Achievement Unlocked 08.08.08: One of These Things is Not Like the Other

Posted by Rod Oracheski on 08.08.2008

This week, 411mania's Rod Oracheski takes a look at the differences between two Achievement lists in games that come from the same developer and publisher - Madden NFL 09 and NCAA Football 09. One list is good enough for the championship game, while the other missed the playoffs - but which is which? All that, and a new column feature, this week on Achievement Unlocked.



This week in Achievement Unlocked we'll take a look at the difference between the Achievement lists of Madden 2009 and NCAA 2009 and look at the possibility of Crackdown 2. Oh and hey - Battlefield: Bad Company finally got that free content patch!

All that, plus a new addition to the column.

Let's leave that new addition on the back burner, though, and start with the Madden vs NCAA comparison. Despite both being published by EA and developed by Tiburon, one of the software giant's internal studios, the two games couldn't be any less alike when it comes to Achievements.

NCAA has a list that's good, and verges on being great. There are 49 different Achievements to collect, ranging from simple ones like Create Stadium Sound where you choose...well you can figure that one out, to the not-so-simple Achievements like Record Breaker - Interceptions, where you have to pick off the ball six times during the course of a single game.

The game includes Achievements for regular progress, like Go Deep for 50+, which you pick up for connecting on a 50+ yard pass, as well as pushing you to improve your game - getting Pick-Free, for example, which is unlocked by completing a game without tossing up a lame duck pass for an interception. There are even some creative Achievements in the list, like the three for celebrating a touchdown with a mascot (Florida Gators, Tennessee Volunteers, or Texas Longhorns only), and Is That Even Legal? where you have to return a missed field goal for a touchdown.

All in all, it's a solid list that doesn't place any ridiculous demands on the gamer. Only three Achievements, a total of 60 Gamerscore, require you to be on Xbox Live: A/V Club President, Join the Ranks, and Reach Out and Crush Someone. Most gamers who are at least halfway proficient at EA's brand of football will get close to the 1,000 Gamerscore mark on this one.

On the other side of the field is Madden 2009 - a 25-Achievement list that's more frustrating than fun.

There are a few good Achievements here - some of the same ones as NCAA has, in fact. If you complete a game without giving up the ball in an interception, you'll unlock the Complete a game without an INT Achievement. Great name, guys.

That same creative spark can be found in more than a few Madden Achievements. Here's a quick list:

• 2 TD Kickoff Returns in a game
• Catch 10 passes in a game
• Kick a FG for over 50 yards
• Shut out Rival in a Franchise
• Score 40 points in a Rival game
• Score 60 points in a Rival game
• 6 sacks with 1 player in a game

You know...I'll just stop there. Most of the list is that boring, 19 of the 25 Achievements to be more precise, with the name taken directly from the action needed to unlock it, and some of those are just lazy. Score 40 and score 60? Wow, don't get all crazy on us, guys.

While NCAA has a few Achievements with stock names like that, its list is primarily made up of creative names...why is that absent from Madden, the big-league franchise with all the marketing muscle behind it? And why does the big-league title have only 25 Achievements, when even low-budget games are cranking out 50-Achievement lists with regularity?

That's not to say there aren't any good names here. Steal Their Thunder (steal an opposing player's touchdown celebration), Can You Believe These Seats (celebrate a TD with a wall hotspot), and Midway Monster (ah ah ah, that would be telling) are all good. That last Achievement is actually a great one, though it's one you'll have to find for yourself.

Madden 2009 can't be reviewed until the 12th, though I'll already go ahead and say that between the two it's the better game and easily the best Madden in years. Just don't look forward to its Achievement list, because that's a disappointment. One nice thing about the Madden list - no online Achievements at all.



The original game was one of those first few that really took Achievements in ways people hadn't expected, and Crackdown 2 would - assumedly - have the same impact. That is, if they get around to making it.

The good news is that Realtime Worlds is well aware the game is popular, and that a sequel is a high-demand property. The bad news is that they haven't decided to greenlight a sequel just yet. In an interview with VideoGaming 24/7, Realtime Worlds studio boss Colin Macdonald said the team still regrets the decision not to move directly into production of a sequel.

It was a horrible, horrible decision that we still dwell on. But I don't think the door's closed. Obviously, right now we're tied up with APB and everything else, but hopefully in the future we'll have the resource and something can be worked out with Microsoft.

Apparently Realtime Worlds didn't believe they'd see the numbers needed to justify a sequel going into immediate development, and had moved on to APB by the time they realized they had a hit on their hands.

Hopefully they can find the time...soon. I know there are a few here who loved the game, and hopefully a sequel would work out some of the first game's weaknesses - super bosses, for example?



With a whopping three PS3 games that now support Trophies (Pixeljunk Eden, Super Stardust HD, and Uncharted) I figured I might as well start bringing in news on Trophies to the column.

The system doesn't have the addictive nature of Achievements just yet, but PS3-only gamers have no idea what's coming - they'll be Trophy Whores soon enough. You can already see the effects, as people who once derided (and sometime still do) Achievements as "pointless" or "stupid" are now eager for Trophy patches to arrive.

Oh, they've got you. Soon you'll be craving Platinums!

That 'Plat Lust' might hold off for a while, though, as Uncharted is currently the only title that offers up a Platinum Trophy, with Eden maxing out at a Silver, and Super Stardust HD having a pair of Gold Trophies up for grabs (one requires the Add-on pack, however).

As a side note, if you're playing Uncharted again to get the Trophies and can't seem to unlock any, that might be your fault. Apparently if you want to get Trophies you need to start a new game with a fresh save, so if you just picked up where you left off...time to start again.

A few developers announced recently that they'll be including Trophy support in their games - Project Origin, the somewhat nebulously named sequel to FEAR, and Ferrari Challenge will both boast Trophies. PO will have them when the game arrives some time this fall, while Ferrari Challenge developers said they'd try to get them in at some point.

Bioshock will, as revealed some time ago, also feature Trophy support. The announced list is a duplicate of the Xbox 360 Achievement list, for those who want to do some preliminary scouting.

There'll be no Trophy support, at least at launch, for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, though. Hayden Blackman, head of game development, revealed that during a Gamespot live feed at E3. Blackman left the door open for that being added in later, but I think 'future development' is one of those things likely to be impacted when you go to the development team and tell them they don't work here anymore.

It's here, its finally here! Bad Company gets a new (second) online mode

Battlefield: Bad Combat saw that content patch this week, at long last adding Conquest mode to the previously one-mode game. Haven't found the time to fire that up yet, but I hope to get back to war this weekend. Unfortunately, between a family commitment, a party at a friend's house, and a UFC PPV, that might not get done, so if you give it a shot let me know how it is!



Spent some time this week organizing my podcast subscriptions - pruning out some older ones that I don't listen to anymore (sorry GFW, maybe in a month or two!) or ones that don't update at all these days, and adding in some that I've just been too lazy to get around to. That latter group includes The Exploding Barrel podcast that AJ and Mike Minotti have going.

I've been listening to the show for a while now, catching it on and off, and figured it's consistent enough to have on subscription. If you haven't checked it out, give it a shot - the latest one talks about Soul Calibur IV and Geometry Wars 2, and the Gaming Quiz is back in American hands. Two guys talking about games doesn't always work, but these two pull it off pretty well. It's kind of funny to hear them bicker over the computer, and they've 'won' a Wii several times now while surfing 411mania during the show. C'mon guys, Firefox + Adblock Plus...get on board!

They're building towards their 50th show, which is probably going to be a musical. How they'll pull it off, I don't know, but if we all put pressure on them they'll have no choice!

I'm still looking for a few new podcasts to add in, so feel free to suggest ones you listen to. I don't even care what it's about - if you find it interesting, let me know. Maybe I will too.

Until next week, I'm out.