Achievments & Trophies

[spagmasterswift]

The best use of achievements for me so far have been in Dead Rising, they helped focus my actions and gave the game some longevity. Getting the Karate Champ one was fantastic fun.

Favourite looking achievements have to be from Bioshock, they really stand out from the rest (especially up against those from Lost and Ace Combat 6).

The achievement that has given me the most pleasure achieving so far is HeXic's "Big Cheese of the South Seas."

They are something that I can take of leave in most games but every now and then the challenge really grips me and I just have to try and get it - thinking Assassins Creed is gonna be one of those games where the achievements will keep me interested...

[JP]

Achievements are simply gaming-crack.

That's why Sony's bought into it with their version - catering to those with addictive-personalities can do no harm to sales. I could write a lot more on this subject, but you'll have to incite me if you want me to show what a forums-junkie I am.

Would this tempt you?


A few people are saying that they are good because they show other people what you've managed to achieve in games.

I know that this wouldn't happen but given a choice, would you rather lose your points or lose the actual game saves? I know you can download saves but forget that, would it be best to lose everything you've earned in a game or lose the fact that everybody knows that you've earned them?

Favourite looking achievements have to be from Bioshock.

Somebody else mentioned how they look but aren't they just the pop up on the 360 or do you get different images with them? It's a while since I've played a 360 and as I said I was never really into Achievements back then.

I'm definitely not the type to go wanting to get every single Trophy or Achievement. I don't own a 360, but I do have one single game where I think its system of Achievements has been one of the best things about the game. It is Team Fortress 2 on the PC and this won't be the case with the console versions. It works great because they've introduced a fair amount of new Achievements with the updates to numerous classes.

I didn't know you could get them on the PC? Are they a part of the Games for Windows thing or do you mean Achievements that are just relevant to that game?

I've had a bit of a look on YouTube for some and there does seem to be a few that you can sort of cheat out of some games. As people seem to pay more notice to other peoples individual Achievements/Trophies this has got to really annoying at times as I'm guessing people who are really into them know which are of them are cheatable.

A couple of times I've used them when playing a game and if I've been stuck somewhere then looking at other other peoples you can tell whether they've got past that part sometimes and I've PMd somebody to ask how they did it.

[Fuddle]

well i'm the opposite to most of you. i think all this achievements/trophies thing is a load of rubbish.

in the old days completing a game in a certain time or doing certain things would open up secret areas, give extra options or outfits etc. these days you get a number. i certainly wouldnt go out of my way for any of them.
i'll play a game till i'm not having fun any more.

[toythatkills]

A lot of the time I feel like gaming without achievements is kind of a waste of my time.

Yeah, I get this. I still play on my PSP and DS mainly when travelling/in bed but if I'm sitting in front of my TV, I generally only consider playing 360 games.

Playing games on insanely hard levels giving yourself major stress is not fun and not worth the time.

They're hard and frustrating for you, but the people that make the effort and enjoy them deserve to be rewarded.

Btw odd Achievement numbers only exist to piss Achievement whores off, if you get 2 gamerpoints you will hunger after that 3 gamerpoints which you KNOW you won't get until the end of the game.............and the game is ****.

Oh God yes. I got an 8 point achievement in Mortal Kombat for something pish easy like a two-hit combo. Problem was, I am rubbish at Mortal Kombat so could never get any of the ending-in-two achievements I needed to round my score back up. Bugged the hell out of me until recently when I just sat down with a move-list and forced myself to play it until I was good again! This sounds insane, but I'm one of those people that only turns the volume up on their TV to even numbers. A little bit OCD.

This game gets a lot of flak for having tough achievements ... and true, when I first got it, I figured that if I could get 450/1000, I'd be more than happy. But, to a completionist like me, it pushed me to get better, so in that regard, they're great.

It's not the tough achievements in this game that bothered me, it's the pathetic ones. There was one for completing the career using a controller, what on earth is the point of that? Forcing people to play the game for four hours whilst having zero fun and missing the entire point of the game for a few points? There were other dumb ones too.

As for achievements, I'm one of the ignore-total-score but compare on individual games, gang. I love knowing how other people are doing on games compared to me. The total score is a massive waste of time. It'd be awesome if Microsoft ditched it, or just swapped the number on the gamercard to a percentage of achievements won, or something, and had the total score more hidden.

Saying that, I currently have precisely 20,000 points (until I put Vesperia on in a minute) which is quite nice.

[eastyy]

To be honest when i first heard of achievements....i got them mixed up with microsoft points

and i thought....thats brilliant....when you get good at games i can use the points i get to buy games on xbox live......was very disapointed when i realised that was not the case

[Concrete donkey]

I've never been really big on achievments and with one exception never sought them out when playing a game. In Crackdown it was cool to note that climbing and then jumping off the tallest buildings (which I was doing anyway) were achievments but I never did these things because I got points for it but just thinking it was something I had to do. It was still nice to see the acheivment unlocked screen though.

For me the only game where I've been activly trying to get achievment points and the only one where I got all 1000 points was Civilization Revolution and I feel that that the kind of goals you had to achieve to get the points really enhanced the gameplay. For other games (and I mainly just play single player games) they are of little worth to me though.

[MattyD]

What I like about achievements is how a game that you've played to death can be worth another play-through to get some Gs.

They aren't a substitute for true replay value of course and god forbid developers ever get that into their heads, but there are some cracking games that I've played to death like Half-Life 2 and HL2 Episodes that I've enjoyed having a reason to play through all over again to get the harder achievements like Lambda Locator and Little Rocket Man.

Achievements that work like 'challenges' or challenge modes within the context of the main game are great too, like the One Free Bullet achievement in Orange Box. Playing through the game using just the gravity gun made it play and feel almost completely different rather than just going through the motions for some Gs.

It's also nice to have your skill recognised in 'hardcore' games like Ikaruga or say Devil May Cry 4, when people know how hard it is to earn certain achievements.

[k0pp0]

To be honest when i first heard of achievements....i got them mixed up with microsoft points

and i thought....thats brilliant....when you get good at games i can use the points i get to buy games on xbox live......was very disapointed when i realised that was not the case

Same here. I like to try and get them, however the online only one's suck. COD4's online rewards worked much better. I hate the fact that I'll never get 10,000 kills in GOW or 10,001 in The Club. That sucks hugely.

[Chunky]

I love what achievements bring to the table, being a completist though has its downsides as i find myself playing games far longer than i would previously.

One strong positive for me is games that have "Complete the game on hard" achievements, i've been gaming for about 25 years now and see myself as having a decent level of skill, but i'd still never start a game on hard. Now, with games like CoD2 and 3, Hitman, R6V1 and 2, and Lost Planet behind me, i realise the sense of accomplishment when beating these games on the hardest level is a massive payoff to the hours put in.

I also enjoy playing the games in ways that i wouldn't normally and exploring all game modes, the main one being (for me) online. I never really played online before the 360, but have thoroughly enjoyed many hours of co-op with stuff like Crackdown, Vegas 2, Marvel, Gears and Army of Two, as well as hours upon hours of Vegas 2 online.

The one thing i won't do though is lower myself to playing bad games just for points. I pride myself on having a gamercard full of good games, ok there are some average ones on there but none that i would rate as bad. I'll certainly go for 1000 points on each game, no matter how long it takes (GTA4 please stand up - 385g in 35 hours now), but i'll only play good games in the meantime.

Before anyone has a dig, i'm not having a go at people who play purely for points, each to their own of course

[bangaio]

I think they are wank. I truly couldn't give a **** about them at all. I play the game for what the producers made not for ****ty little things to try and aim for added by the developer because they have to. I also have an imagination so if I want to try and get some sort of satisfaction by taking on bum ****ing 53 orks while on one leg with only a whip I will make this up. I don't need to have someone else make it up for me.

I have way too many things to do than try and beat these targets. How I have any player points or whatever they are called I do not know - I have never set out to do any of them.

Sorry for this foul mouthed rant - I just hate the ****ing things!

[toythatkills]

Wow, you're angry. Achievements can be the producers baby too, you know. Take Geometry Wars 2, for example, they're a massive part of the game. It's not like they're some evil entity, calm down.

[bangaio]

But they are pointless - and I am normally calm about most things - but I mean the game is shooting things or whatever. If they want to make them part of the game then make them a level or a mission or whatever and get rid of the badge you get (never played Geometry Wars 2). It's just so lame. Maybe I am just becoming a very grumpy old man.

[toythatkills]

How are they pointless? Are high scores pointless? That'd kill an entire genre of games, probably more. Are fast lap times pointless? No more racing games, then. They're just added fun for people who do like them. If you don't, that's fine, but there's no need to get that angry about it, you're not forced to collect them

[Brats]

I love achievements, but I'm not a sadist. I will never play a crapola game just to get the achievements and I don't go for achievements that are simply a slog, but here's some additional reasons why I like them:

- They're great when you have kids. When you have kids, you do sometimes have to play some games that you wouldn't normally touch with a barge pole (Viva Pinata Party Animals for example). But with the added achievements, it brings some extra challenge and enjoyment to what would otherwise be a bore fest. I'll be buying Wall-E next week for the little 'un - thank the lord for achievements.

- I complete more games than I used to. I used to get so far in games then stop and I couldn't be bothered to re-learn everything to finish them off (even when I was near the end). Now I have that extra incentive. Knowing how times people used to post on forums about leaving games unfinished, it's impossible to say this is a bad thing.

- Friendly competition. I have a mate at work and we have a friendly competition over gamerscore. Yes it's completely flawed and doesn't mean anything, but Christ the world would be a ****ing dull place if everything had to mean something. Racing someone else to the top of a hill or the end of the street doesn't mean anything either, but the day I stop mucking around is the day my soul dies.

- A permanent record. I never used to sell games. Even those I completed 100% I would keep to be able to show off my achievement. No-one ever saw it of course but me, but I could never bring myself to sell games else I wouldn't be able to bask in my own glory. Now I have a permamanent record of my achievement without having to keep the game. I can trade in the game, I have more space and more money in my bank account.

All good reasons in my book. Anyone who disagrees can suck my nuts .

[Geoff D]

Anyone who disagrees can suck my nuts .

Is there an achievement for this?