When it comes to gaming, I never go back.  When a new generation of gaming is ushered in with the latest high fidelity graphics and more immersive gameplay people always ask “Can I play my last generation games on this new model?”  To which my response is always “Would you go back to ‘Batman & Robin’ after seeing ‘The Dark Knight’?” I simply can’t stomach the mere thought of going back to last generation.

But something else has permanently changed the gaming landscape and once again I can’t go back.  Ever since the unlocking of my very first Achievement (Gears of War-I think? You’re not supposed to forget your first are you?), any attempt at playing a game without that recognition or extra incentive has become fleeting at best

What’s that I hear you say?  Shouldn’t playing a great game be its own reward?  Of course, but who doesn’t love cream on their apple pie?    Achievements take something that is great and make it even better.  Playing through a single player game now without Achievements or Trophies tastes decidedly vanilla and judging by my Xbox Live friends list I’m not the only one who feels this way.  I find myself now eagerly awaiting the release of an achievement list with almost as much anticipation as the game itself.  When a new list comes out revealing thoughtful and imaginative achievements (hopefully with some inspired art work to boot) the excitement only increases.

In fact some of my favourite achievements are just as memorable as the gameplay was.  Surely GTA IV’s ‘Warm Coffee’ achievement brought a smile to everyone’s face.  The artwork of the Bioshock achievements complimented the style of the game and its ‘Irony’ achievement is probably my all time favourite for originality.  I’m sure every player felt the same sense of total satisfaction as I did after completing Call of Duty 4’s ‘Mile High Club’ achievement, that has got to be one of the toughest there is.  These are just a few examples of developers enhancing the experience with a little creativity or rewarding the player for an extremely difficult task.  When they are done right, Achievements take your gaming experience to a whole new level.

It’s not all good though, many an achievement list is riddled with the uninspired.  Every single one of Conan’s achievements featured the same bland logo - this is supposed to be a reward right?  Many games have the dreaded mindless random object collection achievement.  These said objects more often than not add absolutely nothing to the gameplay and I am not sure how anyone ever considered this a good idea.  As gorgeous as Assassin’s Creed looks on my new 50” plasma I don’t think I can bring myself to collecting every damn flag for not one but SEVEN (count ‘em) random object achievements.  Another culprit is Rockstar, doing all the stunt jumps in GTA IV was fine but find  200 damn pigeons?  Surely you are taking the piss?

Too many level completion achievements seem to get the thumbs down online as well. We certainly all want one for finishing the game and then another for replaying on its hardest setting but an achievement after the completion of every single level feels a little pointless and certainly doesn’t enhance the gameplay like your quality achievements do.  The yet to be released Fallout 3’s achievement list has that endearing Pip-Boy artwork but 28 of the 50 achievements seem to be for story arc completion.  I can only assume a lot of these are optional side quests but when you couple that with another 9 that seem to require replaying the game 3 times to Level 20 I can’t help but feel a little let down.

The most consistent negative sentiment I see around the Internet and one with which I agree is regarding multiplayer achievements. They encourage boosting, unsporting play and can spoil other players’ enjoyment of the online experience.  I have seen it suggested on many a message board that multiplayer achievements should be done away with altogether.  For us Aussie gamers, they also seem to be unfair.  Due to most(all?) of these games not being played on dedicated servers in Australia, the chance of playing anything but a AAA title in an all Aussie room with next to no lag is extremely low.  This makes online achievements for Aussies anything but achievable.

It does appear however that the right people are getting the message.  In a recent interview, Gearbox Software President Randy Pitchford acknowledged the potential harm of multiplayer achievements and stated this was an influencing factor in the selection of achievements for their upcoming title Brothers In Arms: Hell’s Highway.(Which reminds me, where the hell is the achievement list for this game?  It’s out in 3 weeks for chrissake!)  Even more encouraging was the recently released Gears of War 2 achievement list.  No ranked MP requirement and the MP achievements are for winning matches.  Making online achievements conditional on winning a match is something I have championed to anyone that will listen for quite some time.  All the other achievements can be obtained through single player and co-op if you so wish.  I don’t know about you Aussie gamers, but the thought of getting 1000 points on GOW2 only adds to my anticipation for this title (if that’s possible).  Surely if an industry leader like Epic Games is taking this direction, other developers will follow suit in time.  Can this super sweet joy that is Achievements get even better? I sure as hell hope so. 

But something isn’t quite right. Labelling Achievements as the extra cheese on your pizza is still selling them short.

It wasn’t until I started reviewing my Achievement List on Xbox Live while researching for this article that it finally dawned on me what they are.  Achievements are like your gaming photo album.  Just like that photo you’ve got of you and your mate Davo at that party.  To anyone else it’s just another party photo but you are always instantly reminded of later that same evening when Davo exceeded his consumption limit and vomited all over the hot chick.  That’s what Achievements are, little memory hubs that make instantly recalling all your purest gaming moments a snap.  In fact I encourage you to go review yours as soon as you finish reading this.  Hopefully it will be as enjoyable for you as it was for me.  On my trip down memory lane I was reminded of feeling like an intergalactic James Bond while playing as Commander Shepard.  The complete white knuckle thrill of carrying my wounded captain back to the extraction chopper whilst shrouded in a ghillie suit.  Then there was the time I orchestrated a fight between two Big Daddies and just sat back and watched them smash the living crap out of each other.  Or how could I forget playing co-op on Insane difficulty at 2am and we’ve just died at the same checkpoint for the fifteenth consecutive time because your crazy mate insists on chainsawing every single enemy including the Lambent Wretches?  This is just a small sample of memorable gaming experiences since discovering this delightful phenomenon.

So as you can see gamers, they is powerful things these here achievements. If you enjoy your gaming just as much as I do, how can you not love them?  Whaddya say, Micky? Have I made a believer out of you now?

So it’s over to you Australia, we wanna know your position.  Leave a comment or send us an email.  Hell, I’ve even been crazy enough to put my Gamertag & PSN ID on the profile page.

So let us know. What do you love? What do you hate?  What needs to change?  Are you totally indifferent to this phenomenon?  I can think of 1 or 2 achievement whores that care a whole lot (yes, you know who you are Shayne).  So let’s hear from the rest of you, that includes you too PS3 people.  If people care enough (I know I do), we may make this a regular discussion topic.  We would also love to hear your memorable achievement/trophy related moments as well.