toksikshok

Lollipop Chainsaw, the latest release from veteran producer Suda51, is nothing short of spectacular, filling your face with nothing, but sex, blood and rock and roll... and a little bit of glitter and rainbows..... and bits of Elvis impersonators??? This is a no-holds-barred action ride that takes no prisoners and makes no apologies for the utter shit fest that it is.

You take on the role of Juliet Starling, an 18 yr old cheerleader from San Romero High, whose high school just got a nasty case of the undead. The game opens with the freshly turned adult inviting you into her bedroom on the morning of her 18th birthday, which is convenient because staring up the skirt of a 17 yr old for most of the game might be a little bit creepy.

After a steamy shower scene, we follow her to school where she runs head first into the zombie blitzkrieg that’s taking place. No worries though, Juliet comes from a long line of zombie hunters and she is well trained in the art of zombie dismemberment and conveniently carries her customizable bedazzled chainsaw with her everywhere see goes. After a brief tutorial level we are formally introduced to Juliet’s boyfriend Nick, who just so happened to have been bitten by a zombie and is on the verge of death.....errr undeath. Juliet’s solution… chop off his head before the infection spreads, cast a voodoo spell on said head to keep him alive and tote him around as a wise cracking accessory that doubles as a bad ass zombie killing weapon, once you are lucky enough to unlock the Nick shooter of course, and so the game truly begins.

Lollipop Chainsaw is a 3rd person hack-n-slash that, as much as I hate to say it, falls short in the combat department. Initially you are given a few lackluster chainsaw/pom pom combos to get you by during the earlier levels. More advanced killing combos are unlocked later on and need to be purchased through the in-game store with zombie coins that are collected by killing multiple zombies or by killing some of the tougher low level bosses in the game. There are two types of coins of course.... gold, which are used to unlock combos and upgrade Juliet’s stats, and platinum, which are for the fun stuff like sexy outfits, new music and conception art. Coins are tough to get your hands on unfortunately and usually require pulling off multi kills also known as "sparkle hunts", killing three or more zombies at once and gives the player a coin bonus but can be difficult to pull off, especially in the earlier stages of the game. So acquiring new skills can be tedious and time consuming since purchasing every available in the game will take more then one play through.

Not to mention that as fun as chopping up zombies should be, you’ll find that a lot of the combat is a bit choppy and you have to wait for previous animations to stop before starting up a new combo, which can be a bit frustrating to those with lesser patience for a slower burn type of experience. Fortunately, as non spectacular as the combat may seem you are constantly treated to the banter between Juliet and Nick as well as Juliet’s equally colorful family who make appearances to help you along during your adventure to save San Romero.


To the untrained eye Juliet and her family come off a ditsy and just plain fucking annoying, with the exception of Dad who is a bad ass rockabilly zombie killer capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound, but this isn’t a game for your average gamer. Like I explained earlier this is not a game that wants you to like it or is going to try and make you a fan. I liken it to that of a good Troma flick, ie Tromeo and Juliet, the average consumer will be made ill at the gratuitous and constant comments about Juliet’s tits ,ass, sexual promiscuity and sometimes taint. Statements like "I’m going to fist my asshole with your head" or achievements/trophies titled "fingered", don’t help the cause, but for those of us who aren’t looking for a Titanic type of dramatic experience or even a Critters type of story, this is where the game shines the most.

We are talking about a game that features a super sexy teenage girl who wears a mini-skirt killing zombies while toting her boyfriends living decapitated head on her belt. This game is a fucking joke and doesn’t try, in any way, to take itself seriously at any point during your 6 hour journey. The first boss, a dirty zombie punk, has the power of making his actual voice manifest, so when he screams "COCKSUCKER" at you, you get a malicious alphabet arsenal that comes flying from across the screen in the hopes to hurt your person...while Nick is asking, "where did these giant letters come from?", so its fair to say that this is not a game that’s going to keep you asking, "What’s gonna happen next?".

Graphic wise this game looks lovely. It’s as vivacious as Juliet and just as colorful… and from time to time glitter and rainbows shoot out of the zombies as their heads fall off their necks. The game, at times, has a hand drawn look for all of the characters and environments similar to some other recent cell shaded games out there, Borderlands, Catherine and the recent tiny and big, as a sucker for cell shading so I cant complain.

The soundtrack consists of the highly popular singles that have been released over the last 30+ years. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Tears for Fears, The Chordettes, Atari Teenage Riot, and Skrillex are just a few of the names that are featured on the OST for this game, there’s also a feature that allows the player to select their favorite cuts for custom bgm. As a fan of the pyschobilly music and lifestyle, which this game is obviously influenced, I am sad to report that there are no psychobilly/rockabilly tracks that are readily available or that I have yet to unlock, minus a quick reference to Eddie Cochran, which is unfortunate as a couple bosses are obviously pulled from that style and while attacking a 100 foot zombie Elvis impersonator is super cool, I’d rather a soundtrack of the Koffin Kats or Mad Sin instead of mid 90's Atari Teenage Riot.

If you’re looking for a life changing experience with this game then you have come to the wrong place, at best it’s a weekend killer on speed. Asides from going back to beat your old score or work your way up the leader board there is little replay value to the game unless your an achievement hound like myself, which will keep you going for at least 20 something hrs. All in all, if you’re a fan of Suda51 and his schlocky grindhouse style of over the top immature humor and badass exploitation games or even if you never heard his name before and are just looking for just a good time then this is the game for you, as it was for me. Should you pay 60$ for a fresh copy...sadly no, but if you can find it for under 50 or in the used bin like I did, don’t let this game slip away as there’s more than meets the eye with this little gem and is definitely worth your time... and your money.