Borderlands 2

Midway through Borderlands 2, I really wanted it to end. I was bored of it. I was bored of it moving maddeningly slowly, and how my sniper rifle had removed almost all of the challenge, except when some ridiculously overpowered Constructor spawned on top of me. I was annoyed at how I was able to finish the story missions easily, but because I was underleveled it wouldn't even let me pick up the guns, locking them with level requirements. I wasn't engaged with the characters and I wasn't having much fun. 

Yet as I realised that the end of Angel's story wasn't the end of the game, and as I accepted that yes, I really did have to go and do the side-quests and level up before I could do a story mission 5 or so levels above where I was, the game finally began to grow on me. By the time I finally reached the end, I was genuinely enjoying myself. 

I'll be honest: Borderlands 2 is exactly the sort of game I normally avoid. I don't like this sort of brawnly FPS, where you go around slaughtering things and laughing about it, picking up bigger and bigger guns and being a macho 'badass' - a term this game loves. I didn't find Claptrap funny and I hadn't even played the first game to know what was going on. But the game had quite some critical acclaim and it was free last month on PSN, so I thought 'Why not?' Besides, I had read people raving about Tiny Tina and was curious to see what she was like. Answer - hilarious, but that twitchy eye of hers freaks me out. 

I'm aware that this isn't really a game to play alone. I'm sure it's more fun with three friends, especially when in the vehicles, but so long after the release date I didn't really want to ask around for others' help or be restricted in the times I could play. If it's really a good game, I reasoned, it has to be fun to play solo. 

And much as it took me a while to get into, ultimately I did enjoy it. It's a game absolutely stuffed with little details. It gleefully refers to everything in pop culture it possibly can, from A Clockwork Orange to Rocko's Modern Life, and pokes fun at itself and at gaming conventions as much as possible. The voice work is fantastic, not only when it comes to the main characters but also with the odd, colourful minor baddies, and though it was meant to annoy, I loved the gun that did nothing but nag at you. Finding little details like hidden shines to the Vault and a man who seems to think he's Batman kept me more interested towards the end, and oddly I found my favourite gun was one that 'lies' to you with its statistics, seeming to be useless until you notice its 5000% bonus damage. That and a corrosive shotgun together took the last boss down with very little trouble. 

The Psycho on the posters, while central to the game's marketing, was not actually anything particularly major in the game, just a recurring low-level enemy. The actual main cast of Vault Hunters aren't very interesting, but the main characters from the first game are a whole lot more engaging and well-defined. Their shady associates are often very funny, and the amoral angle the game goes for provides for some really funny moments. Handsome Jack is also a great antagonist, because you know he totally recognises what a dick he is and yet also how much he loves himself and his image. He works brilliantly as at once extremely strong and extremely weak out there on this space-cowboy planet he's turned upside-down. 

Ultimately, Borderlands 2 wasn't the most fun I've ever had with a game, and indeed took me a very long time to really warm up to. It also didn't feel like as much of a challenge as, perhaps, it should have - with the jump in strength between levels in particular feeling excessive to me and determining how much of a challenge this was. I am glad I got to the end of it...but I have to say I find myself increasingly drawn to at least finding out how much some of that extensive DLC costs...