Achievement Unlocked 05.10.08: Working the Limit

Posted by Rod Oracheski on 05.10.2008

While early games rarely topped out at the 50-Achievement mark, more and more new releases are hitting the cap. Let's take a look at why...



When the Xbox 360 launched and developers had to deal with Achievements for the first time, they generally did things poorly. It wasn't a case of everyone failing to deliver, but - by and large - they didn't handle their new responsibility very well at all.

Most developers did a fairly minimal set of Achievements, scattering those 1,000 precious points among a dozen or so tasks. It was a distinct minority that cared enough about the elusive *ding* of an Achievement unlocking to fill their list with solid challenges.

But that's all changed...

More and more these days we're seeing games launching with 50 Achievements, the maximum allowed (without special dispensation like Valve's The Orange Box received) by Microsoft. Above and beyond the number, we're also seeing better planned Achievements - ones with names that make sense or are humorous, and challenges that test our skill, not our patience.

Let's look at some launch titles, compared to recent releases. Sports games were arguably the worst of the bunch, so we'll start there.

That was then...

FIFA 06: A whopping six Achievements for 1,000 Gamerscore.

• Cup Qualification: Qualified for the FIFA World Cup in the Road to FIFA World Cup mode [300 Gamerscore]


• Win World Masters: Won the World Masters tournament in the Road to FIFA World Cup mode. [200 Gamerscore]


• Win International Open: Won the International Open in the Road to FIFA World Cup mode. [200 Gamerscore]


• Win Custom League: Won a League tournament created in the Create Tournament Mode. [150 Gamerscore]


• Win Custom Knockout: Won a Knockout tournament created in the Create Tournament Mode. [100 Gamerscore]


• Won on Perfect: Won a match playing on Perfect difficulty level. [50 Gamerscore]

NBA 2K6: Possible to get all 1,000 Gamerscore in a single game...

• Get A Triple-Double: This was achieved by getting a triple-double with any player. [250 Gamerscore]


• Score 50 Points With Any Player: This was achieved by scoring 50 points in a game with any player. [150 Gamerscore]


• Score 140 Points With Any Team: This was achieved by scoring 140 points in a game with any team. [200 Gamerscore]


• Make 15 3-Pointers In One Game: This was achieved by making 15 3-pointers in a single game. [150 Gamerscore]


• Grab 20 Rebounds With Any Player: This was achieved by getting 20 rebounds in a game with any player. [250 Gamerscore]

NHL 2K6: Five Achievements for 1,000 Gamerscore.

• Score on a breakaway (Amateur): Score a goal on a breakaway on Amateur difficulty or higher. [50 Gamerscore]


• Score goal with defenseman (Pro) Score a goal with a defenseman on Pro difficulty or higher. [150 Gamerscore]


• Score goal when 2 men down (Pro): Score a goal with a defenseman on Pro difficulty or higher. [200 Gamerscore]


• Score on penalty shot (All-Star): Score a goal when 2 men down on Pro difficulty or higher. [250 Gamerscore]


• Score in Under 1:00 (All-Star): Score a penalty shot on All-Star difficulty or higher. [350 Gamerscore]

This is now...

FIFA 08: 49 Achievements for 1,000 Gamerscore. No way I'm going to list them all in this section, just some of the good ones.

• Beat yourself As the Lead Profile in a single player game score two own goals in a single game. [0 Gamerscore]


• Manager Merry-go-round: As the Lead Profile, Play 15 years for 15 different clubs in 15 different countries. [10 Gamerscore]


• Single Player Hero: As the Lead Profile in a single player game achieve a 90 player rating in Be a Pro. [10 Gamerscore]


• Poacher: As the Lead Profile in a single player game win Man of the Match as a Forward on World Class. [10 Gamerscore]


• Blank sheet: As the Lead Profile in a single player game keep a clean sheet on World Class difficulty. [30 Gamerscore]

NBA 2K8: 50 Achievements for 1,000 Gamerscore.

• Kobe Bryant Dunk-Off: Defeat Kobe Bryant in a Dunk-Off. [35 Gamerscore]


• Gilbert Arenas: Record at least 35 points, 5 steals and 5 threes with Gilbert Arenas. [25 Gamerscore]


• LeBron James: Record at least 35 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists with LeBron James. [25 Gamerscore]


• Ice Water: FT% over 85% with at least 15 FTA's with any team. [15 Gamerscore]


• All-Heart: Start the 4th period losing by 10 or more points and win the game with any team. [15 Gamerscore]

NHL 2K8:

• Dominance: Win Stanley Cup and Presidents Trophy in the same year in Franchise on Pro difficulty or higher. [75 Gamerscore]


• Dynasty: Win 3 Stanley Cups in a row in Franchise on Pro difficulty or higher. [100 Gamerscore]


• Brick Wall: Record 5 consecutive shutouts in Franchise mode on Pro difficulty or higher. [75 Gamerscore]


• Miracle! Beat USSR 80 with USA 80 on Pro difficulty or higher in a single-player game. [25 Gamerscore]


• Quitter! Quit 10 games online. [0 Gamerscore]

While the quality of the lists is up for debate, with a general lack of creativity on the tasks and names, there's no denying they've seen substantial growth. We'll get into the 'why' of that particular trend at the end of the column, but for now we'll spin off into some of the non-sports games from launch.

That was then...

Call of Duty 2: This WWII shooter rewarded gamers with 1,000 Gamerscore across 13 Achievements.

• Completed Training: Completed Basic Training. [50 Gamerscore]


• Won the War: Finished the Single Player Campaign. [150 Gamerscore]


• War Hardened: Finished the Single Player Campaign on Hardened or Veteran difficulty setting. [200 Gamerscore]


• Veteran of Hill 400: Finished Hill 400 mission on Veteran difficulty. [60 Gamerscore]


• Veteran of D-Day: Finished D-Day mission on Veteran difficulty. [60 Gamerscore]

Condemned: Criminal Origins: The spookiest launch title ever, this one gives out 970 Gamerscore over 50 Achievements.

• Melee Mayhem Award: You found every type of melee weapon and fire-arm. [20 Gamerscore]


• Fire-Arm Freedom Award: You found every available fire-arm. [20 Gamerscore]


• Chief Investigator Award: You found every piece of evidence. [20 Gamerscore]


• Golden Bird Award: You found all birds in the game. [50 Gamerscore]


• Test Pattern TV Xbox 360: You found the Test Pattern TV. [10 Gamerscore]

This is now...

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare: One of 2007's most popular shooters, this game gives out 1,000 Gamerscore over 37 Achievements.

• Your Show Sucks: Destroy all the TVs showing Al-Asad's speech. [20 Gamerscore]


• Man of the People: Save the farmer. [10 Gamerscore]


• No Rest for the Weary: Stab an injured crawling enemy. [10 Gamerscore]


• Daredevil: Kill an enemy while blinded by a flashbang in the single player campaign. [10 Gamerscore]


• Bird on the Ground: Shoot down an enemy helicopter with an RPG in the single player campaign. [20 Gamerscore]

Condemned 2: Bloodshot: The sequel offers up more Gamerscore (1,000 in total) but has fewer Achievements - 38 vs 50.

• GOOOAAALLLL!: Use the foosball table piece to your advantage. [10 Gamerscore]


• Magellan: Explore all maps more than once! [25 Gamerscore]


• The Plumber: Find a pipe and use it frequently. [25 Gamerscore]


• The Final Word: You never forget your first time. [10 Gamerscore]


• Flambe: Splash, Shock and Fry. [25 Gamerscore]

Both lists see considerable improvement in quality, but the Condemned sequel actually features fewer Achievements. It's a little puzzling, given the trend of expansion that other games show, but it wouldn't be a SEGA game if wasn't a little weird, I suppose.

The near future...

A quick look at the Achievement list for upcoming titles (I won't post from the list, doing my best to avoid spoilers here!) shows that the 'fill it to 50' trend is definitely here to stay. Of six titles that are near release, five (Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, GRID, LEGO Indiana Jones, Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution, and Lost Planet Colonies) are maxed out with 50 Achievements to unlock. The other (The Bourne Conspiracy) has 49 Achievements.

What's it all mean?

So, why the expansion? It's likely that the most obvious answer is the right one - having more Achievements means people are likely to play the game longer. That drive to finish up a game's 1,000/1,000 can keep gamers engrossed in a title a little bit longer, and keep them talking about it with friends as a result.

Even Condemned 2: Bloodshot, falls into this line of thinking. Though the list is smaller, the Achievements are far better thought out, and will probably take the average gamer longer to unlock. It also helps that, as a more interesting list overall, gamers are less likely to grow frustrated, decide they've gotten all the Achievements they can out of the title, and move on.

Developers are also aware that with a bigger list they have a better chance to hit on an Achievement that strikes a chord with gamers - much like The Orange Box's Little Rocket Man Achievement, or Bioshock's Irony Achievement. A larger list also allows for more creative freedom, something that gamers are bound to find appealing even if it means that individual Achievements aren't worth as much.

Yeah, it all comes down to the dollar in the end. A top-quality Achievement list is an effective (and free) marketing tool, and that's something that no developer can afford to miss out on in these days of razor-sharp margins and million-dollar advertising budgets.

Even if it's all about marketing, so long as we keep reaping the benefits and getting quality list after quality list, I think I'm OK with that...



It's still all about Grand Theft Auto IV, including an appearance on a local radio station to counter some of the ridiculous falsehoods flying around about the game. I can appreciate parents being concerned about what their kids are playing - hell, that's AWESOME to see - but they need to be dealing with reality, not the imaginary world that guys like Jack Thompson live in.

There's no S&M in GTA IV. There's no chainsawing people in half - hell, there's no chainsaw at all. There are no "points" awarded for driving drunk, and the game even cautions you repeatedly that driving drunk is a terrible idea.

But whatever, it's still a great game. It's not perfect, with a slew of minor glitches that occasionally ruin the fun, but those glitches often add to the fun as well, so it's probably a wash that way. It's about as polished of a GTA game as I ever expect to see, but I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't really add much to the franchise.

Replay option....man, everyone wants it. Get it done, Rockstar! Why do I have a cellphone that can take pictures, but can't actually take pictures and send them to friends!

Until next week, I'm out.