The subject of this entry is team-based games, but shooters in particular. The majority of developers now bill their games as "team-based" merely because they feature two groups of individuals blasting each other to pieces online. This, in my ever-humble opinion, is a complete misnomer, especially with the introduction of achievements on the 360.

   Before you burn me in effigy, this is not meant to be a rant against achievements. I happen to, for the most part think that they add a level of depth and replayability to many games that otherwise wouldn't have such a benefit. That being said, however, most shooters have achievements that are centered on individual kills or weapon-specific kills. When coupled with individual leaderboards, I believe gamers are being robbed of a huge potential for enjoying these games the way they should be enjoyed - chiefly, by working as a team to accomplish a goal.

   Heck, maybe I am being a bit of a stuffed shirt about the whole topic but I really think developers could be exploring ways to build a better mousetrap... er, shooter. Sure, the leaderboards and gamerscores are, in theory, there to track your skill and make you feel better about yourself as a person while simultaneously impressing the Hell out of n00bz, but most of the time these are goals that people achieve by less than completely honest means anyhow.

   Rainbow Six made a decent move in the right direction with team point rewards at the end of matches, but still kept track of individual kills. I'd like to see a tactical shooter that features real team-based play with a real team recognition and reward system. At the end of a match, perhaps the team members could vote (excluding self-votes) on an MVP of sorts for the match. This wouldn't necessarily be the person with the most kills, but perhaps the one who "saved my skin" a few times or one who exemplified the true team leader role.

   Possible achievements could include various medic goals, having your entire team make it out alive, or utilizing a variety of gadgets/weapons during a single match that are specific to only certain players. This would ensure that, even though players are still working towards achievements, they are still conscious of the fact that there is a team of other players around them.

   It's entirely possible that the mainstream gaming community wouldn't embrace this sort of project, as it wouldn't pander to the culture of self-aggrandizement that seems to be dominant amongst (especially) young gamers. But it sure is a groovy pipe dream.