wanted to avoid doing a Top 10 list of any kind, since I just know that I'm going to forget something that will seem glaringly obvious after an hour or two, but what the hell. Here's my Top 10 Achievements, in no particular order:

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TOP 10 ACHIEVEMENTS

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'Zombie Genocider' from Dead Rising
To get this one you had to slaughter 53,594 zombies - the entire population of the town of Wilamette, the setting for the game. It doesn't even matter how you kill the zombies, just that they get knocked back into 'dirt nap' status.

This one unlocks for people who grind it out intentionally, but also pops for those who just loved killing zombies while playing.

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'Too Close to the Sun' from Halo 3
To get this one you need to destroy an enemy banshee with the spartan laser or missile pod. This is one of Halo's either/or Achievements, where you can get it via playing online in ranked matches, or get it offline in the campaign mode.

Giving offline players the chance to get this Achievement was a nice touch, and something that other games should consider implementing.

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'Your Show Sucks' from Call of Duty 4
This Achievement requires you to destroy every TV in the Charlie Don't Surf level, including some that are hidden in out-of-the-way areas.

I loved this Achievement because it was one of those things that I did anyway, like shooting out every window in games that allow it. I was a bit surprised that there wasn't a 'Blew Up Every Car' Achievement in Call of Duty 4, another of those 'I'm doing this just because I can' things.

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'Body Armor' from Crackdown
This Achievement came along with the content pack, and required the new Harpoon gun found in the DLC.

To get the Achievement you just need to pin five enemies to a vehicle. You don't have to drive around in it afterwards, but it's sure worth it.

This is another Achievement that I liked because it was just so off the wall. It's one of the Achievements that seem founded by some developer or tester who thought "I wonder if I can..." and then did.

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'Little Rocket Man' from The Orange Box
This is an Achievement that you tell people about and they give you the People's Eyebrow and say "You have to what?" To get it, you need to take the garden gnome from the start of Episode Two and keep it with you until you get to the rocket in the White Forest Rocket Facility. When Lamarr gets in the rocket, put the gnome inside as well.

This is an incredibly challenging Achievement that I still haven't managed to get - but I know that I will eventually. Hauling around that little gnome is a blast, especially when you put him down so he'll appear in big scenes. Great Achievement all the way around and, though I said I wouldn't put these in any particular order, I'd say this is the cream of the crop.

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'Fall to Death,' 'Scared of Heights,' and 'Widowmaker' from Marvel Ultimate Alliance
This trio of Achievements all center around the same thing - throwing enemies off cliffs, presumably to their deaths.

This, and I know this is becoming a broken record, is another Achievement (set) that I like because it rewards you for doing something a bit differently.

It opens your eyes to trying to play the game a different way - something I really value out of the Achievement list of any game.

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'Toaster in the Tub' from Bioshock
Speaking of trying to get you to expand your thinking, here's 'Toaster in the Tub' from Bioshock.

To get this one, you need to lure enemies into water and then electrocute them by shocking the water. It's a great way to incapacitate multiple enemies with one attack, but not something that necessarily springs to mind. Bioshock was all about doing things differently - setting up traps and pitting your enemies against one another, and having an Achievement that fostered that kind of play seems like a no-brainer.

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'Now offering non-stop flights' from Smackdown vs Raw 08
In every wrestling game that's ever allowed you to bring a ladder into the ring, set it up, and suplex someone off of it...I've tried to suplex someone out of the ring from the top of the ladder. In some games, though not many, it works.

Not only does it work in Smackdown vs Raw 08, you get an Achievement for it. Now let's take it to the next level for Smackdown vs Raw 09 - suplex off the ladder from inside the ring and put the guy through a table that's set up outside the ring. Make it happen.

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'GOOOAAALLLL!' from Condemned 2
To get this one you need to rack up kills with the Foosball rod, not a weapon that you'd normally choose to go with.

In a game that includes, of all things, a prosthetic arm and a toilet seat, the Foosball rod stands out to me as the strangest of them all. Having an Achievement based on using it strikes me as - surprise, surprise - expanding the way you play the game.

Sure, it's a bit of a stretch in this case, but the name of the Achievement made me include it.

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'Double Decap Latte' from Dark Sector
Dark Sector doesn't have a great Achievement list, with a lot of 'beat [x] level' and 'kill with [x] power/ability/weapon [x] times' Achievements.

There's a highlight though, the 'Double Decap Latte' Achievement, gotten by decapitating two enemies with a single throw of your Glaive. This Achievement doesn't really make you play the game in a different way, you'll probably throw your Glaive more often than you'll shoot a gun, but it has a nice degree of skill and also has that 'I wonder if I can' factor to it.

The first time I threw the Glaive and went into the control mode so I could aim it, I wondered if I could kill two or three at a time by guiding it. A few minutes later - ding - Achievement Unlocked.

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Honourable mentions

These are Achievements that I liked, whether for the name, the requirements, or the tile art, but weren't good enough to make the cut.
• All-Pro Football's 'Stride Gum... long lasting drive'
• Army of Two's 'This is my Boom Stick!'
• Command & Conquer 3's 'Welcome to 2047'
• Crackdown's 'High Flyer' and 'Base Jumper' combo
• Portal's 'Terminal Velocity' and 'Long Jump'
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance's 'Good Samaritan'
• Smackdown versus Raw 08's 'You've got a bit of red on you'

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As you can tell, I really value the Achievements that have a sense of humour, that expand on the gameplay experience, and that reward gamers for doing oddball things. These are the kind of Achievements that I think can drive the popularity of the system even higher, if we can just get more developers to do 'Little Rocket Man' style Achievements instead of 'Beat Level [X]' ones.

Still, I have no doubt at all that this list is the Top 10 to my mind only, and I've probably forgotten at least one that's so OH MY GOD AMAZING that you're cursing me through your monitor right now, so feel free to throw me an e-mail with your suggestions. If you have a full list to suggest, go for it, but I'll also take one-offs if you have one that you think I overlooked or didn't know about. Submissions will be run in a future column.

Achievement Unlocked: Jack Thompson rant that makes no sense.

Another thing I'd love to hear about is your opinion on Jack Thompson. As you've probably heard, Thompson - in a legal move that Matlock would be proud of - wrote a letter to Take Two chairman Strauss Zelnick's mother, and sent it to Zelnick's lawyers. Thompson spouts off in the letter about Take Two and how they're ruining the children of America - what a surprise.

He brings up several absolutely disturbing - and unfounded - accusations, including comparisons to the Hitler Youth that are completely uncalled for. Thompson has to be burning bridges with those who have supported him in the past with this ridiculous behaviour.

He's even been punished by the Florida Supreme Court, who will no longer receive his communications. If Thompson wants to file anything with the court, he has to do it through another lawyer.

And wasn't Thompson admonished in the past to stop this harassment of Rockstar and Take Two? Yet the media continues to cite him as a credible "expert" to speak against video games? It's time for the video game industry to grow a pair and start firing lawsuits back at Thompson, instead of letting him spew his garbage on the news whenever something remotely connected to video games happens.

With few new games out, I've been going through a bit of my backlog of games.

I worked through the first few islands in SEGA's Viking: Battle for Asgard, and am completely impressed by the sheer number of enemies you'll face. At one point I used my stealthy Viking skills to hide on a ledge as a patrol walked by on the path beneath me. I tried to keep count of how many went past, but had to go with a 'best guess' in the end and got a ballpark of around 130 enemies.

Just having 130 enemies against you would be impressive enough, but when you face off against those large patrols you'll have a good 100 or so troops on your side as well. These troops aren't just placeholders either, they'll actually help you fight your way to objectives.

Oh yeah, and there's a big freaking dragon you can command to attack strategic points. Just too sweet.

If you went into Viking looking for God of War, you'd probably go away disappointed. It's more of an adventure game with decent combat. There are a number of combos you can learn, but the bulk of the joy of combat comes from the epic feeling of the battles - not the epic feeling of your one-on-one encounters.

I was also pretty impressed by the size of the islands you can explore, with absolutely no load times after you hit the island. You can teleport from one end of the island to the other, or just run there without ever hitting that 'LOADING' screen.

Next week, as with every other column on 411's game section no doubt, you can expect to hear about GRAND THEFT AUTO IV. I think it's out on Tuesday, maybe you heard? We'll go over the Achievement list of the year's biggest game, talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly - and avoiding spoilers entirely. See you then.

P.S. Toddo - the Rainbow Six Vegas 2 patch fixed the Achievement bug. Should pop for you as soon as you've downloaded the patch.