Platinum #38 - Call of Duty : Black Ops

Platinum Difficulty Rating - 8/10

This list is distinctly split into 2 main focus areas, with a typically large offering of Single Player trophies, along with some fairly gruelling trophies tied to the Multi-Player zombies game mode.

The campaign trophies are extremely run of the mill for a Call of Duty title, with a huge selection of progression based trophies for performing certain important actions throughout the main story, along with a handful of silver trophies awarded for beating chunks of the game on Veteran difficulty.

The "BLACK OP MASTER" trophy, awarded for beating the game on hardened or veteran difficulty, provides an often frustrating challenge you'd normally expect from a Call of Duty game, and although the trophy does offer the player to beat the game a lower difficulty than Veteran, it makes no sense to play the game through on any other difficulty level, given the fact there are still a handful of trophies granted for beating every level on Veteran difficulty anyway.

Beating the game on it's hardest difficulty setting is tough in spots, but compared to previous titles in the series, it's not overly hard, and all trophies related to the single player campaign, including the chapter specific ones, can easily be picked up within 10-15 hours, depending on how much you need to clean up at the end, but thankfully, you can afford to miss any of the chapter specific trophies, since chapter select allows you to reload any relevant points in the campaign and collect any that you might have missed.

The "Closer Analysis" trophy, awarded for finding all hidden intel, provides the collectibles angle for the game, but thankfully, you don't need to collect everything in a single playthrough, and any intel you may have missed along the way can be gathered up through the chapter select option, and it will still count towards trophy progress.

The Multi-Player trophies come in 2 forms, with 3 trophies allocated to the online Multi-Player game, and a further 4 attached to the games zombies mode.

The online trophies are easy, though the "In the Money" trophy, awarded for finishing 5 wager matches in the money, requires you to finish within the top 3 on 5 different occassions, which will require at least a moderate level of skill at the game if you want to be able to finish in the top 3 places 5 times.
                                                                                                         
Most of the difficulty with this Platinum comes from the trophies related to zombies mode, with a small clutch of trophies that are incredibly difficulty to achieve.
                                                     
The "Sacrifical Lamb" trophy is the stand-out trophy in this list, awarded for shooting an ally with a Pack-A-Punched crossbow and killing 6 zombies with the explosion, and will require good co-operation, strong advancement during the games rounds and a bit of luck.

First of all, you'll need to need to get the Crossbow out of the mystery box, which is totally dependant on luck, and then it'll cost you 5000 points in order to upgrade it at the Pack-A-Punch machine, both of which are hard enough to do without actually achieving the trophy itself.

Thankfully, the trophy allows you to either be the shooter, or the recipient of the arrow, but by the time you've managed to get a crossbow, and fully upgrade it, you'll be deep into the game and it can get incredibly easy to be swamped by a horde of zombies quickly, so it's important to react fast and make sure you have a solid plan. It isn't difficult to actually kill 6 zombies, since the special power of the upgraded crossbow attracts zombies to the arrow, but the process and build-up leading to the final stage will most likely take numerous attempts, so you need to be committed to this trophy in order to achieve.

The "See Me, Stab Me, Heal Me" trophy, awarded for reviving a downed ally with a Pack-A-Punched Ballistic Knife from a distance, also deserves a mention.

Again, as is the same with the crossbow, the ballistic knife can only be achieved through the mystery box, and also requires 5000 points to upgrade at the Pack-A-Punch machine. Thankfully, once you've completed both of those steps, you can leave 1 zombie alive at the end of the round, and allow him to down your team-mate, at which point you can revive him without having to worry about a swarm of zombies being after you at the same time.

It does also specify, albeit loosely, that the knife has to be fired "from a distance", which is completely open in regards to how far away that has to be in order to meet the requirements that will unlock the trophy, and you will need some solid aim to hit your partner from a considerable distance away, so it's better to start shorter and go longer until you find you've gone far enough for the trophy to unlock.
                                                          
You'll need to patient, and willing to try multiple times in order to unlock the zombie related trophies, and it can become an arduous and frustrating venture, depending on how many attempts you need to fulfil the requirements of both of these trophies.

Overall, this is a tough Platinum to achieve when you take everything into account. The Single Player portion of the game is tough in parts, especially on Veteran difficulty, but generally a relaxed journey, and being able to use chapter select to clean up trophies and collect any remaining intelligence makes it much easier. You will need to beat every level on veteran difficulty, which bumps the rating up slightly, but you can still unlock every Single Player trophy within 15 hours or so.

However, it's the zombies trophies that provide the toughest challenge in this list, with the 2 aforementioned carrying the bulk of the difficulty rating. You need good co-operation and a solid plan in order to achieve them both, and you should definitely prepare yourself for commitment towards numerous attempts in order to knock off the zombies mode altogether.

It's difficult to put an overall timescale on completion, simply for the reason that it will depend on how many attempts you need at the zombies mode trophies, but if you have the right tactics and an equally dedicated partner, you shouldn't really need too many attempts, and the overall Platinum completion time should fall somewhere into the 20-30 hour mark.
                                                                                            
I guess World at War is now officially the co-owner of the hardest Call of Duty Platinum crown. Never saw that one coming.

Notable Trophies -

BLACK OP MASTER - Complete the campaign on Hardened or Veteran difficulty
Sacrificial Lamb - Shoot or be shot at by an all with a Pack-A-Punch crossbow and kill 6 zombies with the explosion
See Me, Stab Me, Heal Me - Fire a Pack-A-Punched Ballistic Knife at a downed ally to revive them from a distance                                                                                             

Hardest Trophy -                                                                                                                                            


Sacrificial Lamb
Shoot at, or be shot at by an ally with a Pack-A-Punch crossbow, and kill 6 zombies with the explosion.

DLC #43 - LA Noire - Reefer Madness

Time for a classic drug bust.

Yet more LA Noire DLC in the form of an additional stand alone case, with a very familiar feel and set of trophies to go with it.

You obviously know the drill by now. 1 gold for finishing the case and then 4 other hidden trophies scattered throughout relating to specific in-case actions. 

The secret trophies are, as always, missable, but they're extremely hard to miss in this particular case and as long as you explore all possible clues and locations, you'll pick them up without the need for a second playthrough.

Easy. Easy. Easy.

Luck Based Trophies - Yes or No?

I've recently been playing Assassin's Creed : Revelations, and after polishing off the single player portion of the game, I've run into a trophy that I cannot seem to unlock.

Tax doesn't have to be taxing, but sadly, it is.

Without going into great detail about it, simply for the reasons that I've spent way too much time doing just that elsewhere, the trophy requires you to "Get your money back from a Templar Tax collector", a completely random occurrence within the game world.                                      
There are various theories floating around about where/when he shows up, but the bottom line is, it's all down to luck.                                                                                            
So, do luck based trophies have a place in our digital lists? I want to say yes. After all, they add an extra dimension to trophy collecting, and can always add a sense of excitement and tension that rivals that of gambling and chance.                                                                     
However, the lack of control over unlocking the trophy is a slightly uncomfortable thought, and people will always be at least slightly apprehensive about trophies aren't dictated by themselves when it comes to unlocking them.            
                                 
I can see both sides of the argument, but the sure thing is that they seem to be creeping into games more and more. Every single zombie retail list/map pack released from World at War and Black Ops has trophies with an emphasis on the mystery box, with the "Acquire Waffle Weapons" and "Sacrificial Lamb" trophies being 2 of the more notably tougher luck-based trophies in the vast PS3 trophy catalogue.                                                                                              

Call of Duty zombies mode is packed with Luck-based trophies,
but it isn't called the "Mystery Box" without reason.

FIFA 12 presents the "How Great is That?" trophy and The Borderlands Claptrap's New Robot Revolution DLC has a handful of painstaking collectible trophies, just to throw out a few more examples of personal experience.     
            
With enough perseverance though, you'll eventually get them, but when, is down to the mechanics of the game, rather than the player. It could unlock first time, just in the same way it could theoretically be never, (even though most trophy hunters I know of would walk the depths of hell to earn a Platinum trophy), but the point stands.                                                            
I've always believed trophies are better when you know when to expect the end-goal. If a trophy requires you to reach a certain rank online, you can work out an average expected time. It'll be different for everyone, sure, but if you put the time in, you're guaranteed to get it.    
                                                                                         
I understand the "Tax Evasion"trophy from Assassin's Creed : Revelations probably isn't in the same league as some of the aforementioned examples in this post, but It's frustrating to be at a dead end for 5/6 hours (and counting), having finished everything else in the game, and simply waiting for a random event to happen for the Platinum trophy, that just doesn't seem to want to happen.                                                                                                                                                      
"Give Luck a chance to happen, and it eventually will." Some people will just say, "Luck Off!"

DLC #42 - Dead Space 2 Severed

The trophy picture tells you why this is
 called "Severed". Gruesome.

The Severed DLC follows the short journey of Gabe Wellar, who is cut off (no pun intended) from the main story, but still on a quest to escape the same ship as main protagonist, Isaac Clarke.                                                     
There's a few progression based trophies for completing the 2 Chapters within the package, and 1 for beating the game on Zealot.                                                                                         
Half of the trophies are missable, but the DLC can be easily be completed within a few hours, so it isn't exactly imperative that you pick them up all in 1 go.                                                                          
That being said, if you jump straight into Zealot difficulty, then you can easily pick up all 8 trophies in 1 fell swoop, providing you keep relevant tabs on the missable stuff.                                                                                                                                                                           There may have been a small challenge to be had here if it wasn't for the fact you get handed a war-chest at the start of the DLC, to stock up on ammunition and health (Not to mention already having access to a few souped up guns, upgrade-wise). It makes the notion of beating the DLC on Zealot completely irrelevant, given the fact it emphasises that ammunition is short and health is low, when the DLC starts you off with the potential to buy both in abunndace....   
                                         
However, as it is, it's easy and will take a mere few hours to get through.

DLC #41 - Borderlands - Claptrap's New Robot Revolution

The Borderlands DLC goes out on a bit of a whimper, unfortunately, mainly plagued by too much repetition and exhausted ideas from the rest of the game and it's add on's. Oh, and the trophies are REALLY tedious, too.                                                                                                                       
If you were to devise your trophy list from hell, it wouldn't look too dissimilar to what's thrown up here. Ironically enough, it starts off promisingly, with a handful of progression based trophies attached to the story in the DLC, but the rest are the fundamentals for a passage of hell devised entirely of randomised collectibles.                                                                                                                              
Why throw in something fun and interesting, when you can do something like this;                                                                            

The Lubricator - Found 25 Oil Cans
Bobble-trap - Collected 15 Claptrap Bobbleheads
What a Party! - Collected 3 Panties, 5 Fish in a Bag and 15 Pizzas

There are a handful of methods available for attaining these collectibles, but it still comes down to random chance and probability. One of these tactics does allow you to set your controller down if the repetitive grinding gets the better of you, which will be a Godsend for many people, given the fact you'll be grinding for anywhere between 6-8 hours, possibly a bit longer depending on how kind the drop rates are for you.                         
                 
The biggest issue with these trophies is how disproportionate the quantity of each item needed in relation to their drop-rate seemed to be. The general consensus on the forum is that Bobbleheads and Oil Cans seem to drop the least, and I can personally testify to that experience too, yet you need 25 Oil Cans and 15 Bobbleheads to unlock the respective trophies. Go figure that one out.                
                          
It just means you end spending too much unnecessary time farming Claptraps for parts, and constantly picking up things you don't need. It really does put on a dampener on the game for trophy hunters. Definitely one to forget.

Platinum #37 - Saints Row : The Third

Platinum Difficulty Rating - 4/10                                                                           
The challenge the game presents is extremely minimal, and the only difficulty to overcome is the somewhat grindy barrier contained within the trophy list.

As always seems to be the case with games with a story driven element, there are a bunch of trophies related to natural progression, for beating missions at certain stages throughout the story.

However, these trophies are designed in such a way that they encourage multiple playthroughs, with 4 branched trophies that are awarded for completing acts 1 and 3 in different ways.

If you want to negate the need for a second playthrough, just for these trophies, then you can always save just before the start of the mission, and reload it in order to grab whichever trophy you didn't get first time round, but if you're not aware and miss either of them, you'll be playing the game through for a second time right up until the necessary point.

Although there isn't a trophy awarded for beating the game to 100% completion, there are a ton of other trophies awarded for indulging in the games various side activities and fully taking over every district.

Taking over every district requires you to beat every instance of side activity within that area, and these are all highlighted on the in-game map aswell as carrying individual trophies, so it's extremely easy to monitor progression and keep track of what you need to complete in order to lock down the area.

None of the 10 different instances are particularly challenging, aside a couple of the later instances of Heli Assault and Mr Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax, and they generally fit in line with the easy nature of the game.

Being a sandbox game though, it wouldn't be complete with some good, old fashioned collectibles, and there are plenty to be had within this list. The "Life of the Party" trophy, awarded for finding 100% of collectibles, requires you to pick up all 80 hidden items scattered around the game, in the form of Drug packages, Money pallets, Sex dolls and Photo Opportunities.

You can purchase the collectible finder from stores, which will reveal the location of every single one of these items on the in-game map, and though it isn't terribly expensive, it is only available from shops late on in the game, so you might have to wait to grab most of them. However, even if you pick up a collectible, it is still shown on the map with a greyed out icon, whereas the items you still need to collect are coloured it, so an obvious difference is made between the two that makes it much easier for the player when it comes to hunting all 80 items down.

The "You're MY hero" trophy, awarded for completing all challenges, is possibly the most difficult trophy in this list, and requires you to fulfil the criteria of all 41 challenges located within the Saints Book. In reality, none of these are particularly difficult, but a small selection of them are seriously grindy, and will most likely see you playing right through the end-game achieving them all. 500 Multi-kills, competing 26 survival challenges and travelling 2,500,000 feet in distance are a few good examples of the more long winded challenges, and this is definitely the most time consuming aspect of the list.
                                                                       
The "Third and 30" trophy, awarded for spending over 30 hours in Steelport, is only relevant to mention because it means at least a 30 hour completion time, but you'll most likely be looking for well over that amount to Platinum the game anyway. It could be possible to beat everything within less time than 30 hours, but the vast amount of side activities, collectibles and the grindy element of the Saints Book challenges will see the majority of the players taking longer than 30 hours anyway.
                       
The challenge this list contains is practically non-existent and the gameplay is incredibly simplistic and easy going. The main story will take anywhere from around 15-20 hours to beat, and along with the additional side activities, collectibles and challenges to get through, you can probably expect to double that timescale in total.

The hardest this list gets is the grindy element of the Saints Book challenges, but it's an easily tolerable grind in the general context of the word. You know a game has an easy Platinum when you have to choose a "hardest trophy" that probably wouldn't even qualify for contention in most lists out there, but this is one of the easiest lists I've played through, despite an estimated overall completion time of anywhere between 40-50 hours.

Notable Trophies -

You're My Hero - Complete ALL challenges
Third and 30 - Spend over 30 hours in Steelport

Hardest Trophy -                                                                                                                                                   


You're My Hero
Complete ALL challenges

DLC #40 - Assassin's Creed : Brotherhood Da Vinci's Disappearance

OK, before I spew all over this post, I'll get the good bit out of the way first.                                     
The DLC itself is good. The Da Vinci Disappearance storyline is short, but sweet. The selection of 8 missions to complete are varied and interesting enough to keep you hooked, at least for a few hours, and the story is easy to follow, which is important to stress given the complex nature of the hugely interwoven Assassins Creed story.                                                                                              
However...         
                                    


il Principe
Receive 100% synch in ACB and full synch in all missions of the Da Vinci Disappearance.




Let's look at this from 2 schools of thought.            
                                              
Some would argue this trophy pads out a piece of DLC that would probably only bring around 5/6 hours for full completion otherwise, and some would argue why this just wasn't included in the retail list at release towards the Platinum trophy instead.                                                                      
I'm not one to complain about trophies, because they're largely insignificant in terms of what determines the quality of a given game, but you have to feel slightly disappointed on how this trophy was executed.                                                                                                                                
Going through a large selection of missions again, that had already been finished once before the knowledge of a trophy like this, was, to put it bluntly, boring.                                                                
There are plenty of instances where the requirement for 100% synchronisation on a particular mission comes towards the end, and if you fail it, you have to sit through the majority of the mission again, just to get to the point you're trying to perfect. It's extremely dull, and feels like a chore if you've already beaten the mission prior to the DLC.                                                                
The side missions (Assassinations, Thieves and Courtesan) for 100% sync aren't all that interesting either....They all essentially boil down to killing a person(s), so they may aswell have all be filed as assassination missions anyway.                                                                                        
If you can get over the inevitable slog of the "il Principe" trophy, the rest of the trophies are incredibly simple......You get rewarded for fairly small, but cool, tasks like beating up the 5 thirsty harlequins, killing a guard by a dropping a sandbag from a lift and winning the maximum bet on a game of Hazard.                                                                                                                                        
It is a good piece of DLC for the most part, but be warned though, achieving 100% sync could very well sour the experience for you.

Despite the name, Da Vinci isn't really a main character.

DLC #39 - Red Dead Redemption Legends and Killers

Become a Legend...

I can't really say a bad word about the Red Dead Redemption Multiplayer, and the steady flow of post-game DLC kept on adding to the content in superb ways.                                                                        
I still maintain that the Liars and the Cheats pack is the pick of the RDR DLC for me personally, but the Legends and Killers is a worthy addition and brings a number of fun gameplay additions to the fray.

The tomahawk is fun to use (at least in free roam, but you'll most likely get torn to shreds in competitive MP...) and there's a nice emphasis on the Tomahawk with the trophies too, including snagging a kill off someone from 35 yards and a set of single player ambient challenges to muscle through.                                                                                                                                                      
A host of skins are also available from the PS2 classic, Red Dead Revolver, and again, the new skins are nicely complimented by the trophies, with bronze awards for obtaining 25 kills with Pig Josh's dynamite and Red's dead eye ability.                                                                                                        
The trophies in general are all nicely varied, but some seem very thrown in....Where does the relevance of getting 3 kills with knives come from? Or fighting back from 2-0 down to win a game of Hold your Own? These particular trophies in the pack can be somewhat frustrating to try and achieve, but not really enough to numb the experience too badly.                                                                             
Still, there is alot of fun to be had in this pack, and the Red Dead Redemption DLC in general.

Platinum #36 - Assassins Creed : Brotherhood

Platinum Difficulty Rating - 8/10                                                                                          
From the Single Player perspective, you could definitely argue that this is actually easier than Assassins Creed 2.                                                                   
The basis of the Single Player list is extremely similar, with a bunch of a progression based trophies, all tied to finishing the various DNA sequences and completing the main story arc.

There is also quite a heavy emphasis on side missions too, with trophies awarded for discovering the 6 main shrines in the game and destroying the 4 historical weapons, which makes up around a fifth of the list in total.

The collectible trophies also make a return, including the "Capture the Flag" trophy, awarded for removing all Borgia flags in Rome, and "In Memoriam" for collecting all feathers, which will fulfil the somewhat grindy element of the single player, totalling 150 items to collect around the world.

You can purchase maps from vendors that will expose their locations, which is more than helpful, given the sheer volume that is required for both trophies, but you also need to be aware that some flags and feathers are hidden underground and in tombs, so they're not always that easy to find, even with the aid of maps.

The ".. .- -- .- .-.. .. ...-." trophy, awarded for solving all of Subject 16's puzzles, requires you to solve increasingly difficult riddles and cryptic problems in order to unlock a small cinematic. Alot of these puzzles will require some deep thought and good problem solving ability. You can always look up the solutions in a guide, but they're tough to crack if you go through them all legitimately without any assistance, and are definitely the most challenging part of the Single Player list.

It is also important to note the "Mailer Daemon" trophy, awarded for accessing your e-mail in 2012, and the "Dust to Dust" trophy, awarded for finding 1 artefact in 2012, are most definitely missable, since you get a limited window of oppurtunity during the main story to visit 2012, so if you miss these trophies, you'll have to play through the game again from Sequence 2 in order to get the chance to unlock them.
                              
That's about as challenging as the Single Player gets, however, the Multiplayer portion of the game is where the difficulty rating really stacks up.

The "Download Complete" trophy, awarded for reaching level 50, is hugely time consuming, and will most likely take anywhere in the region of 20-30 hours to achieve, but you do earn experience points for practically everything you do, and the game does also offer a large selection of challenges that give alot of additional experience if you can fulfil them, which can accelerate the levelling process significantly. However, that is just the tip of what is a seriously gruelling online trophy list.                                                                                                                                                   
Chances are, you'll be chasing the rest of these trophies way beyond level 50, thanks to the "Role Model" trophy, for achieving all the co-op bonuses in 1 session, which takes some serious co-ordination and luck on the part of yourself and your partner.

The "Abstergo Employee of the Month" trophy, which requires you to achieve every Multiplayer bonus at least once, and involves huge amounts of luck, skill and patience, and is without question one of the hardest bronze trophies out there to be found in ANY game to date. Most of the bonuses are actually relatively easy to obtain, and you should naturally unlock the majority of them throughout your quest to level 50, however, the Extreme Variety bonus requires you to achieve 15 of these individual bonuses in just 1 round, which is a heavy feat to achieve.

In reality, there isn't really a methodical way to go around achieving this trophy. You need alot of circumstantial luck, especially for bonuses like Triple Escape, Intercepted and Grounded, and the bonus list isn't really that much bigger than 15, so you don't get a big leeway in regards to picking and choosing which bonuses you go after. It leads to alot of trial and error, and the amount of persistence needed will most likely take you beyond hitting level 50, but it's a seriously rewarding trophy at the same time.

If it wasn't for the fact the Single Player portion was so easy, aside a couple of trophies, and practically the entire wedge of this games rating comes exclusively from the online, it would have easily come into consideration for a higher score, however the Single Player portion provides a minimal challenge and can be completed in full in around 20-25 hours.

The Multiplayer side of this list is where the game excels, with a number of solid trophies. It's difficult to put a concrete time estimation on it, since it depends largely on how much luck you get with the "Abstergo Employee of the Month" trophy, and the experience could easily excel the 50 hour mark.
                                                                                              
Overall, an extremely solid Platinum that will test your skill and patience to the maximum.

Notable Trophies - 

..- ..-. -- ..- --.-.. .- - Solve all of Subject 16's puzzles
Dust to Dust - Find 1 Artifact in 2012
Mailer Daemon - Access your email in 2012
Download Complete - Reach Level 50 (Multiplayer Only)
Role Model - Get all the Co-op bonuses in 1 session (Multiplayer Only)
Abstergo Employee of the Month - Get every single bonus at least once (Multiplayer Only)

Hardest Trophy -             
                                                   


Abstergo Employee of the Month
Get every single bonus at least once (Multiplayer Only)

DLC #38 - Battlefield : Bad Company 2 SPECACT Kit Upgrade

Kill, Kill, Kill.

You get new camouflage for existing guns. Simple as that.
                                                                       
All 4 trophies in the pack require you to achieve all of the relevant awards for each of the 4 classes in the game, including Recon, Assault, Engineer and Medic. 

Earning all of the awards for each class holds a 100 kill requirement, which means you'll need 400 kills in total to unlock the 4 trophies within the DLC.

It clocks it at around 8-10 hours in total, and can easily be achieved by just playing public matches and racking up the kills as you play along. It's a leisurely set of trophies, even though it proves to be a slight time sink.