Lollipop Chainsaw Review
By: Ed Beers
PS3/360
This game is a needle jammed packed with adrenalin, caffeine, sugar, extra shot of espresso, jabbed right into your arm... Also, the needle is really a stick of dynamite. This game is about chainsaw swings, pop culture, the 80s, being a bad ass, zombies spewing so much blood it makes a rainbow, and a well meaning cheerleader's rocky relationship with the cut off head of her boyfriend. This game is a mix of Evil Dead, Buffy, even Heathers, with references to countless icons from fat Elvis to the game Pac-Man, to Bootsy Collins's Mothership. This game is a whole lot of things... But as the description in the first sentence might suggest, it's not what one would call a long game.
You play Juliet, part of a loving family, a cute boyfriend, good grades, things are going pretty well as you enter your 18th year of life... But as you go to meet said boyfriend as said family prepares a birthday bash for you when, really it's no big deal, just a slight annoyance... A zombie apocalypse is thrown in your way. But don't worry, you aren't going to be hindered by any annoying moral questions about like, if it right to kill these former fellow students? Or thoughts of 'well what if there's a cure, and I just killed a good friend of mine'. None of that to worry about really, just bring out your chainsaw, give your parents a call to let them know you'll be a bit late, and just start cutting into the crowd, and make your zombie hunting family proud as you hunt down the 5 zombie lords that will seal the hell hole ripped open by magic and explosives.
Gameplay, namely the slicing up beating explosive and general destruction of zombies, is solid. It flows well, it's fun, and the further you go/more upgrades you buy, the more ways you have to slice through the crowds. You've got a nice mix of normal attacks to start with which can combo into each other nicely from the start. You've got your heavy attacks for slicing off arms, low attacks for taking out legs, a dodge button to leapfrog over attackers, and a pom-pom attack to stun them, making with head cutting a lot easier. As you progress your chainsaw will get new add-ons to your chainsaw, making it a gun, or giving it a heavy duty engine, or even letting it blast your boyfriend's at the hoards with a giant party popper. And of course, the more you kill zombies, the more cash you get to buy new ways to kill more zombies easily which will get you money cash.
Though don't think that all you do is learn to kill more zombies. A girl's gotta look her best, even at times like these. Sure you have your lovely San Romero High cheerleader outfit (and one of the more awkward trophies/achievements I've heard of with it), but as you play through you unlock for purchase more outfits. These, just as the people you fight, are a crock pot of pop culture references, not even touching on the store pre-order costumes such as Ash from Evil Dead, or a Foxy Brown like golden jumpsuit and afro. You'll get just plain change of clothes of course, different patterns for the cheerleader outfit or more casual attire, but you'll also get a blood covered full body rabbit suit. Even better, you'll get costumes from popular animes such as High School of the Dead, Deadman Wonderland, and This is a Zombie!? And that there's so many costumes is a good thing, it will give you a reason to play this more than once.
And if there's anything this game needs, it's a need to play it more than once. The story mode, is sweet, sharp, action and comedy packs... But short. Not like, FPS this game is mostly for multi-player short, but surprisingly short for an action title without any multi-player aspects. Along with there being more things to buy than you can in one go, one of the major draws to keep playing after the credits roll, is to beat your friends and family on the leader boards and world wide ranking mode. But even with that in mind, this game ends just soon enough for you to wish there was more. Course, that might be intentional, since there is such a feel of speed, of a rush from start to finish. Though the flow does get a little banged up by the strange, middle level, or even stranger right after beating the boss, comic book styled load screens.
One of the biggest surprises for me in this game are the characters in it. One looks at the TV spots, or the posters at game stores, and you think 'oh this is some slutty American cheerleader spreading her legs for the gamer's camera while cutting zombies up with a chainsaw'... Well the cutting zombies up part was right, but Juliet is just such a cute, all be it off center, character. True her talking style seems right out of the 80s, but she feels like she was raised from the 50s. Polite to your elders, no funny business with strangers. Heck, she apologizes to a zombie when she accurately states exactly how fat the zombie is. She is a cheery ray of sunshine, completely used to the idea of a zombie apocalypse but has yet to really enjoy a normal trip to a farm. And her less pure, awkward, now depressed since he has nothing from the next down boyfriend is a great foil to her unshaken rainbows of awesome.
Still, despite how short the story is, or the awkward loading moments, I am not regretting buying this game... Wish I could have paid a little less, maybe like 50 instead of 60, but whenever I want another jolt of action, it'd be like loading in your favorite zombie comedy flick really. You plug in, you laugh at your favorite one liners or sight-gags, maybe you check out the special features if you haven't for a while, and damn if you don't have fun. It's a real enjoyable game, but I do suggest giving it a try before slapping down full sticker price for it, you know, just in case it's not your thing.
