WAA - Viking: Battle for Asgard

I reviewed Viking a while back, but it's time to address the Achievements. Commence WAA!

The "One With Combat"Award: "Thirst For Blood"
You can't help but get this award for killing 50 Legion soldiers, as there are several hundred between you and the end of the game. This will likely be the first award you unlock.

The "Mile High Club" Award: "No Need For Immortality"
I found this one difficult largely because the requirements are unclear. The description states that you need to finish the last area of the game without dying, but it seems like that might only apply to the final boss fight. Either way, you may want to have a memory slot that saves your progress before the last section so you can retry if you fail to get the Achievement.

The "Seriously..." Award: "Skullbagger 2"
There aren't really any awards that require significant grinding in this game. Searching through cities in stealth mode and looking for hidden skulls can be a bit of a pain though.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "Thor's Mortal Lightning Rod"
Magic is a bit underutilized in this game, but continue to upgrade your lightning runes and you'll be able to rain some serious electric death down on your enemies...

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: "Demon Hacker" and several others
The icons are colorful and reasonably detailed, though not terribly imaginative. The real issue, though, is that they repeat quite a bit.


Achievement Set Rating - 6
This rating could have been higher with a little more work on the tiles themselves, but the set is reasonably comprehensive and covers a solid range of difficulty.

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 4
It's a fairly average set, with no specifically difficult Achievements. Make sure to play on Hard unless you want to beat the game twice!

WAA - Cars: Mater-National

Wow, I'm so far behind with my posting. I have a couple more posts about Last Remnant to finish, and I'm ready for some more mini-reviews as well. Plus I just beat Red Faction and I'm almost done with Dragon Age. Time to get bloggin'!

But first, it's time for WAA. This week's game is Cars: Mater-National (review here).

The "One With Combat"Award: "Stick it to McQueen"
Cars features two types of gameplay: mediocre racing and crappy mini-games. The racing portion is really easy, resulting in several easy Achievements.

The "Mile High Club" Award: "James P. Sullivan Cup"
On the other hand, some of the mini-games can be annoying to complete. It's not that they're "difficult"...I'd really call them more cheap and aggravating. The worst BY FAR is the monster truck racing required for this Achievement, as the trucks handle like a clown balancing encyclopedias on his head while riding a unicycle. The second stage, set in a bouncing offroad course that had me fuming by the end, will separate the wheat from the chaff in this game.

The "Seriously..." Award: "Beat the game!"
You'll need to get every sticker and banner available in the game, which means mastering all the mini-games and taking first in every race.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "Golden Gas Can"
The Fuel Frenzy events, where you need to make a couple laps around the track while picking up fuel canisters to avoid running out, were my favorite mini-game by a wide margin. There's actually some strategy to this one, as cans that you collect are gone on subsequent laps. You have to make sure that you leave enough behind so you don't hit empty later.

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: N/A
Have I mentioned that I have a pet peeve about all the Achievements using the same icon? I have? Well, I'm mentioning it again...


Achievement Set Rating - 2
Beat the races, beat the mini-games, blah blah. There's nothing imaginative here and, with a massive deduction for crimes against icons, Cars is looking at a pretty bad score.

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 2
If you can avoid throwing a fit (or a controller) while dealing with the bullshit driving mechanics of the monster car races, the rest of this game is REALLY easy.

WAA - Surf's Up

Posting has been light lately due to my personal and professional duties keeping me busy. However it's time to get back on the wagon, and what better way than by handing out some Achievement awards to a game designed for children?

The "One With Combat"Award: "Quick Learner"
Lots of easy Achievements in this title, but completing the tutorial is a snap (not to mention a good idea so you can learn the game's mechanics) that will earn you a quick award.

The "Mile High Club" Award: "Slide Survivor 3"
Each of the leaf sliding events can be tricky, but the third was the toughest for me. You need to zip through a series of volcanic caves on a leaf, careening around corners and obstacles and reaching the finish within a set period of time. It's imperative that you not fall off the path, as you can't afford the lost time. Also try to grab as many time bonuses as possible.

The "Seriously..." Award: "Shiny Stuff 3"
For this, you need to collect every surf idol in the game (there are 100 total). They're not really hidden well, but it's still easy to miss a number of them. Fortunately you can replay any level you've finished and there's a summary that tells you which levels still have surf idols left to find.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "King of Boneyards"
Unfortunately, Surf's Up's Achievements do not excel in the areas of originality. It's mostly just finishing the game and collecting widgets. Boneyards was my favorite level, so I guess I'll go with this.

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: "First steps"
Inconsistent capitalization aside, the icons themselves ARE a strong point for this Achievement set. Particularly if you like penguins...


Achievement Set Rating - 3
The icons are a plus even if a couple are repetitive. However, the awards only reflect game completion and widget collecting, making for a dull set overall.

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 2
Surf's Up is a like a really dumbed-down version of Tony Hawk skating. The game itself is really easy (and short), though you'll spend a bit of time tracking down all the idols.

WAA - Duke Nukem 3D

This week, it's back to the Xbox Live Arcade for a classic PC title that's found new life - Duke Nukem 3D. For a mini-review of the Duke's game, check here. And to remind yourself what these WAA are all about, check here.

And to find out how the Achievement set fares in Duke Nukem, keep reading!

The "One With Combat"Award: “Looks Like Cleanup on Aisle 4”
This one is so easy that I got it completely by accident. You just have to step in a pile of poop, of which there are a number scattered throughout the game. And if that doesn't tell you something about this game's sense of humor, I'm not sure what to say.

The "Mile High Club" Award: “Oomph, Uugh, Where is it?”
The Achievement set in Duke Nukem is a bit odd in that there are no difficult Achievements, but only a couple that I'd call easy. This particular award can be a little tricky because it requires the player to find 70 secret areas, which are not easy to locate. While there are well over 70 scattered through the four acts of the game, it's still best to search thoroughly (or use a guide) so you find enough before you're done.

The "Seriously..." Award: "Hail to the King, Baby"
Sigh...a classic "get a ridiculous number of kills online" Achievement. In this case, the number is 500. I hate these things. TIP: Suicides count as kills, even though they aren't tallied on your kill total. Pipe bombs, rockets, trip mines, jumping off ledges or into traps...all viable ways of maxing out your "kills". Hell, grab a jet pack and rocket your way to the top of the map, then TURN IT OFF!

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "Shake It Baby"
The reason I love this Achievement is that it's classic Duke...unabashedly crass and laden with testosterone. I still can't believe it made it to the Live Arcade without major cuts.

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: "Hail to the King, Baby"
One of many highlights from an outstanding set of icons. Also, one of many references to the thoroughly awesome Evil Dead series.


Achievement Set Rating - 8
The icons and Achievement titles are absolutely top notch, particularly compared to most Arcade titles. The single player awards also do a solid job of covering the various activities available in the game, as well as a reasonable range of difficulties. However, I have to take points off the final score for the unimaginative and repetitive multiplayer awards.

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 5
A very average set. Playing through the game and grinding multiplayer for a while (remember what I said about suicides!) will net you the full 200 points. There's nothing outrageously difficult (or easy) here.

WAA - Hannah Montana: The Movie

Honestly, there's only one reason why a grown adult with no interest in Hannah Montana would play her game, and that's the Achievements. So following my review of the game itself, I might as well also hand out some WAA. Then I can put this whole Hannah Montana chapter of my life behind me.

The "One With Combat"Award: “Champion Rider”
I try to avoid the copout of saying "all of them" but it's awfully tempting in this case. "Champion Rider" is the easiest of all of them, as you just have to ride Bluejeans the horse 10 times. You don't even have to do well in the mini-game (though it isn't tough)...you could literally wander away from the controller and still get this one.

The "Mile High Club" Award: “Perfect Aim”
The only Achievement that offers any challenge, this one is earned for working through all 10 levels of the bottle toss mini-game. It can be a little tricky until you learn how to aim properly, but after practicing a few times, you'll get it.

The "Seriously..." Award: "Big Spender"
Buy 100 items of clothing? Ugh...it's like playing with dolls only in video game form. NOTE: By clothes, they mean shirts, pants, and dresses. Accessories like bracelets don't count, so be warned.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "Coop Fixer Upper"
It makes me sad to think that there's a place in this world where working on a chicken coop with a dim-bulb farmhand counts as a flirtatious encounter.

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: N/A
They're all the same, and all an eyesore.



Achievement Set Rating - 3
I can forgive the designers for the limited scope of this Achievement set, since there isn't much game here. Hell, I even appreciate the fact that they didn't wedge in a stupid widget collecting Achievement like most of these games do. What I can't forgive is the fact that every icon is the same crappy picture that has nothing to do with the game. Lame...

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 1
I doubt any game will knock Avatar off it's perch as the easiest 1000 points in the 360 library, but Hannah Montana is certainly in the top 5. Three hours at most with nary a challenge to be had is all that separates you from a perfect score in this game. Well, that and your sense of self-respect.

WAA - Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode One

We go from a crappy retail game last week to a very solid arcade title this week. I've already reviewed the first Penny Arcade game, but that doesn't sate my need to pick apart the Achievement set for your amusement.

Let there be...WAA!

The "One With Combat"Award: “Stray Cat”
You will receive this Achievement automatically when T. Kemper, the lovable housecat, joins your team at the beginning of the game.

The "Mile High Club" Award: “Silent, But Deadly”
This one is difficult, but the proper strategy can make it a lot easier. You have to beat the game's final boss without using a single healing item. Obviously it helps to be at max level and weapon power before you attempt the fight, as well as having a full complement of items and all your special helpers (e.g. T. Kemper) charged and ready. The key to winning this fight without sustaining a lot of damage is to take advantage of the fact that enemies can't attack if one of your characters is executing a move of any kind. So while one of your allies is charging an attack, have the rest of the team use damage items like dynamite to prevent the boss from taking a turn. If you're ever stuck in a spot where none of your characters can do anything, send one of your helpers to distract him. It also helps if you use the item that decreases your opponent's attack power in case he gets an attack in here and there.

The "Seriously..." Award: "Pack Rat"
For this one, you have to find all the collectibles. Unfortuantely, collectibles can be hidden in essentially any item you can click on, meaning you'll have to run around the environment selecting everything you see. Or use a guide...there's always that.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "Nine Lives"
This Achievement is amusing because you have to kill an enemy using T. Kemper's special attack, which only does one damage. Obviously the best way to do this is to whittle down an enemy's health to almost nothing and then let the cat finish it.

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: "Steel Devils"
If I told you it was called a "Fruit Fucker", would you wonder why?



Achievement Set Rating - 4
Though I loved the game, I have to admit that the Achievement set was a bit lackluster in Penny Arcade Episode One. For a game based off of a webcomic, the icons are surprisingly disappointing. As for the goals, there's a fair bit of grind here (hunt down every enemy, find every collectible, hit max level) and not much in the way of unique ideas.

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 5
Most of the Achievements can be earned by thoroughly searching every nook and cranny of the game. However, getting through the entire story without having a character ever fall in battle and beating the final boss without healing are both pretty challenging.

WAA - Blitz: The League

Posting has been sparse here lately, but work has been keeping me busy. Still, I can't let a Wednesday slide by without some Achievement awards.

This week I'm handing out WAA to one of my all-time most hated Xbox 360 games - Blitz: The League. I had some (decidedly uncharitable) comments about Blitz in a prior mini-review, but let me reiterate what a turd of a game this is. It has terrible controls, it's riddled with glitches, and it features some of the dumbest AI I've ever encountered. But hey, at least it's built on a solid foundation of toilet humor and shitty graphics.

Still, can it at least appeal to Achievement fans? Read on to find out! (hint: NO)

The "One With Combat"Award: “Sticky Fingers”
For this one, you need to gain 200 receiving yards in a game with one of your players. If you play through season mode, I guarantee you'll get this because Blitz is all about the passing game. Running is not an effective strategy, particularly once you join the higher Divisions. Just continue to air it out when you have possession and this award is yours.

The "Mile High Club" Award: “Bling Bling”
I can't believe this one is only worth 25 points. To get this award, you have to buy every piece of bonus equipment in the game. To do that, you first need to unlock all the bonus gear by completing every secondary challenge throughout the campaign (if you miss a single one, forget it) and then you need to somehow accumulate over 3 million in cash just to afford it all. For 25 points? It's definitely not worth it.

The "Seriously..." Award: "Pwnage"
Winning 25 online games doesn't sound that bad, right? Well let me set you straight. First of all, this game is ancient and terrible, so nobody plays it online. Also the online servers are so unstable that you'll be dropped before completing a game unless your opponent is very close by...possibly even in the same household. Unfortunately, asking someone with whom you live to play Blitz just so you can get some Achievements is the moral equivalent of domestic abuse, so I wouldn't advise it.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "Tables Turn"
This one is a spoiler but it's actually kind of clever, so I'll use it anyway. Once you hit Division One (the toughest league), a Lawrence Taylor look-alike named Quentin Sands will purposely injure your star player in the first game of the season, forcing you to go without him for much of the year. In the championship game, you will face off against Quentin's team. To get this Achievement, you have to use your rookie to injure Sands and get your revenge.

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: "Blind"
Blitz uses negative Achievements - i.e. awards for doing something wrong. They're like badges of shame, though I just find them to be annoying. All that said, Blitz does feature some interesting icons, particularly for the negative awards. Throw five or more interceptions in a game and you can pick up this little gem.

Achievement Set Rating - 5
This set covers a wide variety of goals, plus features above average icons and Achievement titles. However, there's a bunch of negative awards and the set is a serious grind. Throw in the awards that focus on the broken online play and I can't call this anything better than an average list.

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 9
Some of the Achievements are difficult, but it's the sheer time commitment that clinches this score. Win a game with every team? Play through season mode three times? Win a bunch of online games while battling their glitchy servers? I don't know how anyone could stomach that much Blitz.

WAA - UNO RUSH

No, I'm not shouting "UNO RUSH" at you. My caps lock is not broken. Unfortunately, the game's original designers thought that an all-capital-letters name was clever, and they're sticking with that notion despite all evidence to the contrary.

But enough analysis of the game's title...it's time to turn my magnifying glass to the Achievement set. And you know what that means - WAA! UNO RUSH is an Arcade title that takes the classic (if simplistic) game UNO and adds a timed component. It allows you to lay as many cards down in a turn as you can, but within a very short time period. The idea is to arrange your hand so that you can create a chain of cards that can be played in sequence. Of course, your opponents will be doing everything they can to impede your strategy, so it helps to be able to react quickly.

Here are the awards:

The "One With Combat"Award: “Graduation Party”
UNO RUSH is known for being one of the easier Achievement sets to finish on the Arcade, so there are plenty of options here. I went with finishing the tutorial, as it's very easy and probably a good idea for people familiar with the original game but not used to the new rules.

The "Mile High Club" Award: “Party Decorations”
For this one, you have to change the color of the discard pile five times in the same turn. So if the card at the top of the pile is a yellow 7, and you lay a red 7 followed by a red 4 followed by a blue 4, then you've changed the color twice. As you can imagine, it's going to require a long chain of cards to make this one happen, so I recommend a House Rules game with the maximum number of cards to begin the game. That way you'll have plenty of options.

The "Seriously..." Award: "Life of the Party"
Not much grind to UNO RUSH, though it does feature the typical "Win X games on Live" Achievement. In this case (much like with Roman numerals), X is 10.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "Party Planner"
You need to discard a chain of nine or more cards in one turn. Forming long chains of discards is the draw (no pun intended) of UNO RUSH.

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: "Surprise Party"
UNO is not a game that inspires great Achievement icons. With that in mind, the designers actually did a pretty good job here, with colorful, cartoonish tiles that do an adequate job of emulating the game's style.

Achievement Set Rating - 7
A reasonably high score, not so much for any specific innovation but because they did the best they could with what was available. UNO RUSH is fun but very limited in scope. Still, the designers did a pretty good job of creating a varied set of Achievement goals. Plus, bonus points are in order for quality icons and the fact that they worked the word "Party" into every single Achievement title.

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 2
Party Decorations and Party Planner take a bit of skill/luck, but for the most part this set is very easy.

WAA - Dante's Inferno

If you missed the review, look here. Now it's time to review the Achievements from Dante's Inferno by handing out some WAA.

The "One With Combat"Award: “Holy Warrior”
Kill 30 minions? You'll need to kill hundreds before you complete this game. Dante annihilates 30 minions while he's taking his afternoon nap.

The "Mile High Club" Award: “Poetry in Motion”
This Achievement requires you to build up a 666 hit combo. Your combo meter goes up every time you hit an enemy and resets any time you don't strike a foe for a couple seconds. So obviously, you need to get into an area with LOTS of enemies and then hammer away without getting knocked on the ground or otherwise incapacitated. The best spot to get this one is on the first stage of Malebolg (Infinite Magic) near the end of the game.

The "Seriously..." Award: "Gates of Hell"
Mild spoiler: After you beat the game, you unlock Gates of Hell mode, which is a combat-only mode with increasingly difficult opponents spread over 50 identical rooms. You need to make it all the way to the end to get this Achievement. It's not terribly difficult if you use your super-powerful character from Story mode, but it can be a bit dull given the lack of plot or dialogue.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "Bad Nanny"
I can't help it...I just love that they went there even if it's SO SO wrong!

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: "Like Father Like Son"
THIS is what an icon set should be! A variety of tiles, each appropriate for the given award, and with a cohesive artistic style that complements the game perfectly...kudos to you Visceral Games!

Achievement Set Rating - 9
This is a top notch set of Achievements in every respect. Great icons. Clever titles. An assortment of requirements that cover all the different activities in the game. Some are easy and some take more dedication. My only nitpick is that there are quite a few collection Achievements, but nothing too outlandish.

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 3
The beauty of this set is that you can get all the Achievements on any difficulty setting you choose, thus making them as easy or challenging as you want them to be. I recommend playing through the game twice (it's not terribly long) - once just to enjoy the story, and once with a guide to find all the artifacts and Judas coins you missed.

WAA - Worms

Let's hit the Arcade for a classic game much deserving of some WAA...Worms! For those who don't know, it's a turn based 2d battle game in which teams of worms use crazy weapons and witty comments in an attempt to eliminate each other. While single player is an available option, Worms really shines as a party game with multiple players.

The "One With Combat"Award: “Barrel Buster”
You get this for exploding 25 barrels, which will happen after a few games whether you’re trying for it or not.

The "Mile High Club" Award: “Challenges”
For this one, you need to complete all 20 single player challenges. As you get deeper into the list, you’ll find that enemies have uncanny aim (because the AI cheats). Don’t be afraid to hide your worms until the match goes into sudden death, where your (hopefully) superior strategy will negate the computer’s advantage.

The "Seriously..." Award: "Gold Damage"
Awarded for doing 20,000 points of damage (cumulatively) to your enemies. Games go pretty quickly, but it will take a while to rack up that hurt on rival worms.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "Three Bagger"
Kill three worms with one shot, which sounds difficult but happens more often than you’d think thanks to the crazy chain reactions that often get triggered.

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: "Shepherd"
My flock of invincible exploding sheep will be grazing…ON YOUR GRAVE!



Achievement Set Rating - 6
The icons are well crafted, accurately capturing the spirit and artistic style of the game. However, the actual requirements for earning the various Achievements are a bit repetitive and could have used a bit more imagination. Points to the developers for only making one single player Achievement as this game is far better multiplayer.

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 2
Beating the single player challenges can be a bit hairy at the highest levels, but for the most part this is a pretty easy set and everything will come with a little time invested.

WAA - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Another Wednesday, another set of awards. This week's game is Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, which will pair nicely with my review from Monday.

The "One With Combat"Award: "Portrait Novice"
This one comes as the story progresses, and it's nearly impossible to miss. Just use a portrait shortcut once to get this award.

The "Mile High Club" Award: "Master of Flying"
The Achievement that focused and intensified my hatred of Quidditch. The basic idea is that you maneuver Harry around the screen on his broom (a little like a flight simulator) and go through gates shaped like stars. At the end you catch the snitch and receive a grade based on how many gates you hit along the way. For this Achievement, you need to finish all eight Quidditch events with a grade of five stars, which requires near perfect flying throughout. That is, no missed gates, as well as hitting most of the gates in the dead center. Unless you're a Quidditch natural, expect to repeat these a few times until you've memorized each course.

The "Seriously..." Award: "Crest Collector 14"
Segueing nicely from one thing I hate (Quidditch) to another thing I hate (widget collecting), this Achievement tasks you with finding every hidden crest in the game. There are 150, so this will take a while. The grind of this Achievement is somewhat mitigated by two facts: (1) there are many crest collecting Achievements along the way, so you don't have to get them all for just one award, and (2) finding crests does make your character stronger and unlock bonus content, so it isn't quite the busywork that some widget collecting Achievements become.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "Reflex Badge"
This one goes to the player who can complete a duel without getting hit once. Either go defensive by dodging and using Protego to reflect spells back at your opponent, or press the offense to keep them from getting off a shot.

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: "Escaped the Cave"
Why do the enemies in the finale look like Gollum?



Achievement Set Rating - 5
This set pretty much defines average. It covers all the activities in the game (good) without really giving any additional challenges (bad). The icons are a mixed bag of character shots (good) and low-res clip art (bad). There are too many collection Achievements (bad), but they do unlock game content and improve your character (good). I guess middle of the road will have to do.

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 4
Getting into the 850-900 range is a piece of cake, but finishing the set is surprisingly challenging. Putting up a five star score for all the potion mixing and Quidditch B.S. takes some practice and skill, while finding every crest is a tedious affair.

WAA - Catan

We're headed back to the Xbox Live Arcade for another edition of WAA! This week's awards go to Catan, based on the much beloved board game "Settlers of Catan". If you like board games or strategy games, definitely give this one a look!

Anyway, on to the awards!

The "One With Combat"Award: "Settler of Catan"
This Achievement is earned for building your first settlement, which you’ll do in your very first game.

The "Mile High Club" Award: "Professor of Catan"
To get this one, you need to win a single player game of Catan against three cpu opponents set to "Hard" difficulty. The reason this Achievement is tough is that the computer blatantly cheats at the hard setting, trading resources freely among the other three players so that one will win. You'll need a solid strategy and a bit of luck to get this award, and don't expect any trading help from your opponents!

The "Seriously..." Award: "Chancellor of Catan"
You need 1000 total victory points in ranked online matches. If you win every game you play (unlikely), you'll get around 10 points per match. That's 100 games even if you're very skilled and lucky, which seems like a lot of Catan to play against random strangers.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "Builder of Catan"
Finish with the longest road 10 times to earn this Achievement. Building crazy roads is one of my favorite parts of the game.

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: "Merchant of Catan"
None of them really stand out, but this is one of those bags with a dollar sign on it. Every time I’m asked how I want to receive my money (like at a bank or casino), I ask for the dollar sign bag. I’m serious. Never once have they given it to me. The dream lives on…

Achievement Set Rating - 4
The icons are okay for an Arcade game, but the requirements are surprisingly unimaginative. Throw in some fairly ridiculous online requirements and this is a below average set.

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 3
Very few of the Achievements are challenging, but many are time consuming. To finish the set, you'll be plowing through online games for quite a while.

WAA - Disney's UP

Continuing on yesterday's theme, let's give some WAA to Disney's UP, an easy (and crappy) platformer designed ostensibly for kids.

Bear in mind as we go here that ALL the Achievements are super easy (as is the entire game), so picking the "most difficult" is a highly relative exercise.

The "One With Combat"Award: "Beginner's Wings"
If you have two working thumbs and any semblance of reading comprehension, this award can be yours. When the menu loads at the beginning of the game, simply choose "Multiplayer". That's it...you don't even have to PLAY any multiplayer to get this Achievement.

The "Mile High Club" Award: "Ellie Badge"
For this Achievement, you have to complete all the "Quest Cards" by finding poorly hidden objects and capturing bugs with your insect net. The only reason this is even remotely difficult is that some of the bugs are easy to miss, though you can always go back and replay levels to find them.

The "Seriously..." Award: "Merit Badge Champion"
Collect a mere 6000 merit badges and this one is yours. It's not as bad as it sounds...you really just need to pummel every breakable object you see and you'll get them all eventually. Again, replaying levels will help here.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "Sinkhole Terror"
Without getting into a lot of spoilers, the game does have a couple interesting boss fights that break up the monotony of the rest of your adventure. Beating the boss on level 8 yields this award.

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: "Rare Statue Badge"
I concede that this is the one cool idea they had for this game. All the icons are little merit badges (since one of the main characters is supposed to be some kind of Cub Scout or something). The developers did a good job of combining the icons with the theme, and the pictures are varied with sufficient detail.

Achievement Set Rating - 2
Play through the game and find all the secret crap we hid throughout the tiny levels. If you're looking for anything imaginative, look elsewhere. But they saved themselves from a 1 rating thanks to the clever use of merit badge icons.

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 1
I can't emphasize enough how easy this game is. Thanks to the ability to replay any level, you don't even have to worry about missing hidden objects. This is five hours of mostly tedious platforming for a simple 1000 points.

WAA - Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution

I was out of town last weekend, so posting has been sparse. But the gaming has still been going strong, as evidenced by my KICKASS new Gamerscore. Six digits? Oh hell yeah!

This week's WAA honor the finest iteration of the long-revered Civilization series to ever grace a console, Civilization Revolution!

The "One With Combat"Award: "Napalm in the Morning"
Take your first Warrior unit, explore the map, find a barbarian hut, and attack it. Presto…Achievement!

The "Mile High Club" Award: "That We May Live in Peace"
You have to beat the game before 1000AD on King difficulty or higher. This one is quite tricky, and pretty much requires a Domination victory (defeat all other Civs). I suggest using a military based Civilization that peaks early (Mongols or Aztecs) and pumping out military units as fast as you can. If you're lucky, you'll overwhelm a couple nearby competitors before they can get their defenses together. Then focus all your energies on building a massive army and unleash your horde!

The "Seriously..." Award: "Here’s Looking at You Kid"
For this one, you need to unlock every Great Person (famous people from history), which is annoying because there’s a lot of them and they appear pretty much randomly. You’ll get many of them in your first few games, but there will often be a straggler or two that never seems to show up for you. Try to concentrate on Culture as much as possible because it gives you more Great People and improves your chances of getting whoever you're missing.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "Absolute Power is Kind of Neat"
Win the game on King level or higher without changing government once in the game. Okay, so I’m a dictator. But I’m a BENEVOLANT dictator!

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: "A Great Wind is Blowing"
If Russia’s great leader had actually looked like that, they would have called her “Catherine the Hottie”.


Achievement Set Rating - 4
The leaders aside, most of the icons are pretty crappy. Besides that, there's way too much emphasis on beating the game with all the different Civilizations and not enough on thinking up creative victory conditions. It's not a terrible set but it could have been much better.

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 3
Most of the Achievements can be earned on the lowest difficulty settings, although there are definitely a few tricky ones hidden among the others. You'll likely be searching for a specific Great Person to fill your roster for far longer than you'd prefer.

WAA - NCAA March Madness 07

Where does the time go? It's already time for WAA!

In honor of the NCAA basketball tournament, which has been in full swing for a week now, let's give some awards to one of the first college basketball games on the 360 - NCAA March Madness 07. It's not a particularly good game (or a particularly good Achievement set), but I every game gets its turn eventually.

Here are the awards:

The "One With Combat"Award: "Floor General Play"
You need to call a "Floor General Play" (more generally known as a...play). While on offense, hit any direction on the digital pad to call a play and grab this Achievement.

The "Mile High Club" Award: "100% Free Throws"
This one is tough because it has to be done on the highest difficult (All American). You need to make a minimum of 10 free throws in one game without missing any, and the timing can be a bit screwy. To make free throws on All American, pull down on the right stick and then push back up in a straight line BEFORE the ball reaches your player's forehead. You can make this Achievement even easier by setting the Free Throw Difficulty bar to the minimum.

The "Seriously..." Award: "51 Rebounds"
No grinding with this Achievement set, though it will take a while to accumulate 51 boards with one player. Try shooting from midcourt to increase the number of bricks you can rebound.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "All-American Victory"
Show off your mastery of basketball skills by beating the computer on the highest difficult with default settings. No cheating by gimping the computer on this one! Though if you want to use a great team against a terrible one, we won't tell...

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: "All-American Hero"
The icons in this game are pretty lame, which is sadly typical of sports titles. I like the use of the star here to denote an All American Hero, though why you'd earn that title for winning a game without shooting a 3-point shot is unclear.

Achievement Set Rating - 3
The icon art is lame and really boring. The Achievements themselves are largely derivative. No awards for winning March Madness, a conference tournament, or anything else related to career mode? Unimpressive...though I give some credit for not saddling the game with a bunch of repetitive online Achievements.

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 3
Slightly more difficult than your typical sports game, but still pretty easy if you abuse game sliders and make yourself an elite team.

WAA - Sonic the Hedgehog 2

I've done too many easy games for WAA lately, so it's time to step it up a notch. I also haven't done an Arcade game in a while. Enter Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sega's classic Genesis title remastered for Xbox Live.

If you don't know Sonic, it's a platformer in the same vein as Super Mario Brothers. Sonic's shtick is that he runs really fast, an ability that doesn't seem that useful to me when navigating precarious ledges and death pits.

Like most Live Arcade titles, Sonic 2 has 12 Achievements for a total of 200 points. It's a well made classic title that still holds up in the gameplay department today. Just prepare yourself for the low-res graphics, which are stunningly poor (I never realized what a graphics snob I was turning into...).

Here are the awards:

The "One With Combat"Award: "Emerald Hill"
Earned for finishing the first level of the game, which you can do with little more effort than walking forward in a straight line. Trust me, they get tougher.

The "Mile High Club" Award: "Conquering Time"
Now we're talking...this one is tough. You have to beat the whole game in less than one hour, and it isn't a terribly short game. On the plus side, you can save and reload at any point, so if you make mistakes or take too long in a level, you can try again. On the minus side, you need to complete the first dozen levels or more in less than two minutes each (preferably much less for a couple) so that you'll have enough time for the longer levels at the end.

The "Seriously..." Award: "Xbox Live Racer"
This one is your classic "We're throwing this in to justify the online component" Achievement. You have to find opponents on Live and win 10 vs. zones, which involve beating levels or collecting coins more quickly than the other guy. It's boring, and the Live community is not exactly crowded, so you'll be best off trading wins with a buddy for this award.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "Fast Emerald"
The true purpose of Sonic, and another tough one. You need to finish the first level again, but this time in under 35 seconds. That is NOT much time. I don't have any advice beyond using your super dash and memorizing the level so you know when you're approaching jumps. Bumping into even one enemy could easily cost you too much time to succeed.

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: "Super Sonic"
The icons are decidedly mediocre (common for Arcade games), but at least it's a picture of the title character. Sega has done far worse in the past.


Achievement Set Rating - 7
The crappy online Achievement aside, this is a very solid set. You get a couple level progress awards, one for beating the game, a few awards for collecting chaos emeralds, and time trials which get to the heart of Sonic (speed!). Beating the game in under an hour was a solid challenge.

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 5
This would be FAR higher without the ability to save and reload. Still, unless you're a Sonic ace it will take some time to master speeding through the game. I give the designers credit for balancing the set out with some easy Achievements though.

WAA - Backyard Football '10

Backyard Football '10 is a pitiful attempt at a video game. It's supposed to be a sports game aimed at kids, so it has a bunch of "wacky" features, like being able to play at a carnival, or super moves that allow the ball carrier to spin around in circles. But remove the lame trappings and it's just a grossly dumbed-down version of football that pales in comparison to other established titles.

Backyard Football isn't really worth a full review itself, but I will highlight one particularly excruciating aspect of the game before I get to the WAA. The announcers in Backyard Football are supposed to be kids, and they spout "funny" lines (note: quotes are NOT accidental) as you play. It's not just that their comments are PAINFULLY unfunny. The real issue is that it doesn't even sound like something that young kids would find amusing. It's as if a bunch of corporate suits sat around in a board room and brainstormed about what children would find funny. Granted, some kids might laugh at these failed attempts at humor...the dumb ones anyway. But most kids will recognize this stuff for the tripe that it is.

Don't buy Backyard Football for your kids unless you hate them.

Here are the awards:

The "One With Combat"Award: "Hands"
Much like last week, there are no difficult Achievements in Backyard Football '10. "Hands" is particularly easy, as you just need 100 yards receiving with any player. Considering that the computer doesn't bother to play any defense, that shouldn't be tough.

The "Mile High Club" Award: "Tackler"
This is as close to a difficult Achievement as I could find. You need 8 tackles with one player, which just involves a lot of chasing your opponent around while on defense.

The "Seriously..." Award: N/A
None of these Achievements come close to qualifying as a grind. In fact, you can do all of them in a single game.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "Sacker"
Make a mad dash for the QB and bring him (or her) down!

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: N/A
All the Achievements share the same logo, which is a pretty good indication of how sloppy this effort was. At least it's a decent icon.


Achievement Set Rating - 2
I gave this one a marginally higher score than last week's game (College Basketball 2K6) because there are 10 Achievements instead of 5. Beyond that, it's the same easy tasks and crappy icons. Note to self: do a more interesting game next week...

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 1
Set the halves to 15 minutes and you can do all of these in one game. 1000 points in less than an hour? Too easy!

WAA - College Hoops 2K6

Ready to pad your gamer score with 1000 easy points? Then welcome to College Hoops 2K6, this week's featured game for WAA!

Before I delve into these, a few quick points so you can understand just how easy these Achievements can be.

- You can put the game on any difficulty level, including the easiest, and still get the awards.
- You can adjust all the sliders in the game to favor the players and gimp the computer.
- You can push the game clock to the maximum, giving yourself plenty of time to accumulate the necessary totals.
- You can turn off any rules that might get in your way, like goaltending, fouls, backcourt violations, and the like.
- You can adjust your individual players to max their stats, while doing the opposite to your opponent.

Combine all of these, and you're looking at some of the easiest Achievements ever made.

The "One With Combat"Award: "Score 40 Pts With Any Player"
Pts is points in case you can't tell. So after you've messed around with all the settings and matched up your supermen against a bunch of weaklings, every shot you take that's closer than midcourt range will go in. You'll be able to amass 40 points before the first half is even close to done, let alone the game.

The "Mile High Club" Award: "Get 6 Blocks With Any Player"
This one is only difficult because it counts on the computer to get a shot away, which is pretty tough considering the frequency with which they turn the ball over. To facilitate this award (and for the sake of comedy) I adjusted my opponents so they were all 4 foot 6 and my own players were all well over 7 feet tall. The blocks came fast and easy after that.

The "Seriously..." Award: "Get 45 Rebounds With Any Team"
These Achievements are so crazy easy that none could be described as a grind. I guess the rebounding one comes the closest though. If you're using your superteam, then heave up midcourt shots so that you can rack up offensive rebounds.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "Make 15 3-Ptrs In One Game"
The fun here comes from seeing how far you can get from the basket and still make your 3-pointers. HINT: with max stats, it's REALLY far!

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: "Get 20 Steals With Any Team"
Sega decided to go with hyper-literal icons and titles for these Achievements. At the very least, you'll never be confused as to how you get these awards.


Achievement Set Rating - 1
Five total Achievements. All of them are earned for accumulating stats. Nothing for winning a championship (or even a game!). Super boring icons and titles. A set really can't get much worse than this.

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 1
Again, with the proper settings this set is a piece of cake. You're looking at all five Achievements and 1000 points in about an hour.

WAA - Need for Speed: Undercover

This week's WAA go to Need for Speed: Undercover. It's racing, but with some nice game mechanics and a silly, over the top plot to keep you entertained.

The "One With Combat"Award: "Apprentice Mechanic"
You just have to modify a car in any way, which could be as simple as changing the color. Maybe I'll see you on the track someday...I'll be the one in the custom metallic pink sports car with black flame decals on the sides.

The "Mile High Club" Award: "First of Many"
You need to win an online race against 7 other human players, a tall task for two reasons. First, the game doesn't have a huge user base so you'll rarely see that many people in a lobby. Second, there are some talented (and downright obsessive) racers out there, so your chances of matching up with seven people and being the best of the group isn't great. Try "Cops and Robbers" mode for a better chance of scoring a win.

The "Seriously..." Award: "Notorious"
For this one, you have to complete 119 online races. Why 119? Because it's 9-1-1 backwards. So as brutal as accumulating over a hundred races can be, at least they didn't ask for the full 900. Note that you don't have to win any of those events, but rather just compete.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "Wasting Tax Dollars"
Some events in the game require you to do a certain amount of property damage while being chased by the police. Then you have to escape. For this one, you need to hit 100,000 dollars worth of damage, which will mostly come in the form of wrecked police cruisers. The irony of this award's title is that the game's plot involves you, an undercover government agent, infiltrating a street racing gang to recover valuable evidence. To gain their trust, you have to do a bunch of racing around and smashing up police cars. I think the whole operation could be safely referred to as a waste of tax dollars.

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: "Aficionado"
The icons are not terribly impressive for this game (though better than last week's offering). However, I find it amusing that an award for collecting street racing cars is represented by what appears to be the guy from Monopoly.

Achievement Set Rating - 5
A very average set, with no egregious issues (aside from that 119 online wins BS) and no standout Achievements. The icons are thoroughly mediocre as well.

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 4
As far as racing games go, this is one of the easier games in the genre. Some of the Achievements will take a while, but there's nothing terribly difficult here.

WAA - SEGA Superstars Tennis

Time for an Infinite Undiscovery break...let's give out some WAA! This week's game is Sega's answer to Mario Tennis, SEGA Superstars Tennis.

The "One With Combat"Award: "Space Channel 5"
It’s rare for an online Achievement to be the easiest, but in this case you just have to watch two other people play a match over Live. It can’t get much easier than that!

The "Mile High Club" Award: "To be this good takes AGES"
Emphasis (and obscure Sega pun) theirs. For this one, you need to beat every challenge in Superstar mode (this game's version of Career mode) with a ranking of AAA. Some of the requirements for AAA are just sick (particularly in the Jet Set Radio area), and you also have to win all your matches without giving up a single point. I played Sega's Genesis collection a while back and was finally introduced to Alex Kidd. Remembering the tennis-related indignities I suffered at his hands, I made sure to drop him into many, many death pits in revenge.

The "Seriously..." Award: "Top Gun"
Hit 100 aces...that is, serves that the computer can't return. There's nothing complicated about this challenge (just hit the ball hard and towards a corner), but it does take a while.

The "Little Rocket Man" Award: "Cameo Appearance"
Some of the courts have bystanders to watch you compete. For this Achievement, you have to hit a winning shot that pegs one of the onlookers.

The Scientist Gone Gamer Award: n/a
Every single icon is a bronze, silver, or gold version of this star. Weak sauce, Sega. How about classic characters, or something tennis related?


Achievement Set Rating - 6
Unlike most sports titles they cover a good variety of activities and don’t over represent the online portion. But the icon set is a product of lazy ineptitude.

Achievement Difficulty Rating - 4
The first 800 or so points are a piece of cake, but beware those final few challenges. According to TrueAchievements.com, a website that analyzes Achievements statistically, only 2% of people who have tried this game have earned "To be this good takes AGES".