Last summer was depressing. I had spent most of my time concealed in my bedroom whilst the sun blarred outside from behind my torn blinds. I have never been a very popular chap and the people that I did have and were interested in spending time with were usually 'busy' or sometimes simply content with lounging around in a state that i was involuntarily forced into. But rather than take the initiative and journey into the radiant weather that waited just beyond the walls of my cave I stayed indoors and browsed the internet on the Wii, yes the Wii, or just watched my holiday melt away in front of the Xbox and television screen. But then I discovered Destructoid.

After a while of 'lurking' around this excelent site I noticed a considerable amount of hype for a game I'd never heard of before, 'Borderlands', it looked absolutely mind-blowing when I witnessed the newest trailer released. To this date the trailer is my all time favourite videogame trailer, it was so well made. It featured a brilliant backing song that blended superbly with the gameplay, the tounge-in-cheek captions that represented blood splattering really set the tone for me. To me it looked like a light-hearted version of Fallout 3, for which I had recently completed a numerous playthrough, but with everything I had wished for out of a videogame. It had seemingly endless variation, vehicles, 4 player cooperative and a magnificent art style. This game had given me a reason to look forward to anything, as pathetic as that may sound, it had given me a reason to forget about the crushing loneliness I was experiencing.



I got so hyped for this game that once it was time to return to school I made it my personal mission to gather as many potential players as possible for that oh-so promising co-operative gameplay. I succeded in gathering a plentiful amount of comrades and the dream grow closer. I even purchased 2 special edition magazines featuring special gifts including posters and booklets. During the time of release, the Royal Mail were experiencing nationwide strikes and this began to worry me, in my anxiety to play the game I opted for a express delivery at a slight extra charge.

When the package arrived I was delighted to find a metallic-looking card sleeve house the box. I wasted no time in booting it up, but let me tell you this, the main menu is the perfect foregrounding for how this game was one of the biggest disapointments in my history of games. When you load it up you're greeted by the menu set in a desolate wasteland where depressing, droney music plays in the background. It makes you feel like you're in some kind of endless void. I begin a new character and I'm greeted with a background story of the planet and your objective, ok fair enough, but then it progresses into a cutscene with a cool little song and a bit of humour, that's more like it. After that you get off the bus you were riding and step into that same blank, boring, dull, depressing void and you never leave it. No matter what the game throws at you it feels exactly the same. The whole game I felt I was just holding down fire for at least half a minute at everything. There was literally no thought process, no strategy, just shoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot. I might as well have been holding down a key on a keyboard.



The game is by no means bad, but it isn't good either. It's feels like changing the TV channel most the time, but the constant 'grinding' of the game does feel rewarding on occasion and there's always a warm feeling to progressing in a game with friends so it does have it's charms. But I was naive enough to expect a spectacular once in a lifetime experience.

Looking back at it now I feel almost embarrassed that I made such a spectacle out of it.