Borderlands 2

My husband and I have been working our way through Borderlands 2 recently (obviously since it just came out).  I have to say that I am loving it!  Most of my gaming is co-op with my husband.  Clearly not all of it since I just posted about playing Mass Effect 3.  Things I love about the game:

Maya
She's basically awesome.  In Borderlands, I loved that Lilith (I like playing as a chick) was actually a get into the heat of things fighter instead of a boring ranged fighter.  Since I'm only level 12, I still haven't decided how I want to play with Maya in terms of all of the mechanics.  I'm sure the skill trees have a big impact.  I've chosen the Harmony tree because I've never really played a healer, and I wanted to try something new.  Turns out that Maya is an awesome person to test out playing as a healer because she can still kick butt while simultaneously providing healing to the team.

Customization of the screen
Almost all co-ops have the horizontal split screen to give you more lateral views.  I really prefer the vertical split screen.  For whatever reason, it's easier for me to focus on what I'm doing instead of constantly getting distracted by my husband's side part of the T.V.  I've  heard that most people prefer the horizontal split screen so I love that you as a player get to choose.

Varied skill trees
I had such a hard time deciding what skill tree to pick for Maya because they each give such a different style of playing with phaselock.  I love that I had a hard time.

Graphics
Borderlands 2 really has a different feel to than other mainstream games because of the graphics style.  It reminds me a little of comic books with the hard edges and shading techniques.  Maybe that's what the creators were going for.  Really, it just has a totally fun feel to it.

Amo pick-up
No more, "Babe! There's some sniper amo over here!  I'll put a waypoint down/ jump in place until you come pick it up." Now it doesn't matter who picks up the amo.  It just goes to whoever needs it.  In the same vein, it's much easier to trade with your co-op partner.

Story
When I played Borderlands 2, I didn't even realize there was a story until 3/4 of the way through the game.  But the ever present voice overs by Handsome Jack have led me to truly hate him.  And to love the story.  The mechanics of the quests are same-old same-old of course, but I feel like they actually mean something.  I'd rather push forward in the game than mine kills, which means that the story is actually fun.

I know it's not a perfect game because it has a lot of the same faults that every game out there has.  But I've loved playing it and look forward to continuing to do so.

Mass Effect 3 Soundtrack

I recently figured out where the Mass Effect 3 Soundtrack was saved on our computer and have been loving it today.  It's been great to listen to while I do random work around the house.  When I first played the game, I remember it being a real emotional ride for me with the music just adding that extra level of flair.  Now sure it's repetitive as only a game soundtrack should be.  But since the music still evokes in me the same emotional responses I had when playing the game, I think it's a pretty good soundtrack.  I have especially liked the reaper motif showing up in the music.  It's much more beautiful in the soundtrack than it was in the game.  In the game itself, I just got really tired of hearing the blast every time I saw reaper.  Now it's a lot more reasonable.