Lollipop Chainsaw stars the peppy chainsaw toting cheerleader Juliet Starling and her decapitated head of a boyfriend, Nick Carlyle, fighting through an outbreak of zombies, led by zombie rock and roll lords, summoned by San Romero High’s resident emo-goth, Swan. Feeling the pain of being an outcast Swan swears vengeance upon San Romero as well as the world. Now it is up to Juliet, her sisters, Cordelia and Rosalind, and their rockabilly father. This game sounds like a plot to a B horror movie. The jokes and references made about rock music, style, and pop culture makes for an entertaining story; and with top quality voice actors, such as Tara Strong and Michael Rosenbaum, a joy to hear.
On the topic of sound, the soundtrack, composed by Akira Yamaoka and Jimmy Urine (of Mindless Self Indulgence fame) shows a masterful mix of original music and licensed tracks. Each of the original tracks used in the game are a perfect atmospheric fit for the bedazzled zombie hunter, while each of the boss battle tracks really amps up the feel giving the battles a big time feel. While “Lollipop” by The Chordettes would seem like an obvious track, having it play unexpectedly the first time when the power-up is activated can only be described as a joy, Buckner & Garcia’s “Pac Man Fever”, Sleigh Bells’ “Riot Rhythm”, Arch Enemy’s “Nemesis”, and others, are all great aural surprises.
The art delivers a pleasant mix of EC Comic-esque still shots for menus and diorama style cut scenes and detailed in-game character models. Each of these characters strongly represents and sets comfortably within each of their particular themes. While one boss takes heavily from the punk music genre another takes from the hippie rock genre, and in case someone is confused the game informs the player of the influences of each character often with some funny one-liner jokes. The writing of James Gunn (known for such movies as Tromeo and Juliet, Slither, and Super) can be seen in full force in this game. Without a doubt the comedy-horror characters and storyline seem at times right out of a Troma film.
At first the gameplay can seem somewhat repetitive, which can be true of the hack and slash variety, but this game mixes things up with various gameplay differences. With that being said the gameplay overall can be seen as mostly solid. The occasional camera problem can be fixed by simply moving around and using a bit of common sense. The linear gameplay is a refreshing throwback to classic video games, allowing the story, art, and music to shine.
With all the great things about this game it is not for everyone. If someone looks at the box art for the game and feels offended then the game will do nothing to change that, which is a great strength for this game. This game makes no apologies for what it is, a beautiful piece of video game art. While the overly sensitive politically correct audience will hate this game it will become a classic, much like Suda51’s other titles. Those who want the twitch open world gameplay of the more mainstream titles will also be disappointed, as the more complex moves will take a bit more practice and patience to successfully achieve.
The only true downside to this game is the length. While the seven long levels are extremely entertaining and satisfying the game left me wanting more gameplay and story. I really wish that each of the well-designed characters had been given more on screen time, or even a way to play as each family member. The disappointing length left me with high hopes for a sequel. Overall, Lollipop Chainsaw is an excellent artistic game that in many ways is a love letter to the genres and past of games, music, and horror films. If any part of the story or style is of interest, definitely one to check out.
Be sure to visit Atomic Meltdown for more
On the topic of sound, the soundtrack, composed by Akira Yamaoka and Jimmy Urine (of Mindless Self Indulgence fame) shows a masterful mix of original music and licensed tracks. Each of the original tracks used in the game are a perfect atmospheric fit for the bedazzled zombie hunter, while each of the boss battle tracks really amps up the feel giving the battles a big time feel. While “Lollipop” by The Chordettes would seem like an obvious track, having it play unexpectedly the first time when the power-up is activated can only be described as a joy, Buckner & Garcia’s “Pac Man Fever”, Sleigh Bells’ “Riot Rhythm”, Arch Enemy’s “Nemesis”, and others, are all great aural surprises.
The art delivers a pleasant mix of EC Comic-esque still shots for menus and diorama style cut scenes and detailed in-game character models. Each of these characters strongly represents and sets comfortably within each of their particular themes. While one boss takes heavily from the punk music genre another takes from the hippie rock genre, and in case someone is confused the game informs the player of the influences of each character often with some funny one-liner jokes. The writing of James Gunn (known for such movies as Tromeo and Juliet, Slither, and Super) can be seen in full force in this game. Without a doubt the comedy-horror characters and storyline seem at times right out of a Troma film.
At first the gameplay can seem somewhat repetitive, which can be true of the hack and slash variety, but this game mixes things up with various gameplay differences. With that being said the gameplay overall can be seen as mostly solid. The occasional camera problem can be fixed by simply moving around and using a bit of common sense. The linear gameplay is a refreshing throwback to classic video games, allowing the story, art, and music to shine.
With all the great things about this game it is not for everyone. If someone looks at the box art for the game and feels offended then the game will do nothing to change that, which is a great strength for this game. This game makes no apologies for what it is, a beautiful piece of video game art. While the overly sensitive politically correct audience will hate this game it will become a classic, much like Suda51’s other titles. Those who want the twitch open world gameplay of the more mainstream titles will also be disappointed, as the more complex moves will take a bit more practice and patience to successfully achieve.
The only true downside to this game is the length. While the seven long levels are extremely entertaining and satisfying the game left me wanting more gameplay and story. I really wish that each of the well-designed characters had been given more on screen time, or even a way to play as each family member. The disappointing length left me with high hopes for a sequel. Overall, Lollipop Chainsaw is an excellent artistic game that in many ways is a love letter to the genres and past of games, music, and horror films. If any part of the story or style is of interest, definitely one to check out.
Be sure to visit Atomic Meltdown for more