My Gadget, Game & Gizmo Obsession

It’s been many months since I talked about achievements in Rock Band, see the old post when I finished the solo drum tour on expert for Rock Band 1 to unlock “AN-I-MAL!!”. Last night, I finished the Impossible Drum Challenge on expert for Rock Band 2, getting me the “AN-I-MAL!!” achievement on the latest installment.

	AN-I-MAL!!!	25
	Beat the Impossible Drum Challenge

Now, I have 40 of the 50 total achievements in the game. Two of the remaining 10, I can get on the drums.

	Band Savior	20
	Be a savior three times during a single song

	Stage Igniters	25
	Beat the Impossible Band Challenge

The rest, will require me to pick up a plastic guitar to complete. For certain, there is one achievement that I will not be getting.

	The Bladder of Steel Award	25
	Completed the Endless Setlist 2 without pausing or failing.

That’s playing all 84 songs without pausing, without going to any menus, without changing batteries. 6.5+ hours, non-stop. No thanks!

The next 4 achievements, should take some time (especially since I’m terrible on guitar), but should be, well, “achievable”.

	Flawless Fretwork	25
	Score 100% notes hit as a guitarist on Expert
	Flawless Guitar Solo	20
	100% a guitar solo on Expert, using only the solo buttons

	Groove Assassin	20
	Beat the Impossible Bass Challenge
	Lord of the Strings	25
	Beat the Impossible Guitar Challenge

The final 3 achievements go back to “The Bladder of Steel Award”. It’s the entire set list, but failing and pausing is allowed. There’s one achievement for each difficulty level, starting at medium. The tough part for me is, there are still two songs that I have not beat on expert drums. In fact, I think I have never beat them on hard. Visions and Battery.

	Vinyl Artist	20
	Finished the Endless Setlist 2 in World Tour on Medium
	Gold Artist	30
	Finished the Endless Setlist 2 in World Tour on Hard
	Platinum Artist	50
	Finished the Endless Setlist 2 in World Tour on Expert

[source:Xbox360Achievements.org]

I do not want to play this entire set list 3 times, so I guess it’s time to start practicing these two songs on expert.

There’s my game plan to getting 49 of the 50 achievements for Rock Band 2. How about you? Where are you currently at, and are you trying to complete the game?

Two nights ago, I beat Run to the Hills on drums expert…three stars, but I’ll take it.  It was all about:

1) Repositioning my seat to sit right over the red pad;
2) Extremely fast and accurate hi-hat/snare combos…it may have been 1/32 notes for you drummer types out there
3) Constant bass notes, I believe they were 1/8 notes through the entire song (except for a couple 1/16 notes scattered in).

Once the rhythm was down, I needed to manage my overdrive to stay alive to the end.  My new BFF, overdrive, definitely came through when needed.  I believe I was flashing red at the final note into the big ending.  Yes, I nailed the big ending too.  Sweating something fierce, I knew that I needed to break…so hopped on the vocals to do some online jamming with some friends (BigMaki, CRACKODOOM420, and dj wazzy). Thanks for the tips and encouragement guys. (What do you think, do we have a RB2 band ready to take on the masses? We’ll need a name.)

Last night, after some Q.T. with my wife, and a little Wii Sports, I headed to the dungeon to attempt to finish off Won’t Get Fooled Again. Surprisingly, I 3-starred it on my first attempt of the night. Sure it was ugly, but proper overdrive management and BAM…my drummer grabbed the mallet and banged the Zildjian gong. AN-I-MAL!!! achievement unlocked!

So, I have hit my official goal before RB2 drops on September 14. Though, I still could try to do some Score Dual or Tug of War achievements, if I have time. Plus, I’m half way through tier 8 on the Expert vocal solo tour. Maybe I should just finish that. What do you think?
Have you hit your goals yet before RB2 drops, or are you still trying to get one more achievement completed?

Alright, we took a long weekend, with nothing to report.  Now we are back.  Some tidbits for you to start the short week.

• Metallica offering 11 free tracks from Death Magnetic on Guitar Hero III (as downloadable content), if you pre-order the CD at Best Buy.
  • EDITORIAL:  Incredible deal, especially if you are a Metallica fan, and a GH III fan.  For me, this sort of hurts.  I’m an old school Metallica fan, but I’m a fanboy of drums and vocals (i.e. Rock Band and potentially Guitar Hero World Tour).  I really wish they didn’t release this as GH III content.  I personally think it’s such a waste.  Here’s hoping it comes to RB as DLC.
• Working towards AN-I-MAL!!! achievement.  I have not got any further on drums expert for Rock Band.  Still have Run to the Hills and Won’t Get Fooled Again.  I practiced Won’t Get Fooled a few times this weekend and am hoping to have one of the two tracks finished by the end of tonight.  I’ve got to get a move on, since I have 11 days to reach my goal.
• New Rock Band DLC out today.  Straight from the geeks at PAX (that’s a compliment).  Three more cheap (80 MS Points / $1) and relatively unknown acts:
  • “Skullcrusher Mountain” by Jonathan Coulton (80)
  • “Livin’ on the Corner of Dude and Catastrophe” by MC Frontalot (80)
  • “Shhh…” by Darkest of the Hillside Thickets (80)
  • NOTE:  As I’m focused on getting the AN-I-MAL!!! achievement, I don’t plan on downloading anything right now.  So, if someone get’s these tracks or the Locksley tracks, please post a review of them.  I’d like to know how they are.

I have been quietly working on unlocking the “AN-I-MAL” achievement on Rock Band for Xbox 360. I’m on the 2nd to last city for the drum solo tour, Los Angeles, and have completed one of the 5 songs. It was Foreplay/Long Time (with 5 stars I might add).

My goal is to complete this tour before September 14 (the release of Rock Band 2). I have a total of nine songs remaining and 20 days to make this happen.

The remaining songs:
“(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” Blue Öyster Cult
“Cherub Rock” Smashing Pumpkins
“Enter Sandman” Metallica
“Highway Star” Deep Purple
“Flirtin’ with Disaster” Molly Hatchet
“Next to You” The Police
“Run to the Hills” Iron Maiden
“Tom Sawyer” Rush
“Won’t Get Fooled Again” The Who

Tonight there will be no Xbox Live Jam Session and no DLC for me, as I’m poised to slay The Reaper, bash Cherub Rock, and violate the Sandman.  If time allows, I’d like to Flirt With Disaster before I call it a night.

I know for sure that 5 of the remaining songs are going to attempt to stab me in the eye like a hot poker fresh from the fire pit of hell.  Those demonous tracks are Highway Star, Next to You, Run to the Hills, Tom Sawyer, and Won’t Get Fooled Again.  These songs slowed me down on the hard tour, and no doubt will bring me to my knees with tears in my eyes before the week is out.

If you have any tips, please share.

That’s it for now, see you online.
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