PAY to K: Rock Band 3 Achievement Break Down

Achievements often walk that fine line between amusement and marketing, between game and gimmick, usually depending on who's at the helm. I've always held Harmonix in high regard when it comes to achievements, despite some repetition across titles they've generally come up with fun, inventive (albeit some very difficult) stuff that goes beyond the "afterthought" treatment that many developers seem to adopt. At first glance the achievements for Rock Band 3 look more like familiar fun than selling strategy (repetition does beget familiarity, after all), but a closer look makes at least one thing clear: this completion isn't going to cost some cash.

Peripherals for Points - 500G

• Keys Streaker - 15G - Get a streak of 350 notes on Keys.
• Keys Apprentice - 20G - 5 Star on Easy Keys (or 3 Star on a higher difficulty) any 25 Rock Band 3 songs.
• Pro Bass Apprentice - 20G - 5 Star on Easy Pro Bass (or 3 Star on a higher difficulty) any 25 Rock Band 3 songs.
• Drum Trainer Initiate - 15G - Complete the introductory Pro Drum Trainer lessons.
• Drum Trainer Graduate - 30G - Complete the final Pro Drum Trainer lessons.
• Play a Real Guitar Already! - 15G - Play "The Hardest Button to Button" on Pro Guitar.
• Pro Guitar to the Max - 15G - Max out your Score Multiplier meter on Pro Guitar.
• Power Chords - 15G - Complete the "Power Chords" lessons in the Pro Guitar trainer.
• Complex Chords - 25G - Complete the "More Chord Holding and Arpeggiation" Pro Guitar lessons.
• Pro Guitar Apprentice - 20G - 5 Star on Easy Pro Guitar (or 3 Star on a higher difficulty) any 25 Rock Band 3 songs.
• Pro Keyboardist - 15G - Hit at least 90% of the notes in 3 songs on Expert Pro Keys.
• Pro Keys Graduate - 25G - Complete the final Pro Keys trainers.
• Pro Keys to the Max - 15G - Max out your Score Multiplier meter on Pro Keys.
• Pro Keys Apprentice - 20G - 5 Star on Easy Pro Keys (or 3 Star on a higher difficulty) any 25 Rock Band 3 songs.
• Triple Awesome - 10G - Get a Triple Awesome while playing with Vocal Harmonies.
• Is This Just Fantasy? - 25G - Hit all triple awesomes in "Bohemian Rhapsody" on Medium or a higher difficulty.
• Downloader - 20G - Play a downloaded song.
• Mercurial Vocalist - 30G - Earn 5 stars on Vocals on a downloaded Queen song.
• Fistful of Awesome - 15G - Beat 5 downloaded songs.
• Accountant's Dozen - 15G - Beat 12 downloaded songs.
• Decent Collection - 15G - Beat 20 downloaded songs.
• I Want It All - 15G - Play a downloaded Queen song.
• Shameless Self-Promotion - 15G - Download and play three songs from a band that has Harmonix team members in it.
• Just Another Band Out of Boston - 15G - 5 Star any Boston song.
• Dave Grohl Band - 30G - Beat 5 songs from any band that has had Dave Grohl as a member.
• The Perfect Drug - 30G - Get a 200 note streak on "The Perfect Drug".

In addition to the game, these 500 points will cost you 3 more cymbals, 2 more microphones, a pro guitar, a keyboard, and a bit of DLC - and that's assuming you've previously purchased a full setup (guitar, mic, drums) already. To be fair, this really isn't anything out of the ordinary: Harmonix has worked hard to create what looks like a great game, and the achievements necessarily reflect the latest innovations this iteration has to offer - it's the same with any game, sequel or not. What's more, DLC achievements are just that, achievements for DLC (I'm actually glad to see Harmonix finally take advantage of the DLC option, although I'm a little disappointed it didn't happen 3 or 4 months from now when Rock Band 3's setlist will be sounding a little... played). I'm sure I'll come up with 483,256 more "legitimate" reasons to spend the money once the game comes out, but that won't change the fact that it'll be the most expensive 1250 points ever launched.

We Get It, You're Poor, But Are They Difficult?

If you do end up spending the money, Dave Grohl Band (30), Just Another Band Out of Boston (15), Shameless Self-Promotion (15), I Want It All (15), Decent Collection (15), Accountant's Dozen (15), Fistful of Awesome (15), Downloader (20), Triple Awesome (10), and Drum Trainer Initiate (15) will also probably be a pretty painless 165G, along with the 415G below - that's 580G with a bit of time and minimal practice. Some notable concessions include merely "completing" the Endless Setlist III (no Platinum Artist this time around), just earning 3 stars for (essentially just passing) songs if you're not playing on easy, and a few more for basically just having learned the color red at some point in your life.

• Tune Up - 4G - Calibrate your audio/video setup for the optimal Rock Band 3 experience.
• Self-Made Dude or Lady - 5G - Create a Character.
• Best. Name. Ever. - 5G - Rename your band.
• Well Connected - 6G - Connect your Rock Band 3 Band with rockband.com at http://www.rockband.com.
• You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet - 20G - Maintain overdrive for 60 seconds.
• Alex's Luggage Combination - 30G - Beat a Rock Band 3 score of 12,345,678.
• Hometown Threwdown - 20G - Complete the "Hometown Throwdown" Road Challenge.
• Real Nor'easter - 20G - Complete "The Wicked Awesome Tour".
• Wilderness Survival - 20G - Complete the "Through the Wilderness, Eh?" Road Challenge.
• Party Animal - 20G - Completed the "Total Debauchery" Road Challenge.
• Mile High Club - 25G - Complete the "Really Frequent Flyers" Road Challenge.
• HOPO-cidal Maniac - 25G - Kill 53,596 Hammer-ons and Pull-offs.
• Guitar Apprentice - 20G - 5 Star on Easy Guitar (or 3 Star on a higher difficulty) any 25 Rock Band 3 songs.
• Bass Apprentice - 20G - 5 Starred on Easy Bass (or 3 Starred on a higher difficulty) 25 Rock Band 3 songs.
• Fastest Feet - 15G - Hit 90% of the Kick notes in a song on Hard Drums.
• Drums Apprentice - 20G - 5 Star on Easy Drums (or 3 Star on a higher difficulty) any 25 Rock Band 3 songs.
• Vocals Showmanship - 10G - Deploy overdrive four times in a single song as a vocalist.
• Tambourine Master - 10G - Hit 100% of the notes in a percussion section.
• Vocal Apprentice - 20G - 5 Star on Easy Vocals (or 3 Star on a higher difficulty) any 25 Rock Band 3 songs.
• The Endless Setlist III - 50G - Successfully complete "The Endless Setlist III!"
• Live Free or Die - 25G - Beat all of the free downloadable songs for Rock Band.
• Face Melter - 25G - Melt faces by beating any three '80s Metal songs.

The remaining 670G consists of the other 335Gs from above that'll have you buying-and-learning new peripherals, and yet another 335Gs that also might give you a run for your money (if you have any left, that is).

• Millionaire Club - 25G - Get 1,000,000 on one song.
• Rock Band Master - 25G - 5 Star on Medium (or 3 Star on a higher difficulty) any 50 Rock Band 3 songs.
• Rock Band Legend - 30G - 5 Star every song in Rock Band 3 on Hard.
• Rock Band Immortal - 50G - 5 Star every song in Rock Band 3 on Expert.
• Hell Defrosted - 25G - Win all rewards on the "Hell Freezes Over" Road Challenge.
• Major Mileage - 25G - Get 90 or more spades on "The Long Drive South" Road Challenge.
• The Connoisseur's Connoisseur - 25G - Get 90 or more spades on "The European Connoisseur" Road Challenge.
• Ultimate Road Warrior - 30G - Win all awards on the "Really Frequent Flyers" Road Challenge.
• Bleeding Fingers - 30G - Get 85% on all Guitar Solos in Rock Band 3 on Hard or Expert.
• Guitar Perfectionist - 25G - Get 100% accuracy on Expert Guitar.
• Bass Streaker - 10G - Get a streak of 500 notes on Bass.
• Most Authentic Strummer - 10G - Hit 100% of the notes, only strumming up, on Hard Bass.
• Drum Roll, Please! - 10G - Nail a drum roll.
• Vocal Virtuoso - 15G - Earn an Awesome rating on at least 90% of the phrases in 6 songs on Hard Vocals.

Some of these are unknowns that might normally be fodder for The Mid rather than The Hard List, but the latter will likely be where the game ends up (like most of its predecessors), thanks in part to the return of Harmonix's least awesome ach from Guitar Hero II: 5 starring every song on expert. You have more instruments, easier charting, and a more forgiving setlist this time around (in my opinion), but overall it's looking like you'll need at least as much capability as you do cash to complete this one.