Week 2

Week two started off right as the brand new XBLA Afterburner game went on sale for half price Monday morning. Love me some Afterburner, so I grabbed it first thing. This is the kind of game that reminds me why I love my Dreamcast so much. My first play got me the "Rank In", "Stealth Bomber", "Emergency Order", "Climax Mode", and "ROLL" achievements.

Back to Mass Effect 2 on Wednesday morning, and it's looking like I'm getting close to finishing my first and likely only playthrough. Def Shepard recruited the final member of his team tasked with taking down the Collectors by adding Tali to the roster and in the process earned me the "The Quarian" achievement. A side mission at the request of the Justicar had me being used as bait in an elaborate scheme to bring her daughter out of hiding so we could kill her, and get me the "Doppleganger" achievement. And finally, investigating a derelict alien vessel we ran into yet another trap, narrowly escaped with our lives (and ship) intact, and got the "Ghost Ship" achievement.

Thursday I took the highway to the danger zone and fired up Afterburner Climax again. I'm sorry but I absolutely love this game, and I can't believe it was only 400 points. Hopped in the cockpit of the F-14D and blasted my way to the end of arcade mode for the "Super Tomcat" achievement, and managed to pick up "Across Enemy Lines" along the way. Thanks to my superior flight skills, and insatiable need for speed, I also got "Triple A" for my final mission time's AAA ranking.

Thursday night, Def Shepard was attacked by Mass Effect's own brand of zombies! I knocked back and then shot 20 Husks and for that, I was labeled a "Brawler".

Friday morning Goose talked to me, and it was time for more Afterburner. I finished campaign mode with the other two fighters, earning the "Super Hornet" and "Strike Eagle" achievements. I've also unlocked most of the EX options which adjust the gameplay settings allowing for things like speed boosts and a larger reticle for missile lock, and thanks to that I also earned the "50 Combo" achievement. On my last playthrough with the F-15, I also finally found my way to the final bonus mission, and after taking down all the nukes got the "A" ending and the achievement for finishing it, "All Clear". And with that, I have all the achievements in Afterburner Climax! There are still a few EX options I've got to unlock, and this game is just too much fun to put down anytime soon, but alas no more achievements to be earned.

After a trip to the mailbox I discovered that the Gamefly gods had seen fit to bestow Ninja Blade upon me. I always jump at a chance to put my elite ninja skills to the test (and my quick time button pressing skills as it turns out) and Friday evening I did just that. I fought a giant flaming mutant creature, learned to wall jump, and killed a gigantic mutant spider amongst other ninja-like shenanigans, and without going into too much more boring detail, I earned the "It slices, it dices!", "Enter the Way of the Ninja", "Yes, I am that Good", "Not too Shabby", "Let off Some Steam", "I'm Rubber and You're Glue", "Nothing Left but the Dying", "Chewy on the Inside", "Gotta Get them All", "How Ya Like me Now?", and "Only a Ninja can Stop a Ninja" achievements, and that was only the first mission! See I told you, my ninja skills are ELITE son.

Saturday morning I jumped back into Ninja Blade before heading out for the day. I swear this game is nothing but quick time button press sequences, platforming, and boss battle after boss battle, and the boss battles also require you to platform and quick time button mash. It's insane, and can be quite frustrating being that the control is a little iffy at times. Not sure if I'll finish it or not, but this morning I did manage to finish mission two, and picked up "Burn, Baby, Burn!", "Sharp Dressed Man", and "Two-Wheel Daredevil". Seriously mission two's finale had to be seen to be believed, hah.

Saturday night I finally got a chance to play in my 6th mutation in Left 4 Dead 2, which was actually my 8th, but the achievement didn't pop until last night. So far my favorite mutation has been the Chainsaw Massacre one, which has come around twice now, and both times I played it, and neither time did it count towards the achievement for me for some reason. Oh well, Saturday night I finally became a "Mutant Overlord" and unlocked the Gnome avatar award!

Week two seems like it was much more productive toward that illustrious 50k benchmark. Afterburner was definitely my favorite game this week, and Ninja Blade is more than likely going back to Gamefly unfinished. Here's the breakdown:

Beginning Gamerscore: 47,532

Finishing Gamerscore: 48,007

475 points gained this week! Up next on the Gamefly queue is either Metro 2033 (which I REALLY hope is shipped), Saw, or Eat Lead the Return of Matt Hazard.