Damn parasites!

I don't usually consider myself an achievement whore. I'm much happier playing games properly and earning my gamerscore the hard way, but every now and then something comes along that's just a little too tempting. For some, it might be the prospect of getting 1000 points in 2 minutes with Avatar: TBE, but who really wants that on their played games list? Instead, I managed to bump up my gamerscore by becoming an achievement parasite.

See, my girlfriend Katie is currently playing Fable 2. After getting rather far by being a goody-goody, she decided being nice wasn't all that fun and instead began killing everyone. I hadn't played Fable 2 yet, but couldn't say no when she invited me to join her. I didn't even realize that it could be played co-op on one machine, but, sure enough, pressing start prompted me to pick my character. The only choices were male/female and good/bad, but it allowed me to align myself correctly.

After a few minutes of senseless massacring (including her virtual husband), she decided to carry on with the quests, and this is where I discovered something cool. It turns out that all the achievements in Fable 2 are unlocked not only when you fulfil the requirements, but also when a friend fulfils them. This means that when playing in co-op, any achievements unlocked are given to both players, regardless of who actually earned them. Almost immediately I started getting little 5 and 10 pointers for random things my girlfriend was doing, but what about the major achievements? Would those also be unlocked for both of us?

The following day she was playing again, this time advancing towards the end of the story. She told me that some big achievements were coming up, and asked if I wanted to join her. Well sure, I thought. Why not? Five minutes and one boss fight later, I was up 100 points. She was nearing the end of the game, but I had to go to work so couldn't be there for the finale. She offered to keep me signed in after I left so I could get the last achievements, then sign me out afterwards. As cheap as it felt, how could I refuse?

So now I have achievements for the end of Fable 2, but none of the beginning ones. The reason I consider this parasitic is because I didn't really earn any of them, I just followed my girlfriend around while she earned them, contributing nothing myself. Well, to be fair, I did help kill a boss, but when you consider that playing in co-op removes much of your camera control, I'm not sure if my presence made it any easier. Thankfully, she was happy to forfeit that control just to see the happy look on my face when I unlocked another ill-gotten achievement.

So now I wonder what other games allow achievement parasiting, such as this one? Most titles require you to unlock your own achievements, even when playing in co-op, so this technique wouldn't work. However, I bet there are many instances where just being in the right place at the right time would boost up your gamerscore. For instance, what would happen in Gears of War if you invited a buddy to join you right before you defeated a berserker? Would they also get the achievement for it? I think they might.

Feel free to leave a comment telling us of any other games where you can tag along and get free gamerscore points. And if you know anyone with Fable 2, bring a controller over to their house and grab a few yourself!