The Mind of Marx0r

Okay, so...

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 20:40:00 +0000

Bioshock 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 have been finished, and I started (and completed) The Godfather II, The Incredible Hulk, Zombie Apocalypse, Wallace and Gromit, Banjo-Kazooie, and Duke Nukem 3D. All in two weeks.

I'm currently working on Web of Shadows, which will be finished today if not tomorrow, just in time for GSL Rush on x360a. I plan to actually compete in that, or at least bang out 3 easy games past midnight to get to my 100k/100%.

After that, I'll be focused on wearing down the 50 games I have sitting on my shelf that I haven't played, as well as topping the sandbox leaderboards. I currently stand at #12, and completion of Web of Shadows will bring me to #11. Then it's a simple matter of playing The Saboteur and Wheelman for #1.

I also changed the "My Backlog" box to "Working on", seeing as how there's only two games in it now, both of which will be completed in the near future.

Call of Duty: W@W = DONE

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 08:30:00 +0000

Finally, a 1500 in World at War. I will be going for the prestige achievements, but very slowly. I figure if I play a day or two a month, whenever I have nothing to play but don't feel like starting a new game, I'll have 10th prestige in a few years.

With only three achievements left, one currently unobtainable, one that I'm saving, and the last only an hour of work away, I'm getting closer than ever to my 100%/100k. My current gamerscore sits at 93145/93400, meaning I have to play 6 retail and 3 arcade games. Those will come from the few dozen of each that I already own.

I know I'll be playing The Godfather II and The Incredible Hulk as part of my Sandbox quest, but the rest is up for grabs. I'll probably be going with the easiest games I have available, which are Backyard Football '10, Sonic's UGC, Jericho, and Kung Fu Panda. Arcades are TBA, probably something like Feeding Frenzy 2, South Park, and Track and Field.

That is all contingent on no more DLC coming out for any of my games, which I don't think will be happening within a month.

Dead Rising = DONE

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Wed, 26 May 2010 08:02:00 +0000

Did I mention that I started Dead Rising? Because I did. Then I finished it in 9 days. It was actually a really solid achievement list, one of those rare cases where the achievements work with the game in enhancing the experience and giving you more options. The Genocider runthrough felt like I was playing a completely different game than my Saint/Transmissionary runthrough, not to mention the collectible runthrough and the Survival mode.

Survival was interesting to say the least. The strategy of laying out my movements from area to area, and planning them with the survivor spawns was legitimate fun. What wasn't as much fun though, was actually doing the work. It was tolerable with hulu and a timer set to go off a minute before I starved to death, but 14 hours is way too much for one sitting, especially when 90% of it is hitting X to not die. And then there was the brownout in my house at 6:59:50. TV and 360 stayed on, but the lights were off for like half a second. I came so close to mass murder, but I got my 7-Day Survivor achievement 50 seconds later, then pushed through to 8 days just to one-up (almost) everyone on my friends list.

I didn't really enjoy it as a sandbox game though, I felt the timing system kind of clashes with the idea of a sandbox, that is, run around and do what you want, when you want. Still a great game that I put off playing for far too long. But now it's done, with plenty of time to spare for the sequel. I'll be boosting Bioshock 2 whenever possible and practicing Big Baller in between for now.

Gamerscore currently sits at 92915/93200 (99.69%), or 93070/93200 (99.86%) if I pretend I've finished Left 4 Dead 2 and Bully, both of which I'm just waiting for. The important thing is, I need 6800 points to hit 100k. I don't know the specifics yet, but I do know that I'll be getting those points solely from my 50+ games that I own and have yet to play.

Just Cause 2, Braid = DONE

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Fri, 07 May 2010 05:39:00 +0000

80 hours well spent on one of the greatest sandbox games ever. At the time, I was completely burned out on the game and was glad it was done. Right now, I really wish there was more, as it is definitely the best game of 2010 thus far. It's very refreshing to play a well-polished game with intentionally unrealistic gameplay. Shows hope for there still being a studio out there that cares about fun first, realism second.

Braid wasn't as bad as I was making it out to be. Took me like 2 days to memorize the puzzles, and 3 attempts for the Speed Run, which I finished in 44:26.3.

Bioshock 2 needs to be boosted, should hopefully be getting the two map achievements tonight, I'll just need to boost out some more ADAM after that.

I finished everything but Big Baller in World at War, which I should hopefully be getting in a TA session on Monday.

Still waiting on the Mutations in Left 4 Dead 2, and I'm thinking of playing Dead Rising in the near future.
I redid Bully after I accidentally deleted my save file, I again stand 2 minutes away from the final achievement.

Still waiting

Bioshock 2 = DONE (and some other stuff)

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Sat, 01 May 2010 08:43:00 +0000

Quite a while ago, actually. I just kept putting off this post, but I might as well do it before the DLC hits and it's not done anymore. Those achievements look annoyingly simple. Play a match on every map, win a match on every map, and 'prestige'. Lame. I did finish off the entire game legit, but I'll likely boost up to 50, especially if I'm just going to be losing said rank.

I did like the way gameplay escalated in multiplayer, starting off with pistols and not much else and (d)evolving into elegantly chaotic clusterfucking. Replaying that actually sounds interesting, or at least more sensible than the CoD-style prestiging where all you get is a different insignia.

I started up Just Cause 2, and it's a phenomenal video game. It captures the idea of a sandbox game beautifully. Minimal plotline, minimal reality, just lots of things to blow up and lots of missions where you have to blow stuff up. I kind of wish there were more things to do though, as despite my best efforts, I've still exhausted the entire game's missions and challenges with only 58% completion. I do only have to go to 75%, but I do kind of wish there was an achievement for 100%, if only because almost no one else would bother. I'm currently at 63%, and I do need to replay the game for the difficulty achievements. I'm at 57 hours played, and will be at about 100 by the time it's all said and done. The game could probably be 1000d inside 60 hours, but I'm really taking my time with it.

Left 4 Dead 2 got DLCd, and with it an achievement that requires play on 6 different weeks. While my principles force me to hate it, it is a little convenient, as this way I'll be okay with playing some longer games on my way to 100k. That achievement might end up being my penultimate to 100k.

I finished the Der Reise Nazi Zombies pack in W@W, and I just have 4 achievements left in Shi No Numa. I should be getting those or finishing Just Cause 2 within the week, depending on how I feel.

Modern Warfare 2 = DONE

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 06:36:00 +0000

Hells yeah. Finally got Wetwork done for the Star 69 achievement and the full 1000. I'm looking to finish off Bioshock 2 tomorrow, which will put me at 99.5% completion. I'm still not sure if I want to open up Just Cause 2 or finish off Braid and W@W at that point, but I guess I'll find out soon enough.

Left 4 Dead 2 = DONE

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 21:21:00 +0000

Actually completed it a few days ago, just haven't bothered to post. DLC is expected in a few days as well, so it won't last too long on my "Completed Games" shelf. DLC is scaring me more than ever now that I'm closing in on my 100% 100k. L4D2 is definitely getting DLC, and Bioshock 2, MW2, and Just Cause 2 (which I plan to start soon) might. Any one of those could update with an amount of points not divisible by 50 and mess me up. Although I could fix it with Dante's Inferno, Condemmed, Brutal Legend, Small Arms, or even Force Unleashed or Star Trek, I'd really rather not bother.

Current completion stands at 99.36%, with 585 points missing. 125 of those belong to Bully, which I'm saving, and the majority of the rest belong to World at War DLC, which I'm going to have to tackle soon. First on the list though, is completing Bioshock 2. I only have a few hours of MP left, which will make it the longest I've spent on any multiplayer game without ever boosting.

I've spent more time playing other games legit, like Saint's Row 2 (boosted a few medals that were ridiculous to earn legit), Gears of War 2 (300 legit hours was enough once boosting became possible) or Call of Duty 3. (played the hell out of it in Player matches before I cared about achievements and didn't want to play legit Ranked once I did care) But the <25 hours I'll be spending on Bioshock 2 will make it the longest I've spent on any game's MP achievements without ever boosting. That's almost sad, but whatever.

Once Bioshock 2 is done, I'll be trading off time between World at War solo and MW2's Wetwork whenever I can get a partner. After one of those is completed, I'll be starting Just Cause 2 or the Godfather 2, and possibly swearing off games that end in 2 after that. (not counting Crackdown 2)

Texas Hold 'Em = DONE

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 06:12:00 +0000

At last. If it wasn't the 700-odd hours worth of rubberbanding for Luck of the Draw, it was the mind-numbingly boring scenario and tournament shit. It's done, and Braid remains my only incomplete arcade title. I'm still pushing to 99.5% before I start either Just Cause 2 or The Godfather 2, by finishing L4D2, MW2, Bioshock 2, and grabbing a few points from W@W.

GTA IV = DONE

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 05:30:00 +0000

I've ranted about this piece of shit multiple times, but allow me to sum it up again for the final time.

Wonderful, amazingly realistic program. The finest simulator to date, and a definite benchmark in humanity's technological progress.

Worst. Game. Ever. Made.

Maybe I'm being a little unfair there, I'm sure that Google's search engine or Microsoft Word is a worse game, but at least those weren't marketed as such. GTA IV is lifelike, to the point where it reminds me why I don't go outside. Far too lifelike to be a game, that is, something designed to be fun. I don't want to talk to people that piss me off, (everyone in the damn game) I don't want to browse your 'internet', I don't want to go on dates with people, I don't want to play darts or go to the golf range or bowl. And I most definitely don't want to spend 80% of your poorly-written campaign driving from A to B with your ultra-realistic, cant-turn-at-30-mph-without-spinning-out engine, especially in a place with roads as narrow as NYC.

I really think that somewhere along the line, someone attacked Rockstar's HQ with really weak nerve gas which just made everyone forget everything they knew about GTA. The insane, vibrant, do-anything-you-want feel that made GTA A FUCKING INDUSTRY-CHANGER went completely out the window in favor of the drek that is the greyscaled GTA IV.

But whatever, I'm done. I'll be getting Saint's Row 3, and not GTA V. (that's a lie, I'll have to pick it up for the Sandbox leaderboards) And I'll be damn happy, because Volition understands more about GTA than Rockstar.

I'll be finishing up Bioshock 2 and Texas Hold 'Em over the next week. Then, I'll be getting to 99.5% completion, probably through finishing L4D2 and MW2. Then, I'll be starting Just Cause 2 (also better than GTA IV) or The Godfather II.

NBA 2k7 = DONE

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 06:52:00 +0000

The last incomplete game I put on my card for points alone is completed, also pushing me above 99% completion for the first time ever. It's been two years now since I swore to myself I'd never play a game I couldn't justify buying, which will remain my mantra indefinitely.

I'll be starting up Bioshock 2 tomorrow, and hopefully finishing that within a week or so. Then it's Just Cause 2, some more backlogging, finishing up GTA IV, and possibly Dead Rising before Crackdown 2 comes out and I don't go outside for a month.

Updates: Speed Round!

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:40:00 +0000

March Madness 07 is done. Not too bad once I got a guy to talk me through everything. I think it's worth mentioning again how much I suck at and hate sports games.

Mirror's Edge is done. Though I was ready to go on murderous sprees at Dice's HQ, I never stopped loving the game, still in my top 10 favorites. Balls-out hard, but I'd recommend the game to anyone who liked the demo.

Borderlands is done. General Knoxx was really damn good, with the sole exception of the complete lack of fast travel. Dear Gearbox, I get that you're proud of your new vehicles, but when quitting the game and loading it back into the main town is the fastest mode of travel, you did something wrong.

Ballad of Gay Tony is done. 30 more hours of NOOSE and I'm done with this horrible game.

Got my royal flush in Texas Hold 'Em after 55,000 hands. I still need to finish the last two tournaments, but I lost all of my money.

Madden 07 and BiA: HH

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:36:00 +0000

Done and done. Madden wasn't that bad, but still incredibly boring. Brothers in Arms was a fun game that overstayed its welcome with the stupid "We're obviously trying to keep the game active for a few extra months" achievements. 3 friends of mine approached me to boost the zeros with them, and I'm more than happy to go along with it, but as far as I'm concerned, I have the full 1000, therefore I'm done.

9 incomplete games left, but I'm not really sure what I'm going to do. I may start practicing Braid, grinding off a few more sports achievements, or start up Bully. I'm still looking to finish off my card before summer starts.

Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:56:00 +0000

So, haven't posted in a while. No one cares. Moving on.

Splosion Man is done. Pretty fucking hard but still an awesome game.

Tetris Splash is done. Not too difficult (although I've always been a natural at Tetris) and a decent game, although it would be pretty difficult to screw up Tetris.

Borderlands is done. Still my GOTY runnerup (behind AC2) and wasn't hard, especially when you host the Mad Moxxi stuff with a level 9 character and have someone with a level 50 do all of the work for you.

Nearing the halfway mark in Wanted, and I still have to do 95% of the mission shit for Gay Tony.

Should be finishing Brothers in Arms (including the zeros) soon enough.

I kind of started Left 4 Dead 2 again, not really sure when I'll be working on it next.

May be starting up Modern Warfare 2 again, with a well-versed partner that can pretty much walk me through it.

I'm nearing completion on Madden 07, which would leave only 2 more sports games left on my card.

Everything else is on hiatus.

17 games in 15 days

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 10:29:00 +0000

Is what I have left, and I honestly don't think I can do it. Finals week has made me busy as all hell, and it's continuing until Saturday. Even though at that point I'll be free and clear, I'll still have a job (retail during the Christmas season, no less) and most of the money I'll be earning will be going into Christmas gifts, so I doubt I'll be able to buy enough arcade games.

If one or two more really easy games come out between now and January 1st, I may be able to do this, but here's how it currently stands:

I need to complete 17 more arcade games.

I can finish Sonic 1 in about 3 more hours.
I can finish 'Splosion Man in about 5-8 more hours.
If the gods grace me with a royal soon, I can finish Texas Hold 'Em in about 5 hours.
I can finish Braid in about 4 hours.
I can finish Feeding Frenzy in about 5 hours.

That's about 25 hours, and I'd still need 12 more past that. I'd need to start Wallace + Gromit 1-4, Sealife Safari, Sam+Max 1-2, Shinobi, Sonic 2-3, Comic Zone, and Feeding Frenzy 2.

The main problem is that I don't own any of those besides Sonic 2, and I have no points to my name. As I'm typing this now, it actually seems like a reasonable timeframe, but I'd need to come up with about 10,000 Microsoft points, which again might be possible.

All I know for sure is that after this rush, I'll still want 52 more arcade completions to one day join the 100/100 club, but that's far off, and I'll be playing harder arcades. At year's end, regardless of how this challenge works out, I'll be working on climbing the 360v sandbox leaderboards. I'm currently #66, and I haven't even played 7 out of the 17 games on the list.

Gunstar Heroes and Cloning Clyde

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Gunstar Heroes is actually one hell of a game, and at only 400 points, it's definitely a must-have for the Arcade. It's really well-done, boasting graphics far better than the original yet still retaining the old-school feel. It's not that hard with save states, bar a few sections, and all in all only takes a few hours for the 200.

I had heard bad things about Cloning Clyde. Very bad things. Things that would make a metaphorical combination of Hitler and Double Hitler blush and run to the nearest confessional. But it's actually a pretty fun game. It doesn't boast anything really innovative, just a bunch of ideas that are rarely used in games, and the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. I'm only 8 stages in, but that's a third of the levels down in like an hour, so this should be done for arcade #30 sometime tomorrow night.

Arcade bender

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:01:00 +0000

It's starting. Besides Spec Ops with my cousin, L4D2 with my group, and GTA with my other group, I'm playing nothing but arcade games until the end of the year. I will beat Birky or die trying. I'm downloading Gunstar Heroes as I speak, and I should have that 200d by the end of the day, along with possibly Wallace + Gromit #1, depending on how long they both take. I currently need 20 completions in 25 days to win. It'll happen.

Oscar Mike!

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:00:00 +0000

You know what's really aggravating? Knowing that Infinity Ward spent a good amount of time and effort making the ingame dialogue accurate and appropriate, but then decided to fill it with that stupid NATO alphabet thing. I really have no idea what a Whiskey Hotel is, or why I'm always Oscar Mike, and I've stopped caring a long time ago.

The campaign is really the basic CoD formula, slightly better mechanics, engines, and weapons, same exact fucking missions over and over. Spec Ops is pretty fun, although difficult at parts. I only have 6 missions left to 3-star, but they're just stupidly hard and I don't really feel like bothering.

1 vs 100 = DONE

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:04:00 +0000

And that's arcade #28, 21 more to go before January 1. I was able to get both Watchmen games for $15 combined yesterday, so there's 2 more that I'll be getting in that time. I should also be finishing up 'Splosion Man soon, as well as Tetris Splash and starting up Castlevania. I also opened up MW2, and already finished the Alpha and half of the Bravo Spec Ops.

The Orange Box = DONE

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:12:00 +0000

I intended to do Portal without cheats, I really did. Then I spent about 2 hours on the first time challenge and decided that I really didn't want to. It's not that I was unwilling to put in the time and effort, but that I didn't want to associate Portal with anything negative. When I hear "The cake is a lie", I associate that with GLaDoS and Valve and everything I love about video games. I wasn't willing to add "flashbacks of two weeks of pain and frustration" to that.

So, I broke down and used the whole cheats exploit thing, and it only took 2 days to sweep up all the golds. Orange Box is done now, 99 achievements and all. I put MW2 on my card as well, and I should have that done relatively soon.

1 vs 100

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 12:05:00 +0000

I love general trivia games, but I was unable to play 1 vs 100 for quite some time, as the Live games may as well as been scheduled by someone with a copy of my class schedule and a deep hatred for me. Thankfully, Thanksgiving (hurrpunnotintended) gave me a few days off of school, and I was able to max out my avatar action 10 times in a Live game last night.

I didn't really find the achievements too hard, seeing as how I'm just insanely awesome and got my first 16 questions right. The 6 instant answers took me a while though, seeing as how it's a fucking stupid achievement when a quarter of the questions are along the lines of "Which of these are longer/bigger/smaller/harder/better/faster/stronger?" and you therefore need to see all 3 answers before you can respond. I got something like 10 4-5 question streaks, which took me like 2 hours. I finally got a 5-question streak and then I got the question "In what movie does Paris Hilton play a drug-addled spoiled heiress?" The answer to that is Repo! The Genetic Opera, a cult movie that almost no one's heard of but I would have the bastard children of.* So yeah, that was pretty awesome.

All I have left now is to answer 500 questions, which amounts to around 2.5 hours of aimless button mashing as I do something on the computer, and that'll be arcade #28. Unfortunately, my ever-present foe Birky also got the game, so it's a complete wash for my arcade completions challenge that I'm probably not going to win anyway.

*This is the second time in three articles that I've mentioned having babies, I promise I'm completely male and have absolutely no gender confusion issues.

Assassin's Creed 2 = DONE

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 07:44:00 +0000

The collectibles this time are far easier, and actually tie into ingame rewards. So yeah, I can conclusively say that AC2 has improved upon the original in every conceivable way. Anyway, I'm done with it for completion number 91.

#92, in the form of Borderlands, may be coming later this week, depending on how efficient powerleveling is. At any rate, I'll be done with the DLC tonight and be putting MW2 on my card for my last new retail of the year.

No spoilers here

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:48:00 +0000

Without delving into any specifics at all, I will simply say that the ending to Assassin's Creed 2 is the single best 5 minutes of media I have ever seen. In one cutscene, every single question the first two games introduced was answered, even the ones you never asked, and the plot took a massive increase in scale. It was exposition, rising action, climax, and conclusion all in one and was it ever fucking awesome. In less time than it takes to cook an egg, I went from hating AC1 to respecting it, from loving AC2 to wanting its babies.

I might be done with the game tonight, and definitely tomorrow, and I'm eagerly awaiting the probable DLC. After that's done, it's Expert L4D and Borderlands DLC. Also, I got my first straight flush in 20,000 hands in Texas Hold 'Em. 26,617 hands and no royal.

Assassin's Creed 2 - first impressions

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:34:00 +0000

It started off pretty damn slowly, but now that I'm a few hours in, it's definitely a far better game than the first. A story worth paying attention to, varied missions, and vastly improved weapons blow AC1 out of the water. Then there's the fact that Leonardo Da-Fucking-Vinci is in the game and AC2 is a solid five-star release.

I'm working on AC2 and L4D2, as well as Tetris Splash, as well as doing shitloads of school work, so I really couldn't say when I'll have anything done. I just know that it will be.

Left 4 Dead 2 - First Impressions

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:57:00 +0000

All of the complaints about this just being a shitty rehash of the first one have been proven wrong, as #2 adds so much more in the way of weapons, gameplay, and infected. It actually goes so far past L4D1 in a year that it makes the first game look like the phone-in version that was released way before it was ready.

Just playing through one campaign, it's obvious that these are two completely different games. It's no longer just an A-to-B thing over and over, the cresendo points and finales require you to actually complete a simple task, like finding and shutting off an alarm, retrieving an item, or collecting gas cans to fuel your escape vehicle. The melee cooldown in 1's multiplayer is everywhere in 2, but there are also new melee weapons that can be used nonstop.

The introduction of melee weapons is just part of the incredibly immersive co-op play. In 1, the extent of co-op was special attacks that required help, and possibly having different players carry different kinds of the three weapons or two thrown ones. In 2, there are more special attacks, with at least 6 different weapons, 3 thrown ones, and even the health packs and pain pills have options.

Once you add in the fact that there's actually a continuous story, it's obvious that Left 4 Dead 2 is not a shitty rehash, but rather a completely new experience that Valve somehow managed to pull off in a year.

Fracture = DONE

noreply@blogger.com (Marx0r) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:49:00 +0000

Fracture honestly disappoints me. It brings a lot to the table in terrain deformation and plenty of strange weapons, which are both completely awesome and original. Unfortunately, the game is so poorly designed that it doesn't tie together well and ends up just a complete mess. The aiming is horrible, movement is finicky, level design is incredibly generic, and it's just all boring after a while. The story is worth playing through, even on the usually-unfair hardest difficulty, but it definitely doesn't make up for the online achievements. About 75 hours for the 1500 games played.

The ending sets up a sequel, and I would honestly get Fracture 2 because if LucasArts can learn from their mistakes, it would be an incredibly good game.

In other news, I'm shelving Borderlands for the time being. I could play through the story again to get to level 50, but I'd rather wait for the announced DLC and see how much EXP I can get from that. Started Left 4 Dead 2, which looks like it'll be a fun but extremely hard 1000. I've got a solid team ready though, so I'm confident I can get it done. I'll get whatever I can get done by myself, then crack open Modern Warfare 2 and play that when my team's unavailable. Looks like Assassin's Creed 2 is going to stay on the shelves for a little while.