Achievement Highlights

Xbox Live® means different things to different people. For some, it is a perpetually raging battlefield where the world's toughest cyber soldiers can test their reflexes in tournaments, matches,
and events ranging from real-world sports games to war simulations to fantasy escapes. For others, Xbox Live Marketplace is where it's at for music, video, and game demo downloads.

That's what gas stations are for.

Regardless of your leanings, there is one facet of the premiere online gaming service that can be used and enjoyed by all. That feature is the achievements system.

Every title published for Xbox 360™ has its own unique set of achievements laid out by the game's creators. Depending on the type of game, you can unlock and earn up to 1000 points through various feats of mastery. These accomplishments can vary greatly between genres.

Some of the more common ways to unlock an achievement are:

• Finish the single-player story mode
• Complete the game on the hardest difficulty level
• Play X amount of games, online or off
• Perform feats of mastery (three-pointers in basketball, headshots in first-person shooters, etc.)
• Find every collectible or secret
• Finish every optional side mission or quest

Ultimately, it's up to the developer to break down the total number of gamerscore points and assign them to different achievements for that game. As you pass each in-game milestone and accrue more points, you may unlock secret achievements that are only revealed to you when a required action is performed.

This element of mystery rewards players of a persistent and adventurous nature and encourages them to explore every nook and cranny laid out before them.

Join us as we take a look at some spoiler-free in-game achievements and explore the many gameplay possibilities ahead of you.

Red diamonds mean trouble.

Gamerscore through Ghost Recon
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter™ isn't messing about with its achievements system. There are no freebies here; you know you've accomplished something significant when you unlock any of this game's achievements. Wondering just what that means? Here's how it breaks down.

Multiplayer
Like any Tom Clancy title, the multiplayer modes receive the same amount of attention and polish as the excellent single-player game, and that holds true for the achievements as well. You receive all sorts of achievement accolades by accomplishing watershed multiplayer goals and completing cooperative levels. Chew on the following sample of multiplayer achievements and the impressive challenge they present.

• Heavyweight: Notch 10,000 kills overall online. Yeah, that's right. Ten thousand.
• Deadly: Get four kills in four seconds (read: grenade).
• Unyielding: String together thirty kills before dying.
• Falcon: Shoot down 100 helicopters overall online.
• Sniper: Put together 500 headshots overall online.
• Committed: Play for eight hours straight online—an aptly named achievement, I would say.
• Master of Ceremonies: Host at least 1,000 matches.
• World Champion: Be ranked first on the universal leaderboard. In other words, this marks the most difficult achievement yet in any game.

Excellent posture.

Single Player
Of course, just as much attention is being paid to the single-player experience; though, naturally, the achievements follow a slightly more linear path. You notch several achievements for reaching the most critical plot points through the game. We'll preserve our spoiler-free status by not revealing their names, but know that you can net plenty of gamerscore points simply by completing the game. Also, more achievements are available for beating the game on higher difficulties, as well as finishing chapters having successfully completed each primary and secondary objective.

Advanced Warfighter may represent the most challenging set of achievement goals to date. You can literally say that only the greatest GRAW players will be able to accomplish them all. Good luck.

Article by Ryan Treit

• The Ghost Recon home page.