Sloppy Potatoes

GamerScore Update 11.22.2007

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted an update on my GamerScore. On April 8, I talked about surpassing the 16,000-point barrier and how it felt a little hollow after getting several points from a budget title (Civil War).

Well, I’m back and boy have I got a lot to report. In seven months I’ve vaulted far past 16,000, amassing more than 11,000 points. My score sits patiently at 27,747, waiting for me to return after a couple days of not playing.

I’ve played 70 games since my last update, I’m not going to list them a

ll here. Several of those games were titles I had played before and played because I liked them or because I was trying earn more achievements from them. Instead of listing them all, I’ll list some of my favorites and my gamerscore progress from each of them:

Halo 3 (695 points, including the two-for-one achievement) - has been my favorite game for 360 and has been a regular in my console since its release Sept. 25. I feel this title has the perfect blend of achievement types, too. You get points for completing each level of the campaign and you get 125 points for beating the game on each difficulty level from Normal up to Legendary. Several achievements can be earned through campaign and multiplayer, like destroying an enemy vehicle with equipment, and others can only be earned through online competition. There are also achievements that encourage players to return to the campaign to find hidden skulls and earn scores based on campaign performance.

Madden 08 (615) – I’m one of those people, I buy Madden every year. This year’s is the best on 360 with some good achievements to boot.

E4 or Every Extend Extra Extreme (115) - one of my favorite arcade titles. Similar to Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, but different. You blow stuff up in rhythm to music. Very simple but very addictive and fun

Orange Box (130) - Uh, five games for $60? Yes, I bought it. I haven’t had a chance to play much, but this is the highest scoring 360 game on www.metacritic.com, a website that averages the scores from multiple sources.

Crackdown (620) – I played the crap out of this game leading up to the Halo 3 Beta and liked it, even though it was a bit repetitive. The sandbox of destruction and the mobility of the main character, was unmatched in any game I’ve played before. Then the Beta came out and the game stayed in there forever

DiRT (615) – My favorite racing game so far on the 360, a rental I bought. It looks incredible and plays somewhere between sim and arcade (perfect for me). A buddy and co-worker of mine played the game on our lunch break. When he came in to work the next day, he said he had a dream about the game. How’s that for an endorsement.

Geometry Wars (60), Carcassone (115) – Two arcade titles, Carcassone is an addictive remake of a German board game.

Bioshock (60) – That metacritic site I talked about a couple games ago, this title is tied with Orange Box at the top of the 360′s list, earning an average score of 96.

Tiger Woods 07 (90), Madden 07 (905), NBA Street HomeCourt (900), FIFA 06 RTFWC (1000), NBA 2K7 (225) – I love my sports games. I bought TW after renting it, graciously played Madden to get as many points as possible before 08 came out, finished FIFA and NBA 2K7 is the best basketball game I’ve ever played.

TMNT (1,000), Viva Pinata (480) – Family title, played for the points, obviously.

Call of Duty 2 (440) – A launch title two years later? Yep, this game is so good it’s still fun to play. Need those Veteran difficulty Achievements.

Track & Field (125) – Classic arcadey greatness.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance (345) – It’s not a shooter or sports game so it seems out of place here. This is an RPG beatemup that I rented and liked so much I bought it. Since purchasing it, I haven’t played it. But it’s one of those games that I’ll get back to when I need a break from the Madden/Halo/Orange Box/BioShock four-headed monster.

I promise you won’t have to wait so long for the next update.

epGotU