Trying to get back on topic I guess...I have only played COD5 a couple times, don't own it, but I played it at a friends for long enough. However, I personally dislike it.

The campaign may be different...and well...different, the actual game mechanics, graphics and overall style is almost identical as COD4. Online...looks and feels the same. There are a few differences, yeah, guns are different...yeah.

Unless your a hardcore FPS fan, I don't see much difference in COD4 to COD5.

And since I personally dislike games that glorify one of the most tragic events in recent human history...I don't think I'll buy it.

However!

I think Infinty Ward to a better job the Treyarch (? spelt it right). Don't get me wrong, the COD5 is fun, but it seems like it's just like the same old Barret .50 Calibur rifle...with the Blue Dragon skin.

On top of the matter, achievements should be something extraordinary, rather than some of the things that are currently out there. You shouldn't get an achievement for beating a level, you should get an achievement for doing something in a certain criteria (like, beating it under a time limit, or without getting below 50% health) as well as beating the level.

An example of the stupidity of gamerscore is one of the achievements in Soul Calibur IV....you get 5G for WATCHING THE OPENING CINEMATIC. What is that? I know it's only five, but still...

An example of a ~good~ achievement is one from Half Life 2: Episode 2; in a nutshell, you have to beat a certain part of the stage without any of the main objectives being destroyed (You can beat the part with a bare minimum of one objectives remaining).

Achievements should be challenging, and putting the gamer to the test. Rather than being able to blow through a game in a day and get 1000G.

Some of the ones that are up there:

- Lost Odyssey
- Half-Life 2 (with Episode 1 and 2)
- Assassin's Creed
- the Witcher
- Star Wars: Force Unleashed
- Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark
- Pokemon Blue! (ftw!)

(I real pity I've only played 1 Final Fantasy game :(...I really should get a PS2 just to get FFVII)

I, personally, think Gamerscore and Achievements are one of the stupidest things on the 360. I don't see any point as to WHY they have them. It's pointless. And, as other posters have mentioned, you become more fixated with the achievements than actually enjoying the game. It's basically because...Gamerscore and Achievements don't do anything, and don't prove anything.
The only thing it proves is how much you play your 360, or how many different sort of games you play. I can see that achievements could offer some competition amongst friends...but even then.

The only game that, in my opinion, properly utilizes Achievements is Mass Effect. Why? When you unlock one it adds something to the game. For example, once you reach one million dollars, you unlock the option to buy some of the best equipmen in the game. Achievements should be utilized like that...rather than just give gamerscore.

Or? Gamerscore should give you something. Everyt 10,000 GS you get 100 MS, or something like that. Because at the moment, Gamerscore, and most games with Achievements...do nothing.

The final battle or the final boss should be ~satisfying~. I absolutely hate it when you have this amazing game, with awesome gameplay and an intriguing storyline...but the last thirty minutes of the game are way too easy. It's even more annoying when you have other bosses and battles throughout the rest of the game which are 10x harder than the last battle. The last battle should always be the 'test', at which point you have to really know what your doing, or just get really lucky.
Nowadays, I rarely see a last boss that makes you go..."WTF?!?!"...in absolute frustration because of the high difficulty. It's more like..."That's it?...Oh...well the boss half way through the game was way harder than this."

Especially in action/adventure/RPG's should there be a last boss, however, in shooters, the last level should just be INSANE. Halo 3 pulled that off, COD4 pulled that off...but there are still some FPS (Gears of War wasn't really that spectacular) that lack the moment where you yell..."Friggin' rights, I'm amazing!"

You do not need a Gold Membership to download things off of XBL Marketplace, Silver suffices. However, to play online games you require a Gold Membership. And see if you can get a 60 (or 40?) gigabit hard drive, I did think they were being sold now. Because in the long run, 20gb doesn't get you anywhere. Downloading original xbox games takes up a lot of room, and if you want to install your games on to your hard drive...well...it adds up.