The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 - 5A

'Borderlands 2' builds
on success of original

By JULIAN AIDAN
Daily Arts Writer
If you've ever wanted to blow a
shotgun-wielding midget riding a
yeti to smithereens with a rocket-
propelled gre-
nade, you'll
find solace
that, in "Bor- Borderlands2
derlands 2,"
your wish will PC, Xbox 360
be fulfilled not and PS3
too far into the 2k
game. The car-
toonish and
visually striking world of Pandora
once again acts as a backdrop for
the hilariously violent, tongue-in-
cheek sequel to 2009's megahit.
As a new crew of Vault Hunt-
ers arrive in search of treasure,
a satellite A.I. Guardian Angel
begins to communicate with
them, aiding them in their search
for a new Vault, the one from the
first game having disappeared.
The world of Pandora is more or
less run equally by roving bandits
and the Hyperion Corporation,
an ultra-powerful organization
capable of everything from mak-
ing living ponies out of diamonds
to keeping an entire planet under
constant surveillance.
The game is true to its prede-
cessor in bringing nonstop, over-
the-top action and gore to the
player's fingertips. It looks and
feels pretty much the same as
the original "Borderlands," with
the graphics and gameplay hav-
ing evolved little. The game is as
riddled with cheeky Easter eggs
and dark humor as expected. The
constant stream of new quests,
new enemies and nearly infinite
amounts of new weapons keeps
things interesting for the player
as he or she progresses. Each
character has numerous custom-
izable aesthetic options, includ-
ing different heads and costumes,
as well as three very different
skill trees to put points in as they
level up, changing combat han-
dling and providing vastly dif-

"Hmmmm, salty."
Holmes is more.

2K

Look at all the fauna... you get to blow up.

ferent
player
In
on
er
Kidi
antago
honch,
harass
player
their j
from
futuris
bases.
runs a
enemi
able at
ret, w
ZerO p
swords
abusin
a ball
on-wie
Maya,
prefer
ers to
mutila
Gaige,

bonuses depending on the acter, will be available for down-
's choices. load. She will use robots and the
specialized "Deathtrap," a Ter-
minator-esque incarnation of the
case the first series' beloved Claptrap mech, to
carve a path to the Vault.
didn't have The game's sound design and
music selection are appropriate
1ough guns for the atmosphere and contrib-
ute enormously to the players'
experience. Kamikaze bandits
rattle off strings of insults as they
culously photogenic charge player characters, grenade
nist Handsome Jack, head in hand, while pterodactyl-look-
o of Hyperion, hounds and ing Rakks let out an otherworldly
es one of four available screech before dive-bombing into
characters throughout sight. The voice acting is occa-
ourney through everything sionally of questionable quality,
frost-ridden canyons to but not so much that it detracts
tic cities guarded by lunar from the overall experience and
Axton, the Commando, feel of the game.
nd guns his way through While the game hasn't evolved
es with the help of a deploy- much in the audio and video
nd highly upgradable tur- department, it feels smoother
hile the assassin-for-hire and looks sharper than its pre-
'refers stealth, sniping and decessor. The run and gun game-
s to deal with foes. Steroid- play is still the same, as are the
g "Gunzerker" Salvador is multitudinous ways to get rid of
s-to-the-wall, dual-weap- Pandora's crazed enemies. And
ilding Pandora native, and while the game may grow stale
the only female of the lot, for some, the four-person multi-
s using her "Siren" pow- player and promise of expansions
disorient, manipulate and should keep the game at the fore-
te those in her way. Later, front of the genre for a while to
a "Mechromancer" char- come.

than
CBS's spin on
overdone trope
holds its own
By RADHIKA MENON
Daily Arts Writer
The entertainment in
try works in trends - yeara
year, networks and studios
tate what type
of movies and
shows we'll get
this year and Elements
then overpro-
duce. While Pilot
cosmic worlds Thursdays
and action aadays
heroes are allO p.m.
staples, eccen- CBS
tric characters
arrive onscreen every so o
The past few years have sh
cased Sherlock Holmes, with
blockbuster imovies featu
Robert Downey Jr. as well as
BBC series "Sherlock." So we
all ask ourselves, "Do we r
need another Sherlock-based
gram?" Simply put, no. But C
"Elementary" manages to m
the simplistic, well-known
work in the overcrowded e
ronment.
In this modern take on
story, Sherlock Holmes (Jc
Lee Miller, "Trainspotting'
recovering drug addict gi
with powerful skills of obse
tion, works day-to-day along

'Elementary
the New York police to solve to know each other. However,
murder mysteries. After a stint in though Miller's Holmes is sharp
rehab, Dr. Joan Watson (LucyLiu, and witty, there lacks the bite
"Kill Bill Vol. 1") is assigned to to his approach that Downey Jr.
him as a "companion" - basically perfected in the films. Liu brings
a glorified babysitter. Watson a different look - both inward
shows uncertainty in stepping and outward - to her portrayal
in as Holmes's sidekick at work, of Watson that makes it intrigu-
but begins to show promise after ing, though her performance is
dus- learning some tricks of the trade. far from extraordinary.
after "Elementary" 's procedural A female Watson makes "Ele-
dic- format allows us various oppor- mentary" 's interpretation all
tunities to see Holmes at work. the more interesting. Watson is
But it would arguably be more also shown to be a reliable and
interesting to see him chip away intelligent partner - a strong
at a highly complex, season-long female character instead of fall-
arc. The pilot's case itself is a ing into old stereotypical televi-
complex murder mystery that sion tropes. For now, Holmes and
allows Holmes to showcase his Watson's relationship is strictly
agility and attention to detail. platonic, but the premise of an
The minor points of the case are attractive man and woman liv-
slightly hazy due to the fast pace ing together without blurring the
of the pilot. But even though we lines is tough to pull off. Hope-
ften. don't follow every facet perfectly, fully the showrunners keep their
ow- Holmes threads the needle for us. bond strictly professional with-
two The show ventures into out delving too mucl into per-
ring uncommon storytellingbyclearly sonal relations.
the illustrating the culprit's motives "Elementary" manages to take
can and execution of the crime; at the a somewhat overdone concept
eally outset of the hour, it's obvious and make it work for primetime
pro- who committed the murder. But television. There's nothing revo-
BS's it's how "Elementary" crafts the lutionary about the approach to a
nake crime and then connects the dots classic story, but it does intrigue
plot for us as Sherlock pieces ittogeth- us enough to slip away into this
nvi- er that really makes it work. world for an hour each week. It's
That the show takes two estab- fast-paced and entertaining with-
the lished literary characters and out trying to do too much on a
snny adds new depth to them is an week-to-week basis. Though you
a accomplishment. There is a back- can surely get your Sherlock fix
ifted ground story worth exploring for in a variety of other places, CBS's
rva- both characters that challenges "Elementary" could prove to be
side each of them as they begin to get worth the time.

The Throne's misogynistic
shit is dfinite y not cray
By KATIE STEEN like this song" or even, "This is Jay-Z and Kanye's rapping, the
DailyArts Writer a good song." I remind myself of subject matter is nothing new
-- --- that as some sort of explanation - just another declaration of
While I was babysitting this for the "cray" craze. a glamorous, "faded" lifestyle
summer, the kids decided to The first time I listened to the riddled with sports, money and
make a music video. I sat in the song in its entirety, I looked it up women (because women are
kitchen while they scampered on YouTube, avoiding the offi- nothing more than something to
by dressed as Yoda and Slash. cial video as soon as I saw the be won or purchased). Don't tell
Minutes later, coming from the warning at the beginning about me no one's ever rapped about
other room: that notorious tune seizures and photosensitive epi- that before.
- doo doo, dee doo, doo doo, dee lepsy. God, the music video is Let's just start with that
doo bee - followed by, "So I ball just as obnoxious as the song. I phrase: "Ball so hard." One
so hard muhfuckahs wanna fine opted instead for a video with a Google search of "what does
me." static picture of the album cover 'ball so hard' mean," and I dis-
I texted my boyfriend asking with "SUBSCRIBE" plastered covered, yes, it can actually refer
if I was a fun-ruiner for mak- across. My patience was gone to basketball, but Jay-Z isn't
ing them change the song from after a couple minutes of waiting actually playing basketball in
"That Shit Cray." for something more interesting this song. He's getting fined by
"Katie, that song is called to happen, and a few sound bites the NBA for visiting the Ken-
'Niggas in Paris,' " he told me. from the movie "Blades of Glory" tucky Wildcats in the locker
No ... "Niggas in Paris?" I were not enough to keep me is- room. What? Why is that cool?
thought he was kidding. That And Jay-Z's insistence that the
was the song that won best sin- fine resulting from entering said
gle of 2011 according to the Dai- Kids seriously locker room - fifty thousand
ly's Music writers? > > dollars - isn't a lot of money?
I know it's pretty pathetic don't try this That isn't admirable or glamor-
that I didn't even know the name ous; it's obnoxious and not that
to the song that my Daily equals at home. Or in interesting
voted as the best single of the But then Kanye has to open
year - a song that has been loved Paris. his big, Imma-let-you-finish
and remixed and performed as mouth. Lines like, "You need to
many as 12 times in one concert crawl 'fore you ball / Come and
(in Paris, of course) for almost meet me in the bathroom stall"
a year now. But after having tening to the dee doos. essentially give women the sta-
the cursed "that shit cray" line It's no coincidence that "Call tus of prostitutes. If, you're a
forced upon me innumerous Me Maybe" appeared on the female who dares to enjoy the
times in the last nine months - side as one of the recommended wealthy company'of Kanye, first
from front porches, Dopplerized videos. Both songs have been you must fuck him in the bath-
car stereos and, now, elementary deemed catchy by the masses, room. In the next verse, Kanye
schoolers - I think it's finally which makes me wonder: What actually goes on about how many
time for me to address this ador- exactly does it take for a song to "hot bitches" he owns. Why is
able little song. be catchy? Is it just some formu- this okay - why is this praised?
One thing I can say the song la of repetition and in-your-face It's easy to say that I'm just
has going for it - it certainly loudness that creates this weird taking some song about hav-
gets stuck in your head. I listen knee-jerk acceptance? ing fun in Paris too seriously.
to "Niggas in Paris" for fifteen But what actually angers But that's just the thing. People
seconds, and everything sud- me about this song is the lyr- will and do take these lyrics
denly has a dee doo backing to ics. I've heard the "it's clever" seriously. And it's unsettling to
it. And if a song is able to weasel defense from plenty of Jay-Z and say the least that children, who
its way into a comfortable space Kanye fans. Don't worry - I'm are especially susceptible to
between two warm flabby folds not claiming I could ever come values presented in the music,
of your brain and make a home up with lyrics as clever as "this are making music videos for
for a month or two, you start shit gravy." But even if there is the song or worse, expecting to
to think crazy thoughts like, "I a notable creative element to grow up owning bathrooms full

I-.--

...... ... . ... .... . .. ..-a _ a-_

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