Chaos Hour

Lollipop Chainsaw Review

Grab Your Pom Poms And Get Ready To Grind One Out In Lollipop Chainsaw

Platform : Xbox360 / Playstation 3

Developer : Grasshopper Manufacture

Publisher : Warner Bros

The guys with Suda-51 and Director James Gunn join forces and collaborate to bring us a brand new Hack & Slash named Lollipop Chainsaw. This title is bursting with zombies; blood; chainsaws; boss battles; BLOOD; a vulgar script; sexy cheerleaders and even more BLOOD to make any hardcore gamer 'Joy-gasm', but is this Hack-Slash adventure enough for us gamers to grind one out, or is it simply just another damp attempt to win over fans of the zombie franchise.

Our hero in this adventure is named Juliet Starling, a Chainsaw wielding zombie hunter with a cute but clumsy personality. This girl is every teenage boys dream as she features a petite 'San Romero Knights' Cheerleading outfit fully equipped with deadly Pom Poms. Today is her 18th birthday and she is on her way to meet Nick Carlyle, her high school sweetheart. Disaster strikes on the way as she is delayed by the forces of the undead reaping carnage throughout the streets. As the plot thickens you soon find that a fellow classmate is trying to open the doors to 'Rotten World', he succeeds and manages to bring the forces of darkness to the world, but the only thing he has really does is piss Juliet off! The story is laughable however in a good way, but what makes Lollipop Chainsaw really stand out is its stunning script. Every sentence within the game can make you chuckle and the level of attention which has been put into this game makes it a very cinematic experience.

The game play however is very basic for a Hack & Slash. You have various different moves to conquer the forces of Rotten World, for example you can use your chainsaw for high and low attacks, or if you want to make the enemies giddy for the easy kill just simply unleash your Pom Poms for those high rewarding combos. Dodging plays a pivotal role throughout the entire game so for those button bashers out there, sorry with this title you will struggle. As you tear the enemy asunder you are rewarded with medals which can be used to unlock combos, strength increases as well as unlocking various bonus material for the game.

As the game progresses you also receive gifts from your zombie hunter allies which transform your chainsaw into weird and wonderful weapons. For example the 'Chainsaw Dash' turns your mighty weapon into an unstoppable force as you carve your way through the zombie hoards. Nick also aids you throughout the adventure as he can control the bodies of the undead in a way in which I don't want to reveal as it may spoil the surprise. The content may be a little low as the game isn't very long, as you begin to enjoy the game you may notice you're already half way through. Yes the game is short but the script and fantastic action sequences more than makes up for its lack of depth.

Lollipop Chainsaw may impress when it comes to a stellar storyline, script and vibrant action scenes, however the graphics and audio as a whole sells itself short. The game may seem a little basic and if that is indeed the case, why are the graphics mediocre at best. It's not a bad looking game, it just could have been so much better as the anti-aliasing is pretty poor and the animations are quite clunky. The audio can become repetitive as you stride through the stages although the quality of the audio is superb, and as I am a true fan of the Metal genre, It was to my liking.

Okay not much happening on the multiplayer front either. You have leader boards so you can compete your scores with other people around the world, but this is in no way exciting and I don't foresee anyone taking particular interest in this part of the game. Multiplayer has never been a critical thing for us here at Chaos Hour so the lack of the multiplayer feature hasn't tainted our overall view on the game.

Lollipop Chainsaw is a must buy for any fans of the Zombie genre. It's fun, addictive, adorable and has a fantastic script which you will love to hear over and over, however this game could have been better. Maybe a bit more depth to the single player and a re-hash of the graphics within game could have made this the ultimate in anti zombie carnage. Hardcore gamers may want to rent Lollipop Chainsaw as like we said before it is very short, shorter than most Hack & Slash games, however we urge everyone to give it a try as it is without a doubt a very enjoyable game.