Lollipop Chainsaw Review
Lollipop Chainsaw is cheery and obscene, but it doesn't hit its marks consistently enough to be more than a passing amusement.
The Good
- Some funny jokes and references
- Frequent gameplay excursions mix up the pace
- Fun boss battles.
The Bad
- Too often crude without being clever
- Control and camera quirks
- Combat lacks depth and finesse.
Juliet isn't having the best birthday. Sure, she's a chirpy, fresh-faced, popular 18-year-old cheerleader with a perfect body and a loving family, but her handsomely chiseled boyfriend has turned into a zombie, and things just aren't looking up. But Juliet's nothing if not resourceful, so she does what any right-thinking teenager would: she cuts off his head with a chainsaw, performs a bit of black magic, and ties his still-sentient head around her waist.
Clearly, you aren't supposed to take Lollipop Chainsaw seriously. You play as the sucker-loving Juliet, who, like the rest of her family, happens to be a zombie hunter. As luck would have it, her hometown is having a bit of trouble with the undead, and it's up to her and her chainsaw to slice and dice her way through her high school, across a baseball field, and through other mundane locales rendered all askew by vibrant neon-colored graphics and a general disregard for social propriety.
Just how improper is Lollipop Chainsaw? The opening cutscene features a just-18 Juliet welcoming you to her bedroom while the camera lovingly caresses her bare torso. She complains that she's getting fat from sucking on too many lollipops, though she has a physique women of any age would envy. Later, a high school classmate, saved from a zombie attack, happily calls out that he'll pleasure himself to thoughts of Juliet that night; elsewhere, a zombie-fied football player growls that he'll--well--let's just say the activity involves Juliet's noggin lodged somewhere you don't expect a noggin to comfortably fit.
Meanwhile, the screen explodes with pink hearts, yellow stars, and a million other bedazzlements, amping up the "cheerleader" theme just as Lollipop Chainsaw amps up its "sexual imagery" theme. Cheery pop tunes like Toni Basil's "Mickey" and "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" from Dead or Alive brighten the tone, too. With such touches, the game makes a clear attempt to take the pure pandering of Onechanbara (another game about scantily clad zombie killers) and twist it into something cheeky rather than downright crude. The first hour, however, takes these themes to the limits without doing much to outright parody them, which can be mightily uncomfortable. Eye-opening remarks about Juliet's breasts and anorexia references have shock value, but many of these early "jokes" are hardly clever.
Lollipop Chainsaw remains tasteless from beginning to end, but eventually, "funny" joins "dirty," and the game dredges up some real wit. When Juliet's rock-and-roll dad enters the picture, he and bodyless boyfriend Nick exchange some playful banter; their dialogue might involve a certain use of Nick's tongue, but it has the familiar touch of a protective father grilling his daughter's beau. It's the clash of the absurd and the authentic that makes this silly scene so funny. Exchanges between Nick and Juliet about his head-only state also tend to be hysterical, because they contrast Nick's mournful attitude about the loss of his body with Juliet's perpetual optimism. Even if the sexual drivel makes you feel uncomfortable, pop culture references ("I got that Katy Perry song stuck in my head. What a terrible way to die!") and surreal exclamations ("It is fun! It almost helps me forget that all my friends are dead!") can get you giggling.
Kevin VanOrd is a lifelong RPG lover and violin player. When he isn't busy building PCs and composing symphonies, he watches American Dad reruns with his fat cat, Ollie.
I got this game and I'm not disappointed in it at all. It fights right into the guilty pleasure genre such as WET and Mirrors Edge. I'm enjoying every minute of it.
If you want style and substance then go play Bayonetta. If you want a guilty pleasure then go play this game.
Hilarious and a Fun Game to play...i just wish it couldve been longer though ._.
i knew this game would suck
Funniest game I've played in months!
If I can unlock a birthday suit (u know what I mean!) costume I'm buying it :D
This game is a parody of the pop culture and it doesn't tries to be more than that, just pure, funny, screwball entertainment. The soundtrack was great and the action fast paced with really good college jokes thrown in.
The review delivered by Kevin this time is just the over analysis of a brainiac!
The only merit they give is the soundtrack, and not even a full sentence in the review about it....
Lach0121 and a soundtrack that REALLY overplays several selections, at that
Looks like crap indeed.
Reminds me of that "House of the Dead - Overkill" version, in terms of the style and writing, and boy was that retarded.
They seriously need to bury the 'Kill Bill' theme for good.
Helpful review... but I have too many painful memories of high school to join in with Juliet :-/
Wait until it is $19.99, it shouldn't take long, then buy and enjoy. That is what this game is. Looks fun enough to me.
Not even a strike of interest in the game... just wanted to see how everyone who thought this game was going to be good react to the truth of the review. Don't get me wrong I like a good dirty joke, I like skimpy dressed girls, and I enjoy slaying zombies, BUT FOR GAMING SAKE STOP BEATING THESE DEAD HORSES TO SELL YOUR CRAPPY VIDEO GAMES. Get a clue
Thanks Gamespot. Dodged a bullet there.
You guys can say all you want, but money is tight for me right now
So reviews are a Godsend.
still getting it. It just looks like a fun game to play
chaos-commander at full price ? 60 dollars ?
ahmed1998
I got it at $100. Imported the JP premium edition complete with triple voice tracks and exclusive unlocks, and loving every moment of it. Haven't had so much laugh-out-loud fun playing a game in a very, very long time.
Can't believe they gave this crap game a better score than Meruru...
they shouldn't give the review of this game to kevin v :p hope you know what i mean... with another editor, this game gives at least a 9 ;)
redder1111 Yeah, like a 9 will automatically make the game better.
redder1111 editors who maintain a constant boner while reviewing a particular game will ensure the game receives at least a 9. BYAAAAAAAH!
great review. thanks kevin !
Am I the only one who has no interest in this whatsoever?
maderrin no. no, you're not.
maderrin just wondering. why did you click on this?
stealthyninja81 That's an easy one: I was curious about the score.
bummer, i was looking forward to this one....
maybe gonna wait for some more user scores....
Looks fun, once the price drops down will definitely give it a spin. Suda51 games are worth play-through always. :)
I'm surprised this review wasn't Tom Mc Shea when I saw the score.
i kinda like the song selection in this game, reminds me of the 80's.
I love and have all Suda 51 games, but I can't see myself paying $60 for it right now. But the majority of reviews have stated that it's fun, and that's the expectation I'll have when I go pick it up when it's a little cheaper.
hunter8man
This game is super fun, but it could have easily been a 20 dollar arcade game. Its better to rent it because you can play through it a couple times in less than a week and see all the game has to offer.
hunter8man you can always rent it, I got it for $45 that's why I pre ordered
I don't have an Xbox but if I did there is something about this game that would make me buy it when it's around the £20 mark :) Kind of "Mad World" feeling about it makes me want to try this out :D
Playing it now. Just a massive disappointment so far. It is a collection of subpar minI-games stiched together by a weak story and poor combat. It has a few funny moments, but none of the charm of a good horror comedy. Such a disappointment after last year's seriously underrated Shadows of the Damned. Simply put, it is all premise and no execution.
Sort of what I expected. I was actually surprised how much advertising went into this game. Seems like it was everywhere.
This game is a solid rent.
It's only four hours long, and you'd have to play through the game about 5 times to unlock everything. Every playthrough is exactly the same unless you play on hard mode.
After watching the same 4-hour sequence 5 times consecutively, you'll collect all achievements and never play it again.
I played through it last week and came to the same conclusions as Kevin.
Also very good review Kev. :)
Looks fun, and Suda51 game so yes PURCHASED.
Unless you are a suda51 fan like myself this game isn't worth "new" price, a rent or prehaps buying it on sale may be for the best...The game is an odd taste only a few would like, that's certain, but to buy now brand new isn't a wise choice for most gamers.
masterds64 so for hipsters with a taste for "just turned 18*wink wink*" young flesh? i don't like the way this game is selling young sexuality while stealing the premise for Buffy without any of the cool writing that Joss Whedon did for Buffy. I'll pass on this.
jazilla James Gunn wrote it dude. I am not sure you know he isn't trying to sell you Buffy in a different package. If you don't like Troma films it isn't for you. Go ahead and pass on it.
jazilla Young sexuality? shes 18....young is under 16, 16 and over is fully legal sexually and 18 and over is a fully grown adult
"Too often crude without being clever". Exactly what I expected. I wish people would realize that being crude is fine, but it isn't humorous in its own right. You actually have to have some wit to make it funny. But, I guess I wasn't particularly looking forward to this game anyway, but a lot of that was because I expected it to rely too much on crudity.
Its a game thats made just like horror movies , over the top blood , bad one liners and most of all scantly clad women . I seriously think this reviewer needs to go back to rpgs and let the action game reviewer do his job , I wouldn't want someone reviewing Black Ops thats never played a fps let alone have enough cred to make us believe he's intelligent enough to know when a game is just fun and silly.
August34 I like these sort of comments. Apparently it's ok to have a lot of bad one liners and lame, crude jokes because "that's what it's supposed to be". I think instead of questioning the reviewers intelligence, the consumer needs to back up and go question their own.
Even an "action game reviewer" will more than likely complain about the shallow combat, wonky camera and more than often stupid dialogue.
Not saying the game is bad. It's not. It's fun. I like Nick but he's the only one who provides funny commentary. However, using dumb excuses to trick yourself into thinking it's ok for something to have bad dialogue is just silly.
August34 He clearly DOES know when a game is fun and silly, and acknowledges this to be such. He just doesn't give the game a pass on all it's flaws just for being silly.
billlabowski So you're enjoying it then! Good for you!
Game Emblems
The Good
User Reviews
Not exactly the Suda 51 game I was hoping for. That being said. It is still worth taking the ride.
an old school hack and slash arcade game featuring a scantily clad cheerleader with a chainsaw and her boyfriend's head
Lollipop Chainsaw
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- Publisher(s): Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer(s): Grasshopper Manufacture
- Genre: Action
- Release: Jun 12, 2012 (US) »
- ESRB: M
