Achievements of the Week – The Back to Business Edition

I missed doing Achievements of the Week last week. Tara and I were on the road for most of that Friday, heading down to Maryland for SPX 2011. Totally worth it, and I’m sorry if I had you on the edge of your seat waiting for an update that never came. That means this edition is covering two weeks’ time. Don’t worry. I didn’t unlock a ton, just a handful in Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mafia II. But now that we finally got the Internet set up at Grimmauld Place, it means I’m back in business, ready to officially track Achievements as they pop. You may cheer if you want. I can’t hear you from the other side of your screen.

Okay, here we go!

From Mafia II…

I’ve unlocked seven Achievements so far, but I’ll only showcase a few here. Story-based ones like “completed Chapter One” are kind of uninteresting. Don’t even try to argue otherwise.

Back to Business (10G): Do your first job for Mike Bruski.

This involved stealing a car and bringing it back in good condition. I definitely did the first half of that equation, but can’t confidently say that the car looked good when I pulled it into his yard. Those street signs just come out of nowhere, I swear it.

He Who Pays the Barber (10G): Improve the dockworkers’ haircuts.

The Achievement text is a bit misleading. Vito did not actually take out a pair of scissors, clippers, and a comb, doing wonders to these workers’ hair and bringing about all new styles and trends, like the Rachel. He simply beat up those that did not want to chip in for the “get a haircut” fund, and that was that. However, a haircut minigame would’ve been more fun as the hand-to-hand combat in Mafia II leaves a lot to be desired.

Collector’s Item (10G): Find at least one collectible in the game.

Porn. I found a porno mag. Oh my. What is this, Shadow Hearts: Covenant?

From Deus Ex: Human Revolution…

The Bull (25G): You defeated Lawrence Barrett, elite member of a secret mercenary hit squad.

Already wrote about this doozy earlier today: click, click, click.

Yes Boss (15G): You had an argument with your boss, David Sarif, and won.

I love these secret Achievements in Deus Ex: Human Revolution; they remind of the dialogue-centered ones in L.A. Noire and are all so more rewarding when they pop because I did not even expect them. I was just roleplaying Jensen to my style, being honest and ethical, taking his boss to task for something I can’t go into yet for spoiler reasons, and there ya go.

Sentimental Value (10G): You kept Megan’s bracelet for yourself. Apparently, letting go really is the hardest part.

I actually meant to give this back to Megan’s mother at the end of the sidequest, but hit the wrong button. Oops. Also…muhahaha!

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That’s it, folks. Have a great weekend gaming, and we’ll see what new Achievements pop up for next week. Hopefully some from the last story-based DLC for Fallout: New Vegas, Lonesome Road. Need more Fallout: New Vegas, now and for forever…

Tell me what you’ve unlocked recently in the comments below!

Lawrence Barrett is no more, and that’s no bull

“Bulls do not win bull fights. People do.” – Norman Ralph Augustine

That’s right, Grinding Down readers. I did it. I did this:

The Bull (25G): You defeated Lawrence Barrett, elite member of a secret mercenary hit squad.

After failing time after time after time–his grenades kill you instantly on the middle difficulty and are quite hard to avoid, considering he throws them in groups of three and the room is small, cramped, with few choice hiding spots–I decided to look up some walkthroughs online to see how others tackled this annoying fellow with a machine gun for a hand. No, not that one. That Barret cusses more. And he would be on my side to begin with, making this boss battle a non-necessity. Anyways, I found a video of someone beat him by tossing a gas canister at him, then an exploding barrel, and then did that twice more, all under sixty seconds. Whaaaaa. Not a single shot was fired, which means that this would be the best way for me to go about it, considering running into the room and trying to equip a lethal weapon was clunky and a waste of time.

Well, it took me three more attempts to figure out the best way to move around the room and toss these deadly items, but I did it. I got him caught in a gas cloud, choking, growling, saying something repeatedly about “playing dirty.” Whatever. You have a gun for a hand. I was so pleased to have finally gotten past this roadblock–and yes, for stealthy players, that’s exactly what he is–that I exclaimed loudly that I had conquered he who seemed unconquerable. Tara was upstairs watching Cheers, but she responded and even gave me some kudos love via Twitter:

According to forum grumblers, there’s a few more of these sorts of boss fights to look forward to. Great. Freaking superb. I can’t wait. However, I do like that this boss battle had two vidoegame references tied to it: Final Fantasy VII and the Metal Gear franchise in calling these elite soldiers The Something. I just didn’t like how it fit into the grand scheme of playing the game. For now, I’m off to China, I think. Well, not me. Jensen is. Place your bets below in the comments on what part I’ll get stuck at next.