EXPLOSIONS

8 bajillion guns, hours of gameplay with added dlc-content, single player and up-to four player co-op, and explosions.

Yeah. Borderlands 2.

Now, long ago I've mentioned Borderlands 2 in my top 10 maps of lostness, and it was a vague as an explanation of the storyline as possible.

Though, to be honest, I have no idea if this counts as anything spoiler-y for the 2013 Game of the Year? I mean, really? Well, maybe for those who aren't into the FPS genre. Okay.

ANYWAY.

Borderlands 2 is a complete left field game for me seeing as FPS games aren't really my thing. Personal preference, it's just one of those genres that don't really click with me, especially if it's single player and you have limited ammo.

So when my friends and I decided to give this game a try in an internet cafe one weekend, saying that our lives were changed is an understatement. We took to the game like a T-rex trying to swim. Meaning very, very stupidly and destructively. And it was glorious.

We had no strategy, we didn't know the character builds, and we barely knew the actual storyline. We had never laughed harder.

It pretty much assured us of our gradual spiral down the "everything is Borderlands and nothing hurts" road.

Obligatory dramatic shot of the 4 Vault Hunters. All images from google. Look at how tiny Salvador is uguuuuuu.

That being said, Maya is a kick-ass siren whose tree skill I'm 10000000% in love with, and Axton is the commando whose lame jokes and baby-names for his turrets are currently my favourite characters ever and all vault hunters lived through being blown up in the train by that Handsome Jack dynamite doll ALL OF THEM SURVIVED. 

And Princess Butt Stallion. Never forget about Princess Butt Stallion.

One sentence never ever uttered by a sane person, I'm well aware of.

Wanted posters for the Vault Hunters. I think this kinda-sorta-vaguely-not-really explains their backstories as well. Possibly.

It's still a bit out of my territory, so I don't really play solo as often as I should (and I really mean I should be doing missions solo), especially since I've finished the game on Normal mode with my friends. I know the storyline, but the 8 bajillion guns part? I gotta do the storyline missions in True Vault Hunter Mode so I can properly farm mini-bosses and bosses alike for amazing weapons.

Did I mention the game has 3 modes, and as you go from one mode to the next, the enemies level up as well? No? I didn't mention the Armored Psychos or levelled up Rakks? Really? Huh, I feel like I did.

Long and short of it, Rakks are demon-spawns whose main goal in life is to kamikaze dive-bomb into you at THE WORSE POSSIBLE TIMES AND TO KNOCK YOU OFF LEDGES.

There isn't much of character development in the game (and honestly, the game involves shooting people's faces off so they won't shoot yours off first, come on), and you find out the backstory of each vault hunter through ECHO devices (or the wikia), but characters in this game are amazing. Tiny Tina, Roland, Lilith, Claptrap, Ellie, Mad Moxxi, Sir Hammerlock, Mr. Torque… I could go on, and on about how I love these characters (especially Mr. Torque. If you don't like Mr. Torque, then we are going to have problems) and having them interact is literally the best thing in the world. Just. Eugh. There are no words.

The naming system of Torque bazooka guys. I just.

Your main antagonist of the game, all in all, is Handsome Jack. Every time he appears, the song "Biggest Douche" needs to play in the background. Just wow. No other words to explain him but Douche in bright neon letters. And even if you learn that he wasn't always King Douchebag of the Universe, you still want to punch him in the face.

What makes him an amazing antagonist, though, is that he genuinely believes that he's the hero of the story, and you're the villain. He will tell you repeatedly about how bandits like you try their damnest to kill him but that's fucking impossible he's goddamn Handsome Jack, how bad guys just need to learn how to stay dead and so on. Yes, he went mad with the premonition of awakening the Warrior, but the path he chose to get to that point made him that villain.

FYI, when you defeat the Warrior, you can unlock his face mask. Yes, it's a thing.

This game has a surprising amount of feelings, really.

Something special about the game, from what I've noticed anyway, is that you really, really, want to try out the different classes. You really want to explore each game play style. Each character has their own special ability and class tree, and it also depends on you on how to use it. The Siren, or Maya, has the phaselock skill which traps enemies in a gravity ball, giving you time to kill them. With the right builds, you can become the team healer, as killing an enemy in phaselock and give health to the team, or you can use it as crowd control. Krieg, the Psycho, has the ability to explode. Repeatedly. Constantly.

I think that helps with the replay ability of the game itself, DLCs and boss farming aside.

I honestly have difficulty trying to explain how much fun this game is sometimes. Yes, some quests are repetitive, and yes, having to farm boss monsters just to get one legendary might not be completely worth it, but it's just part of it for me. I could be doing side quests all day, and I wouldn't get completely bored with it.

Seriously, if you want to try out FPS games, I think Borderlands 2 is the best way to get into the genre. Utter mayhem.

Also this is the game that distracts me from finishing Dragon Age Origins dsjakdhsakdhsajkdsa.