Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Lollipop Chainsaw for the Xbox 360
Rating:
5 Stars
When was the last time you could say a video game actually made you laugh out loud? If you have yet to experienced Suda51’s latest game, you may find yourself searching for a while. However, those who have played “Lollipop Chainsaw” can answer that question with ease. “Lollipop Chainsaw” is an action hack and slash video game similar to “X-men Origins: Wolverine” that’s “bursting with Sex, Blood, and Rock ‘n’ Roll”.
It’s a big day for 18-year-old Juliet Starling. It’s her birthday and her family is about to meet her boyfriend Nick for the first time. Oh yeah, and there’s an impending zombie invasion. After meeting Nick in the park, he’s bitten by a zombie, leaving Juliet no choice but to cut off his head with her chainsaw. After he awakes, he discovers he’s somehow still alive, and now just a severed head attached to Juliet’s belt. She reveals to him that she’s actually a zombie hunter. Together, with the help of the rest of Juliet’s zombie-hunting family, they take on the hordes of zombies that have overrun San Romero High School. Sound crazy enough for you?
The Fun Stuff:
“Lollipop Chainsaw” is just an all-around entertaining package from start to finish. The presentation is fantastic. The main menu, along with the pause menu, is designed with a comic book feel. Once you’re in the game itself, the whole setup feels very reminiscent of some of the best arcade hack-and-slash games of the 80’s and 90’s. To go with it, some of the best songs from that era adorn the soundtrack in all the appropriate places. Bearing that in mind, the game screams cheesy goodness. There’s nothing quite like riding around on a combine mowing down zombies while listening to “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)”.
As far as difficulty goes, you can make it as easy or hard as you like. The control scheme is fairly simple, and although there are a lot of combos, they too are simple and it won’t take anyone too long to grasp. The gameplay follows a pretty simple formula that also won’t be difficult for new users or veterans alike to understand. There are a few extra quirks, mostly in the form of achievements, for dedicated fans that wish to perfect their game; however, no one will be stunted by the occasional mistake.
The Frustrating Stuff:
The game is short, by nature, although it’s not too terrible of a thing. This is the kind of game you’ll want to replay to try and beat high scores. It’s also worth replaying for all of those “wait, did they really just say that?” moments. The only time where replay gets really annoying is when you get stuck at a particularly difficult checkpoint and have to listen to the same jokes over and over. Likewise, going into the “Chop and Shop” in game store is hilarious the first time, until you realize that Juliet isn’t going to shut up and “Lollipop” plays on loop nonstop. These are the only areas where the game could have used a little more variety and polish.
Bottom Line:
Just like the game’s protagonist, Juliet, “Lollipop Chainsaw” is short but sweet. It’s an absolute blast to play whether you wish to challenge yourself on the harder difficulties, or just do some mindless zombie killing on the easier ones. At about 6 hours playtime on an average difficulty, replaying is a must to really get your money’s worth, but you can also use that time to gather up achievements, none of which are too terribly difficult to collect.
Although it doesn’t really feel like a full-fledged $60 release, there’s plenty of entertainment to satisfy about a $35 price point. If you find a sale around that point, definitely grab a copy because this is one crazy experience you don’t want to miss – assuming you’re of age, that is. Much like the aforementioned “X-Men Origins” and another great title “Mafia II”, ‘Lollipop Chainsaw” definitely earns it’s “M” rating.
“Lollipop Chainsaw” was developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and was published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment in collaboration with Kadokawa Shoten. It was released in North America on June 12, 2012 with an M rating from the ESRB and an MSRP of $59.99. This review was based on a copy of the game purchased on the release date.
Anthony Ortale writes news and reviews on behalf of Examiner.com. He does so much gaming in his spare time, it’s practically a full time job! If you like what you read here, please subscribe to his articles! You can also follow Tony on Twitter, or become a fan on Facebook! If you ever have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to email Tony any time at ortale.anthony@gmail.com, he’d love to hear from you
