Game Diary.......

Today brings the return of the daily game diary and tragic news. It appears the streak was lost on the homeward bound leg of my recent vacation. Even though I did log in and play 2 Uno games, one online and one off. I appealed my case to the powers that be over at 360voice.com, but to no avail my streak was killed at 319 straight days.

So this brings to a close the daily game diary, thank you for reading along, as the journey was fun. The vacation presented a rare opportunity to score over 2,650 G's in the week and over 1100 G's in one day. It also gave me a chance to visit some unique used video game stores and score 3 new titles.

So stay tuned this weekend for vacation re-caps, new used game reviews, and more exciting news from the world of Xbox 360.

One last note, I finally dropped the $9 bucks and got this Netflix all the kids have been talking about. It is worth every cent. I recently had a chance to screen King of Kong, it is a must see for any video game player. Great story.

Thanks for reading.

Game Diary, Wednesday's game play

Here it is the day I have been waiting for. Today I leave for vacation. Gasp!! What about the streak you ask? Well I squeezed in a little morning gaming and actually knocked out 10 G's from Galaga Legions. Great game by the way.

In the afternoon I took a small break from packing and played a little TMNT classic arcade. That game is just not fun unless your co-oping. Great graphics and all the familiar sounds are there, just something about the foot clan that makes you need a partner. So that was all the gaming I had time for today.

For the next 16 hours I will be driving across this wonderful country. Will I be able to get a game in tomorrow and keep the streak alive? Check back to find out!! 315 straight.

Thanks for reading.

Game Diary, Tuesday's game play

Ahhh Tuesday's the day before the 360voice.com challenges start. I was suppose to be playing soft. I ended up scoring something like 40 G's. Lego Indy was just too irresistible. Besides Lego Indy, I was able to squeeze in some random wandering around DC in Fallout3. I raced through a time trial on Forza2, but it locked up on me again. Later Tuesday night I play an extremely quick round of Tiger Tiger Woods 09 with B08.

Quick tonight as tomorrow we leave for vacation. Wednesday presents the first real challenge in preserving my streak. Thursday will be the kicker. Keep checking back as Achievement Unlocked goes on vacation. Can AZZMAN20 continue the streak? 314 days....

Thanks for reading

Game Diary, Monday's game play

Monday's provide an excellent opportunity for extended gameplay. Not much on TV and I usually need an escape from the daily drudges of normal life. While this Monday did not disappoint, I was overly excited for Lego Indy. After repeatedly crashing\freezing about halfway through the opening chapter of story 2, Indy swung his way past the bug this evening. I pushed through the first chapter of story 2. I am so excited, I just about wrote this game off. A commenter here on the site suggested I download the game to my hard drive to see if that would help. I only have the 20 gig hard drive and she is full, so there was no chance of that happening. I unlocked another 20 G's and counted my blessings. Other Monday highlights include a few quick Forza2 races but it locked up on me so I moved on.

A new game!!

Arkadian Warriors is a older XBLA release. It is a simple RPG with a looking top down format. If you have played Gauntlet then you would know what this game looks and feels like. What drew me in is the online Co-op option. I am trying to convince someone to play through the campaign with me. If any one out there is interested, drop me a comment with your gamertag and I will send an invite. You can always hit me up when online gamertag is AZZMAN20

As usual the streak lives on. 313 days and counting.

Thanks for reading

Game Diary, Weekend Edition

The weekend came and went way too fast. The race went well. I got a chance to finish up Kung Fu Panda. I completed a second play through on the hardest difficulty, which wasn't really that hard. I will probably never play that game again. I also completed the 3rd case in CSI, for another 200 G's. I did manage to accumulate a lot of G's, but I still came in second place in this weeks challenge. After about 2 hours of play time I squeezed one measly G out of Forza2 and unlocked another 25G achievement in Fallout3. I am getting closer to that DLC!!

The streak lives on and is now at 311 straight days.

Thanks for reading.

Game Diary, Friday's game play

Friday's are wonderful. I got to play Forza2, Gears of War2, GH Aerosmith, and Tiger Woods 09. All Co-op, not something done in a long time. Reminded why the Xbox 360 is so great. The online friends party system is the best. The streak continues. Off to bed early, got to run a 5K for hungry children in the morning. See you Monday....next week is special.

Thanks for reading.

Game Diary, Thursday's game play

Thursday brought the season finale of Office, and 30 Rock so gaming was limited to Blitz2 and Fallout3. I am flying through this attempt at Fallout3. I am trying to stay neutral the whole way through. It was been tough balancing. I steal and lie a lot. Level 6 and on track.

308 Straight....

Thanks for reading.

Game Diary, Wednesday's game play

Wednesday was a short gaming opportunity. LOST was airing it's 3 hour season finale spectacular so I was only able to squeeze in some Kung Fu Panda, finishing 1 more level on the highest difficulty. BattleStations Midway sailing through one more campaign mission, and Forza2. I leveled up a few times in Forza2. Finally had to ditch the new car and switch a class to complete some series races. Short sweet night. Streak lives on at 307 days. Funny side note, haven't scored a single G in 3 days.

Thanks for reading.

Game Diary, Tuesday's game play

Tuesday was a busy video game day in general. I did a lot of web surfing during the day and random game play in the evening to extend the streak to 306 straight days. I was able to even sneak in a Call of Duty review posted below. I felt it was an OK review, not my best but it got the point across. On to the games.

Forza2 keeps finding a way back into the xbox. I knocked out another 2 races with the car generously donated by Major Nelson. Ranked up to level 31. Still can't believe how stingy this game is with the G's.

After Forza I popped in Call of Duty for a quick online match or two. Later in the evening I played NBA2K9 so more. This will be the first game I play 100 days, no question about it any more.

Late in the evening I had a night cap of Fallout3. I could play this game all night, and night time does seem appropriate to play this type of game. War.....war never changes.

Call of Duty : World at War review !!

Call of Duty: World at War

Rating: (Bad: 1-3, Average: 4-6, Good: 7-10)
Story: 4
Graphics: 9 (but at times very hard to pick out the enemy)
Sound: 8
Controls: 9
Overall Gameplay Experience: 10
May ’09 Value: $35
Achievement Difficulty: 9 out of 10 (a little easier than average)

Achievements:
-300 G’s with one playthrough in <10>

Review

With Infinity Ward taking a back seat to developing the Call of Duty series, Treyarch surprises you with World at War. Released in Nov. 2008, the game was a shoe in to be heavily promoted for the holiday shopping season. Heck it, even got a few Game of the Year nods and runner up awards. Face it 2008 was a great “release” year for Xbox 360 gamers. Lets get this out of the way now. World at War is NOT a better game than Call of Duty 4. It is almost a twin, which is a good thing. This game is not bad, but just don’t expect a better game. This release offers some new co-op options and improved online multiplayer. The campaign is simple and straightforward. It is way too easy on the lower difficulties and way too hard on the upper difficulty. Even the addition of two new weapons, bayonets and flame throwers are not enough to keep the single player campaign fresh. There are a few gotcha type encounters. The developers really tried to adopt the philosophy and real world tactics of the World War II battles. You get the great city battles of Eastern Europe, and the dark, dingy jungles of the South Pacific. A few times the A.I. will do some strange things, but more often than not they are coming for you. The enemies do appear angry in this game. They really want to hurt you.

Graphics\Sound

This is where the game really shines and distinguishes itself from any other WWII fps out there. The realistic gun shots, reloads, and knife swings add a touch of reality. But honestly when you shoot a leg off an enemy, he screams, then begins crawling and scratching his way toward said blow off leg, a chill will run up your spine. The wounded soldiers screams might haunt you at night. The jungle scenes are very dark, but for a reason. Enemies hide everywhere and lurch out at you every opportunity they get. The cities are broken and crumbled creating excellent hiding spots. Perfect if you have a sniper rifle in hand.

Game Play\Controls

The controls are tight and very responsive. Nothing really new or spectacular here to add or subtract from the experience. Standard FPS controls. Not much to dwell on here. Overall Gameplay Experience The online multiplayer will keep this disc in your Xbox360 for months to come. With continual DLC material being released, players swamp the online servers nightly. Just tonight there was over 159,000 players on deathmatch itself. A recent DLC allowed for a Zombie Horde mode to be playable by 4 co-opers. This is the latest fad. Gears of War 2 does it, Left 4 Dead does it. It is a very easy way to extend the life of the game. New multiplayer maps have been release and I am sure more are to come. These are great if you enjoy the online modes. The stat tracking for every online move is simply amazing. Every bullet, every gun, and every sprint you make is recorded and tracked. This is important as you level up, certain modes are locked or unlocked as your ability increases. Nice little feature, no more NOOBS, racking up kills on newbies. Once you reach level 5 you are locked out of the training levels. Even better once you reach even higher levels “Prestige” points accumulate to unlock even better upgrades, match types, weapons, and attributes. This drives you to play online. The only downside I can tell you, is that you do not have to play well. Simply logging enough online matches will net you enough experience points to level you up. So if you are not a great online player you could quickly find yourself over your head, competition wise.

Cheats\Walkthoughs

By now the Internet is chock full of walkthroughs, guides, and achievement tips so listing them here would be redundant. What I can add is that a walkthrough really is not needed. The main campaign is very linear and forces you down the correct path. Simply kill every enemy, proceed to next “situation”, repeat. No walkthrough needed. In my opinion what is needed would be tips on how to compete online at a high level. Players with online ranks above 25-30 will know every hiding spot, perfect weapon\ attribute combination, and respawn points. This can become frustrating for someone climbing the ranks. Stick with it and you will be rewarded.

Thanks for reading

Game Diary, Monday's game play

60 days and counting, what did I play to keep the streak alive? Read on to find out.

The afternoon started with a relaxing trip to Washington DC, post-apocalypse of course. Fallout3 was the flavor of the afternoon. I had the itch for more pipboy, and that DLC is calling my name. I have started an all new campaign to take advantage of the Level cap raised to 30. Patience.....

With all the rumors of a new Forza game in the works, I felt a need to play Forza2. I signed up for a free car from Major Nelson and was wondering if it was delivered yet. It was!! A nice new mustang. I had to take it out for a spin. It handled like a dream. Of course I won the race.

After dinner I knocked out another mission in Battlestations Midway. The game is pretty fun. No major, "Massive" battles as the cover taunts. The 50 page manual and 60 minute long tutorial had me worried.

Before, bed I dominated the LA Clippers in NBA2K9, pushing them 1 game closer to that final playoff spot. I am surprised on how well the new roster has come to together. No wonder why they gave the Celtics such a fuss in the first round.

Tomorrow promises more Fallout3, and possibly one more sport game. With TV winding down the video games will be picking up. Love it.

Thanks for reading.

Game Diary, Weekend Edition

Did I forget to mention that I had Friday off of work? So being out of work resulted in no post, and the weekend was busy. It involved a birthday party on Saturday, and a huge burrito late Saturday night. so here we are back together Monday morning. The 3 day weekend had me play virtually every game in my collection. My streak was pushed to 304 straight days. 61 more days until a year straight!!


Highlights of the weekend play include 60 G's from Battlestation Midway. I was able to play through the entire 3rd story line of Lego Indy and scored 70 G's. I enjoyed a little Kung Fu Panda on the highest difficulty. Still pretty easy though. Lots of band practice was in store all weekend for again RockBand 2 was heavily used.


Here is the full list of what I played : Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead, Call of Duty : WaW, NBA2K9, Gears of War 2, Fable II, Blitz 2, NHL09, Tiger Woods 09, Kung Fu Pand, Lego Indy, Guitar Hero : Aerosmith, RockBand2.

Even with all my game play I was still unable to win this weeks challenge. Oh well, always next week.

Thanks for reading.

Game Diary, Thursday's game play

Thursday was a great gaming day. I have a day off of work tomorrow so I stayed up late gaming. Only real highlight was 60 G's off of Kung Fu Panda. I am replaying the game on the hardest difficulty.

I played some NBA2K9, NHL09, Crack Down, and Blitz 2. I played a few tutorial missions on a new game called Battlestations Midway. Pretty complex controls and I did not get too far. I will comment later as I play on.

Thanks for reading.

Game Diary, Wednesday's game play

So here we are the 4th post of the daily game diary. The suspense was killing you, I am sure. So here we go. The third and final reason for keeping this daily game diary is to help track my progress of a personal goal. You see I have played Xbox360 for the last 300 straight days. A record of this can be found over at my 360Voice.com page. So to help you track my progress for at least the next 65 days I will be posting a daily diary as I try and go for a year straight. See simple enough. (NERD)

Today directly after work I rushed home in a down pour of rain. Popped in a game I do not think we have mentioned on this site before. Blitz 2 : The League. This is a fun little change up from Madden. Highlights include super crazy story line, and spectacular bone exploding hits. Its a fun game to relax and enjoy some football with.

After that I played Fallout3. After downloading the new content I was itching to play. I started a brand new game from scratch, so we are about 40 hours of game play away, from comment on the last 2 DLC's. I will rush as fast as I can.

I took a break for LOST. Yesterday's lack of sleep caught up with me and I crashed.

Check back tomorrow to find out what games I played to keep my streak alive. I am also down 50 G's in this week's challenge so some CSI, is probably in store.

Thanks for reading.

Game Diary, Tuesday's game play.

After witnessing a crushing defeat of my mighty Blackhawks gaming was the last thing on my mind. So what did i do? I fired up NBA2K9. Right away I nailed the trivia question for 36 G's baby!! Great job playing soft. I navigated the bulls to a 98 - 95 overtime victory. It was a great win for the team as the trades were put through last night. I now have the official Bulls playoff roster. They are really coming together. So that was it for gaming short an sweet.

Oh almost forgot. I am downloading the new Fallout3 content as I type this. I plan on finishing out the week playing that.

Tomorrow promises to be a bigger gaming day. Plus I will reveal the third reason for the diary. I am too tired to explain tonight.

Thanks for reading.

Game Diary, Monday May 4th, 2009

Welcome back for the second installment of AZZMAN20's Game Diary. Yesterday I revealed a little background from this daily post. Today a little taste more. Reason 2, I felt this blog needed a little attention each and every day. That way every visit to Achievement Unlocked would be new for you readers out there. I figured since I play Xbox 360 everyday, why not quickly post about days events. Reason 3 tomorrow...how many reasons does he have geesh...

Monday's are soft days. Soft days occur in between the gamerpoint challenges over at 360voice.com. I usually try not to accumulate G's over Mon. Tues. Wednesday. It is hard, but I can usually find a online multiplayer game, or sports game to take up my time. This Monday was no different. Before dinner I got a few online matches of Call of Duty : World at War in. I even ranked up to level 15. I can't believe more of my friends don't love this game. The online stat tracking is unbelievable.

After dinner, I had an audience so once again I gave Lego Indy a try. Sure enough the game froze at the same exact point. I took out the disc and blew on it.....for old times sake. Actually, I cleaned the disc properly and gave it one more try. Same results. Damn you Gamestop!!

Frustrating, so why not give NBA2K9 a whirl? I have been meaning to update my Xbox game roster to match the Chicago Bulls playoff roster. Maybe my season will end differently? Don't count on it, a little over half way through the season and the Bulls are a handful of games behind the last playoff spot. I love the force trade feature. The Kings didn't want to trade me Miller and Salmons, but I made them. Suckers.

Check back tomorrow for Tuesday's game highlights. Don't expect much, I scored myself a ticket to the Chicago BlackHawks playoff game!! Not sure how much gaming I can actually get in tomorrow.

A new feature has arrived

Welcome to the first edition of AZZMAN20's game diary. The roots of this post are heavily embedded in my love for 2 websites.

360VOICE was the birth of the idea for a blog about Xbox360. We took that idea and wound up here at Achievement Unlocked.

http://stephentotilo.com/ is the inspiration for the daily game diary. Stephen, formerly of Mtv's multiplayer (in transition phase, thanks to Totilo's departure) and soon to be Editor of Kotaku is the my daily inspiration to write, create, and think. Thank you Stephen.

So this daily post will be short and sweet. Just a few notes about what I played the day before. Why? Keep checking back to find out more backround info.

Enough of the build up, what did I play over the weekend????? First, Friday was a big day, I bought a new truck. In hopes to jump start the economy. That consumed most of the evening but, I did have band practice Friday night so RockBand 2 was heavily used. Saturday morning came with a slight hangover, and a trip down south. The trip ate up most of my day, and Saturday night was the Chicago Bulls game 7 playoff bout. So that only left time for some Lego Indiana Jones.The game had a glitch that involved a key falling on to a trampoline, and constantly bouncing so I couldn't retrieve it. Second time through the game froze in the same section. I took the hint and quit.

Sunday was a catch up day. I needed some quick G's to ensure my victory in this weeks gamer challenge over at 360Voice.com. So I popped in CSI and knocked out another murder case for a quick 200 G's. I really enjoy this game!! After that was some more Lego Indy and discovered every time I made it to a certain part the game froze. The really bad thing was, the frozen section was about 15 minutes into the stage. After 3 replays, it killed almost an hour and for sure my spirits.

Later I found time for a little Guitar Hero : Aerosmith and even Co-op with blog co-founder B 0 8. Always a good time!! That brings us up to last night. As I sat down to play something flew into my left eye. After 10 straight minutes of rubbing it as hard as I could, to no avail, it was completely bloodshot and swollen. As hard as I tried I couldn't see, even with one eye. So I called it a night. That is why this post is so late. Also why the post reads Sunday, because I started it, but couldn't finish it. Stupid eye.

Check back tomorrow to find out what I played today, and for a little more back story to this DAILY game diary.

Thanks for reading.