Overview:
+Estimated achievement difficulty: 4/10
+Offline: Can all be done locally.
+Online: Can also all be done over Live.
+Approximate amount of time to 1000: 130+ Hours
+Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 3
+Number of missable achievements: None
+Do cheat codes disable achievements? None
+Does difficulty affect achievements? Chopper's Choice/Infernal Master Destroyer Deluxe
+Glitchy achievements? None
+Unobtainable achievements? None
+Extra equipment needed? None
Introduction:
Much like EDF 2017, this game is all about blowing shit up! There isn't too much of a story, though a bit more than the last as the levels are much longer and contain a few different objectives in each. They still don't amount to more than "move here, kill everything" but it keeps the game moving a bit more than "drop in, kill everything." The achievements are again not very difficult, though again will require a lot of time to grind out experience needed to beat Inferno, kills for the specific achievements and drops to complete your gun collection.
Step 1, Campaign:
Every level of a difficulty must be completed to earn its specific achievement. You'll see the ribbons in the upper right corner of the thumbnail inside level select. There are only 15 levels in the game, though they are much longer in comparison to 2017. If playing co-op, you'll have an easier go of it, but you'll earn less kills toward all the various achievements. However, you'll need a lot of grinding and a lot of Survival Mode anyway, so it shouldn't hinder your progress too much.
One important tip for working through the campaign achievements: the level caps are basically a requirement, not a suggestion. Once you cap out Normal and Tier 5, that means you're ready for Hard; likewise Tier 7 for Inferno. If you try to jump in at 4 (or heaven forbid 3) for Hard, you won't have enough life or a high enough damage output to do it efficiently. It certainly can be done, but the time it would take and the frustration of dying on a boss after half an hour would be more trouble than it's worth.
Campaign Tips:
- Manual/Active Reload:By pressing X you can finally reload a gun manually, and if you hit X again in the white hot-spot in the middle of the bar, you'll finishing reloading immediately, a la Gears of War.
- Keep Your Distance: If it can't hit you, it can't kill you. If your objective is only to kill a swarm, pick as many off outside their range as possible. If you need to blow up a hill, pick off everything until you're down to only a single spawn (6-8 enemies) and then begin moving in.
- Focus Fire (Co-Op): If you're playing co-op, don't be a bunch of lone wolves, especially with multiple elites on screen. Set one person to take out the smaller ravagers, with the other two focused on the same elite. If only playing 2p, you should both be able to focus on the elite with your AI fending off smaller bugs.
- Know Your Armors: Playing solo, the Tactical is your friend. The turrets are a big help, especially the plasma against an elite enemy. If in co-op, definitely mix it up. Jet/Battle is a nice 2p combo and with 3p you can pretty much go in any direction with success.
- Keep Moving!: More than anything, standing still will get you killed. Use the right bumber to constantly be rolling away while reloading or in search of health.
Step 2, Survival Mode:
With Survival Mode, there isn't that much to do. You'll need to do at least five waves in one sitting, but other than that it is a matter of grinding out 500 total waves and 10,000 total kills. Nothing special here. This is very difficult by yourself due to the low health you are given and no revives from teammates. Definitely get some friends to play with - remember you can have up to 6 in Survival! There is a drop-in Quick Match option, so it is extremely easy to find a game and even if you start one by yourself, people are bound to drop in to help you.
Mop Up:
Kills will count in any game mode (Campaign, Survival and Remix), as well as locally or over Live. Once you've completed all the Campaign and Survival specific missions, including all weapon drops, if you still don't have any of the specific kill types, you can either grind them out in Survival or choose a mission specific to that enemy type which can be found in their respective achievements below. But remember, you don't earn experience in Survival, so if you still need work on Lifer, don't grind kills there.
Remember: kills and weapon drops DO save if you Retry/Quit a level, so you can farm very quickly if there are a few right at the beginning of a level, such as the two carriers in 2:1 and the five hectors in 3:3. However, if you die during a mission these are all lost.
Conclusion:
If you were a fan of the first, you'll be a fan of this one. The achievements are mostly self-explanatory and don't require too much effort - though it will take some time.
[x360a would like to thank The Pants Party for this Roadmap]