Grandma beats Borderlands 2

If I’ve been less than attentive here the last few days, it’s because I was running through the last few missions in Borderlands 2. For you non-gamers, that’s a popular new video game. I’ve been playing (on Xbox) since its release in September and it’s been a love-hate relationship. Or more accurately, like-hate. Or something.

I agree with the many players who say BL2 is harder than the first Borderlands. (I played Mordecai in that and loved it.) But I guess I’m stubborn. Or something. I’d play, die a lot, get frustrated and quit, then get mad after remembering that I paid good money for the game and that other people were flying through it. (Admittedly, most of them are 20-40 years younger than I am … ) Must justify having bought the game, right? So I’d go back and try again, maybe after a good night’s sleep. It’s almost too hard to be fun, so I guess it’s the challenge that kept me going.

For those who might be interested, I started with an assassin and really struggled through 18 levels. Finally decided it just wasn’t going to work and rolled a commando. Had better luck with that, though there seemed to be tough stretches following by plateaus of relative ease. I was level 35 when I did the last mission. Most people do it at around level 30, but I needed the edge.

Anyway, I finished the first play-through with my commando and can now go through the whole thing again in “True Vault Hunter Mode” if I want to. Not likely. It’s supposed to be a lot harder that way, and I had enough trouble the first time.

On the other hand, other people are doing it. And there are still two classes/characters I haven’t tried …

Update, Nov 19, 2012: If you go on to play in TVHM, you might want to know that doing so does not commit you permanently to that mode. Rather, when you login your character from the main menu, you’ll be given an option whether to play in TVHM or normal mode.