Showing posts with label Guitar Hero III. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guitar Hero III. Show all posts

Monday, August 25, 2008

25th August: GS Update

Ahaha! I am back! *BIG FANFARE* No really, its all about the gaming.
Are you ready for a recap? I know I am! Giddyup: If your Xbox is depressed, try playing seven days in a row like borandi did last week. It has a way of making you a bit giddy... The gamerscore increase was just insane. I didn't think it would be possible to get 1730 points in such a short span of time but we did. Who knew 209 achievements could be worth that much? Ok I knew that...

For the record, we played 11 new games over the last week. They were Beijing 2008, Braid, Bully Scholarship Ed., ET: QUAKE Wars, Fable® II Pub Games, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, NFL Tour, SEGA Superstars Tennis, SOULCALIBUR, Summer Athletics, and Universe at War. They were all fun... in their own little ways. Also, I think we can all agree that borandi's favorite game last week was ET: QUAKE Wars. He played it on 3 of the days.
Lots of games played - some completed, some bought, some traded, some rented. Some fun, others not so much. Let me explain...

SOULCALIBUR

SOULCALIBUR

0 -> 200 of 200
12 of 12 Achievements

I've got the original in the Soul Calibur series (Soul Blade, PSX), and even though I'm not too keen on fighting games, the Soul series is the best. Though this XBLA version is a cut down copy of what was originally released - campaign mode has been cut. That was the best bit!!! But I heard this was some easy GS, so I got it and completed it. With the x360a guide, it was a cinch. Easy stuff. Game Complete!

Unreal Tournament® 3

Unreal Tournament® 3

0 -> 290 of 1000
12 of 50 Achievements

I had some HMV credit and had two options - wait a little while and get Too Human (where the demo was OK), or get UT3 which I know would be a little grindy but FPS fun. Well I got UT3 :) My brother and I blitzed the campaign mode in co-op, and I done a little in multiplayer. What's best is me + 15 easy bots, hyperspeed, small map, automatic weapons. There's a reason I got 457 kills in 20 minutes, 380 ahead of 2nd place :)

NBA 2K8

NBA 2K8

0 -> 210 of 1000
12 of 50 Achievements

I bought NBA 2k8 and NHL 2k8 from Gamestation a couple of days ago in the 2 for 20 range - bargain!!! So I got the easy achievements out of the way - 15 three pointers, 60 points in the paint, etc. The achs are almost identical to NBA 2k7, so we'll see how it goes. The hardest part is the blocks, which I'm working on.

Guitar Hero III

Guitar Hero III

430 -> 455 of 1000
40 of 59 Achievements

Only one achievement of note on GH3 - the 250k notes hit in career. It came randomly, during a track which I failed - so even failed tracks count. I'm on my way to getting the 100mil total score and the $300k total across career.

Rock Band

Rock Band

245 -> 265 of 1000
14 of 50 Achievements

Not much to report on Rock Band - I got the Jet by doing Expert Guitar/Easy Vocals myself. However, my brother came over this bank holiday so we could go after the Endless Setlist (he can do expert bass, I've done expert guitar). We got upto the PR Firm, and we need another 200 stars to get into the Hall of Fame, then another 300 stars to get to the setlist (or something like that). Anyway he'll be back late September, so I'm hoping to get some more achs then.

The Simpsons™ Game

The Simpsons™ Game

75 -> 185 of 1000
14 of 44 Achievements

It looks like a lot of people have the full 1k in The Simpsons Game, so I bought it to spend some time on it. I've only played a little so far, but I'm well on the way to completing the story mode. Will get back to you when I do!

WCP All In

WCP All In

0 -> 10 of 1000
1 of 39 Achievements

My brother bought this game, so while he was here we popped it in and I got the achievement for playing a year of career mode. This meant skipping 52 weeks. Easy GS, though the game could look better. I'll borrow this off him and play it more some other time.

Fable® II Pub Games

Fable® II Pub Games

200 of 200
11 of 12 Achievements

I've never played the original Fable. But apparently I missed out. Like I should be put in front of a firing squad sort of missed out. So in order to get into the mood, I got the Pub Games, an XBLA game so people can try and get gold for their character in the main game before it comes out. Or, they could put their character in debt. Either way, the Pub Games consist of 3 games of chance, and a myriad of easy achievements if you've got a turbo pad. Seriously, for most of them, hold down A and bet away! Eventually, some skill is required, like the 'get a jackpot on each game' achievements. THe only one that was hard was the Keystone jackpot, which took 4 hours to get. I haven't completed it yet - still one achievement related to linking the game to a Fable 2 character. I'll get that soon when the game comes out :)

Beijing 2008

Beijing 2008

0 -> 300 of 1000
15 of 50 Achievements

I traded in a load (about 8) DS games for some credit, and with it I got Beijing 2008, Bully and The Simpsons. As a fan of Olympic style games, I was wanting to love Beijing. After playing it, yeah I like it, but the developers could have done it in a much nicer way. There are lots of events, but the control system is terrible, and the starting system in races is poor. The achievements are really hard (as in you need a perfect to get them) and they really could have looked at older track and field type games and thought 'what could we improve' rather than 'what could we screw up'. Wait until its a tenner, then buy it. A borandi top tip!

skate.

skate.

170 -> 390 of 1000
20 of 44 Achievements

I decided the other day to go take the task of getting all the games from my MGC.net profile, and get them 'above average' GS. Well skate. was the closest game which I own, so I went online. The easiest achievements seemed to be the online ones - get 600EXP in trick events and 600EXP in races. I was already 300/300, but it took 4 or so hours to play ~60 events to get 600/600. Though to be honest, it was fun. It's a shame single player mode is bit gay (but the control system is nice).

Devil May Cry 4

Devil May Cry 4

0 -> 20 of 1000
2 of 46 Achievements

DMC4 is supposedly a great game worth playing. Well I got it from LoveFilm, and I find it a bit meh. Most of the game is unlocked as you play (so it's not pick up and play), and generally requires 3 or 4 playthroughs. Each playthough is ~21 stages, each 10-20 minutes long. Well, I have a thing against games with those long stages if you can't save in the middle. It's a hack and slash type game revolving around stylistic fighting with a theme towards the dark and dreary. Maybe I just need to play it more - I'm upto stage 5.

Braid

Braid

0 -> 80 of 200
7 of 12 Achievements

Braid has been the centre of some controversy in the XBLA market. Some people hate games that cost 1200 MSPs (like Braid) purely based on price. Others say it's too short. The rest say its a pure masterpiece and worth every penny. Overall, the game lasts 4-5 hours and is a brilliantly made 2D platformer that is visually stunning as well as innovative to the genre. 1200MSPs = ~$10 for 4 hours play? That's a bargain compared to going to see a film. Try the demo, make up your own decision. I love it.

SEGA Superstars Tennis

SEGA Superstars Tennis

0 -> 290 of 1000
16 of 45 Achievements

This game has been out a while, so I was glad to get it for 15GBP from GAME. It's a brilliant tennis game mixed with every fabulous SEGA franchise under the sun - Jet Set Radio, Channel 5... all with real tennis and real minigames. A great game in single player, and superb for versus mode.

Summer Athletics

Summer Athletics

0 -> 1000 of 1000
37 of 37 Achievements

After Beijing being a little disappointing, I was glad to hear that Summer Athletics' achievements would be a lot easier. Well, suffice to say, they were. As a vet of these type of games, this was easy, though some people over at x360a are having problems. Using the x360a guide (and helping add to it a little), the achievements fell. Overall, the game is lower quality than Beijing and could seriously take some hints. I'd suggest people buy Beijing over this. However, Game Complete!

Bully Scholarship Ed.

Bully Scholarship Ed.

0 -> 150 of 1000
7 of 38 Achievements

Bully is a game I've been wanting to play for ages - if not just for the 'Kiss 20 boys' achievement. It's been out on the PS2 a while, and came to the 360 (with some extras) about 5 months ago. I found a copy cheap, and it's a brilliant game. Rockstar have excelled themselves again, and I should really play this more. BRB...

Saturday, May 24, 2008

24th May: GS Update

This past couple of weeks has experienced plenty of gaming, with a lot of work fro my Degree in the middle (priority was probably in that order, it probably shouldn't have been!) but here we are for another GS update.
Go ahead... call me a wussy... but I almost started crying when borandi turned me on yesterday. 96,089 points of raw gamer score are making you jealous! That is a profit of 175 points over last time! That puts us above 96,000 points! He rallied Hexic 2, Civil War finishing 3 achievements, Guitar Hero II, Army of Two™ winning 4 achievements, KUF: Circle of Doom, Jewel Quest acquiring 4 achievements, GTA IV, and afterwards, there were some awkward stares and silence... you know how it is.

Oh and it is time for a gamerscore challenge update... listen up... Here is the link: check it. 4 other people are throwing down in this challenge. If I do the math correctly, it means that 4 players X 5 days means a whole lot of trash talk! That doesn't matter though because borandi is beating them all! Number one baby! It's good to be in the lead, but there's still 2 days left in the challenge and 4 challengers looking to eclipse our achievements with some of their own.
There have been two major targets this week: the application of my new turbo controller, and going after some more 360 badges.
Well my Hori Turbo pad arrived, and my general impression is that it's quite good. The turbo features are such that you can set each of the ABXY to either 13 or 26 button presses per second when you hold the respective button. Also, the D-Pad is infinitely better than the normal 360 pad. The analog sticks are looser, which make it a bit difficult in aiming in FPS games. The LT+RT buttons are smaller, so easier to press in games which just require pressing, but a bit worse for driving games, as you don't have the range of pressures you do with the normal 360 pad. Also, every so often the controller disconnects from the 360 (even though it's wired), and when chatting online, the 360 wired headset doesn't stay connected to the controller. So overall, it's good for games that either require the turbo buttons or offline gaming, and not on FPS or driving gaming. Saying that, I've applied it to DDR Universe and Track and Field (despite having 200/200, but I broke most of my records).

With respect to 360voice, I've started posting on the forums over there. Good bunch of people for the most part - the odd idiot who doesnt read or engage brain, but you get those everywhere (and they will be removed soon, mwhahahaha!). On the badge front, I got my 50 watchers badge thats to some posting in the 'watch me' forum. Thanks to the Turbo Pad, I got my 1* Music badge (along with completing GH3 on hard) and I also got the 1* FPS badge with some Army of Two. I'm still going after the 1* Sandbox badge with GTA4.

So what about the games?

Bionicle Heroes

Bionicle Heroes

900 -> 940 of 1000
47 of 49 Achievements

Well I'm almost at the end of this game. I completed the story mode, so now I can go after 100%. On the way, I got enough money to unlock the 3rd special stage, and get a couple of 'Destroy X' achievements. All that's left is the '100%' achievement, and the 'Collect 5million' money achievement.

Jewel Quest

Jewel Quest

0 -> 60 of 200
6 of 12 Achievements

Looking at my badge calculator over at 360voice, I noticed I was only 220 GS away from my 1* Puzzle badge. After looking at all the games for the badge, I compiled the list of best games to buy in order to get the badge depending on it's average GS earned/player according to MGC. Jewel Quest came top, so I bought it. It's essentially like Bejeweled and Puzzle Quest, though you have to clear items from every square of the board at least once. For the full achievement set, you have to go through the story 5 times - each playthrough being more difficult than the last. I'm almost at the end of my first time through, about 7 stages from the end.

Guitar Hero III

Guitar Hero III

400 -> 430 of 1000
39 of 59 Achievements

Well, as mentioned above, I managed to complete Hard on GH3 - a monumental achievement in my eyes. After having so much trouble with One and Raining Blood, I managed to do both in the same day, leaving only Lou's final battle left. And that final battle takes the biscuit. Lou gets all the power ups before you do, and the song is difficult enough that anything like Whammy or Double Notes totally screws you over. I tried well over 50 times, then managed to get it by getting two boosts that I don't normally get. General consensus is that the best way to beat Lou is to use a Whammy on his green note streak.

GTA IV

GTA IV

375 -> 540 of 1000
33 of 50 Achievements

I'm now 70% into the game from the 100% completion statistic. Achievements wise, I got the 500k money achieve, deliver 30 cars by text, explode 10 vehicles in 10 seconds (use a long vehicle, block a bridge, wait for lots of cars, shoot in the air to get people out of their cars, arrange them if necessary, then launch a grenade in the middle, then wait with the rocket launcher to pick off a couple more), killed 20 criminals via the police computer, and a couple of story achievements.

Army of Two™

Army of Two™

225 -> 340 of 1100
14 of 41 Achievements

Thanks to DDR Universe, I had my US 360 out, so I decided to go for my 1* FPS badge on 360voice. Also, I've been neglecting the Army of Two story, so I marched through to Stage 5 (out of 6) and it was rather fun. Nothing much else to say.

Civil War

Civil War

525 -> 545 of 1000
30 of 50 Achievements

I initially started on Civil War to get my FPS badge, hoping that the achievement for '750 kills' would unlock. So I finished the story (I was only 2 stages from the end), then redid the stage where I got most of the kills. Amazingly, I only got 10 more - it seems that I need 750 kills, only counting the highest kills on each stage. Thats a balls achievement. It's a balls game as well - being shot through shrubbery from 2000 ft with a pistol by the AI on easy is pointless.

Lost Via Domus

Lost Via Domus

0 -> 125 of 1000
6 of 30 Achievements

I got LOST from LoveFilm this week. Word is that it's an easy 1000. I only did the first couple of stages, and with an online guide, it is fairly easy. A bit of a stupid game though. Imagine CSI, but less fun and more frustrating.

DDR/DS Universe

DDR/DS Universe

400 -> 900 of 1000
27 of 32 Achievements

Aha - the gold mine for the Turbo pad! Beforehand I got to the final area boss, and he was kicking my arse. So I pull out the turbo pad, and after some initial working out how to use it, I finished the story mode. Using the pad, and some online help, I was also able to unlock all the extra tracks, and do the 3rd, 4th and 5th set of challenges for achievements. With hindsight, I could have made 840GS without it given enough time - all it requires is a lot of the quest mode items. But now, according to MGC, I'm in the top 50 in the world...? Chances are I won't ever get the full 1000GS as it's bloody hard from here on out.

Lost Odyssey

Lost Odyssey

235 -> 360 of 1100
6 of 42 Achievements

Using my guide, I'm now onto the 3rd disc (it approached unexpectedly, I must say), having played just over 20hrs. It's still an awesome game, I recommend it to everyone!

Test Drive Unlimited

Test Drive Unlimited

630 -> 670 of 1000
35 of 46 Achievements

After watching lots of Top Gear (A very popular car show) again, and watching my favourite ever car on some tests - the Koenigsegg CCXR - it was time to break out a game which has the car. Well TDU has a couple of Koenigsegg cars, and I bought one in it a while ago. So I decided to lots of A-rank races with it. On the way, I got the '60 gold cups' achievement.

FIFA Street 3

FIFA Street 3

0 -> 1250 of 1250
32 of 32 Achievements

I got Fifa Street 3 from LoveFilm this past week. Online, it was rated as 5-12 hours completion, and the DLC is only 300MSPs. Well I got most of the offline ones fairly easily, then finished the game with Undefy, Haly x3h and Sofa King 10k. The game is ok, better than NBA Ballers, but worse than NBA Street Homecourt. The achievements are very easy - the one that takes the time is the 25 online ranked wins, each win takes 5 minutes = 2hrs per person. Other than that, Game Complete!

The Club

The Club

465 -> 535 of 1000
31 of 50 Achievements

I got out The Club due to mingo21 getting it. I haven't actually played it since the weekend it came out. It's a shame really - I would have played it more if it had some better online modes - they dont really cater for players that aren't that good =D Well we boosted a few online achievements - Win a DM without dying, Capture 25 flags, Kill 25 foxes. There's a few others we can boost as well.

Stranglehold

Stranglehold

235 -> 400 of 1250
23 of 55 Achievements

I've been seeing Stranglehold near the bottom of my 'games with 1250GS' list for a while now, so I took it out of it's shrink wrap (my last play on it was a rental) and completed the main story. ZachSP8 10k is going to help me boost the online stuff when we get time. I will also need to complete it on the hardest difficulty to get the GS. The DLC is majorly overpriced, at 1200MSPs for a few maps. 300MSPs like Fifa Street 3 would get them a sale from me. 1200MSPs is stupid. You hear me? STUPID!

Ridge Racer 6

Ridge Racer 6

5 -> 17 of 1000
3 of 36 Achievements

A game I've been neglecting, I did a few races offline and then boosted some online with ZachSp8 10k. It's basically a drifting game (so far), and I'm winning most of my offline races.


======================
(Note the following is 3 weeks difference, as MGC was playing up last GS Update:

GamerScore: 91442 -> 96139
Zone: Pro

Completed XBLA: 23 / 56
Completed Retail: 44 -> 46 / 199
GS Completion %: 43.78% -> 45.28%

Country Rank: 88 -> 73
World Rank: 601 -> 534
Completion Rank: 1,319 -> 1,072