Gears of War 2

Gears of War 2. I love the story. I hate the multiplayer. The first time I decided to give Gears multiplayer a chance, it was a public match on the first version, and my entire team proceeded to gib me with the shotgun the moment I would spawn. Never did care to touch any of that until recently, where I’m in a situation where I will the one doing the gibbing with no chance of recourse whatsoever.

Game speed completion: This is not a fast completion by any means. There is an extensive list of single player and multiplayer achievements in both the co-op and versus flavors. Fulfilling some of the achievements requires extensive attention as well so if the achievement hunter is looking for game value for achievements, this would be an investment in your time.

The single player achievements can even be done with the assistance of a co-op partner, and also has achievements for doing so. This co-op option has been used to exploit the difficulty specific achievements where one partner plays on the game’s easiest setting and carries the lion’s share of the work while the other partner plays on Insane and hangs back to reap the rewards.

Multiplayer achievements can be affected by the gamer’s MP level, which is earned through any active participation in any multiplayer experience. Reaching a prerequisite experience level and a specific task such as reaching a specific horde wave take up a majority of the MP achievement list, and will require dedicated boosting partners for maximum efficiency. Expect to work with a team of for exp and horde level grinds and larger groups for misc verses achievements.

Time frame for expected completion for casual game play would take months. A proactive team (of working adults) dedicated to completing this game can complete the achievement list in two weeks realistically, or within one week if nothing else was played and if a exp multiplier event was available to exploit during that time frame. Outside equipment such as network bridges can also prove useful in expediting the completion of this game.

GSL Potential:  The stacking potential of achievement points is incredibly high in this game. The game contains an in-game progress tracker that periodically reminds the player of how far along they are in fulfilling requirements for specific achievements. Achievement progress can also be checked from the main menu as well. Due to the cumulative nature of a majority of the achievements, progress can be purposely delayed until the appropriate time to unlock achievements comes along.  

Most achievements are dependent on the multiplayer experience level of the player. Also, progress in Horde specific achievements will not begin until the appropriate experience level is reached first. Grinding to level 100 will allow the GSL participant to begin completing all horde wave achievement prerequisites. The GSL participant should start at wave 2 on every horde map with their boosting partners to leave the easiest wave incomplete and proceed to fulfill the rest of the horde achievement requirements. When it comes time to pop the achievements, each achievement will only require the completion of the first wave to fulfill requirements. Doing this method can potentially provide 365 points in 10 minutes for the horde mode achievements only. The stacking method can also be applied to all the cumulative weapon kill, complete map pack, collectables and story mode achievements. Story mode difficulty achievements stack, so a potential 275 can be popped, with an additional 50 if the GSL participant decides to complete the game in co-op as well. If the GSL members are on the same team, payoff is doubled.

Stacking visibility is fairly high for competitors. Achievement stacking can be recognized by story mode achievements being completed with or without the story mode completion achievement being unlocked on casual difficulty. Level stacking can be recognized if the GSL competitor has completed the MP rank update DLC, which are the only MP ranked achievements that do not have a second set of requirements to unlock.

What the guides don't tell you: Your MP progress is saved onto your gamer profile, there will not be a game save file on your xbox. The data can become corrupted if data save gets interrupted in any way, which usually comes from players taking shortcuts while playing the game. Always be aware of your habits to ensure that you properly quit to the main menu of the game before quitting to the Xbox live dashboard. Also refrain from varying the method of boosting. Do not grind horde levels online in co-op one day if you have been conducting it solo for the majority of it.