2015: Cam and I run up to his room and turn on his Xbox. He said, “Can I show you a game?” I said yes because I figured why not. The T.V. read Borderlands and plays its iconic old western startup sound and song. I was hooked. We loaded the game and a man named Marcus began to speak, I didn’t know it then but, he was going to be the narrator through all the games. He told a story of hidden vaults and those who seek them, the Vault Hunters.

Once he finished we arrived on a rust covered bus with four characters. Roland, Mordecai, Lilith, and Brick were their names. Cam explained these are the characters you can use, they looked like they were battered and tired. He went through their abilities the Soldier had his turret which helped in battle, the Hunter and Bloodwing (his hawk) who attacked from the sky, the Siren and her extraordinary abilities to phase into a state of invisibility and invincibility, and the Berzerker who was a joke of a character. I picked Roland the Soldier and Cam chose Mordecai the Hunter. Marcus said, “Don’t worry about saying goodbye, I’m sure we will do this again soon,” and that’s when I knew I would be coming back to this game for a long time.

2017: I just started the second game in the franchise for the first time. I was impressed by the colors compared to the first game but something was off. I disregarded the thought and continued to play and enjoyed the game and the story but, the feeling kept coming back. Eventually I figured it out, I was alone. After that I neglected it and continued on.

Then the end started to roll around and I called Cam to see how close he was to the end and if he wanted to work together. He was surrounded by fire, smoke, and scaffolding, we knew it was time to end this. Soon after we beat the game and that is when Handsome Jack gave his famous line, “I am the Goddamn hero”. The villain throughout the first two games was gone, for now,  and so was the feeling.

Sept. 15,2018: Dalton and I beat the third( and in my opinion the hardest) game with Jack by our side for the first time ever, but I was glad he was back for one last run. He was a great villain which made being on his side all the better. I played the game almost completely on my own but, Dalton in the end was not that helpful and he benefited from playing as well because he got the experience and the practice.

Present Day: The only game I beat on my own was the first of the three and it wasn’t as memorable as the other two games but, what surprised me was I remembered the feeling I had after beating the second and third game and it taught me that doing something as a team is so much more fulfilling than doing something on your own.