Now if you read Xbigy Games you may have guessed that we are pretty big fans of Suda 51′s work. When he announced that Grasshopper Manufacture were working on a zombie-action game starring a spunky teenage cheerleader, he instantaneously had us hooked. Now the problem that I have had with recent games from Grasshopper (Shadows of the Damned primarily) is that while the story, art work and bosses are all top-notch, the core gameplay can be somewhat lacking. So was Lollipop Chainsaw a blood soaked zombie romp or more excruciating than watching John Romero’s latest attempt at a zombie film?

In Lollipop Chainsaw you play a blonde, cheerleading, zombie hunter named Juliet. After her school is attacked by the undead she makes it her task to stop these unknown forces changing her world, decapitating everything in her way. Oh and after her boyfriend Nick is infected, she performs a ritual to keep him alive as a head clipped onto her miniskirt. Yes it sounds mental, but think Buffy with a funny script and you are half there. It is over the top, risqué and full of pop culture references. Just sitting here I can think back to nods to Predator, Apocalypse Now and Pulp Fiction.

For most of the game you will be dispatching enemies armed with pom-poms and a large chainsaw, with an inbuilt phone! The combat is simple enough with two buttons used for your chainsaw and another for your pom-poms. Now here is one of my biggest gripes with Lollipop Chainsaw. There just is not enough to the combat. Unlike other games, in this genre you do not get any more weapons. You acquire upgrades such as the Chainsaw Launcher, but nothing that changes combat too much. With a limited move-set this means that Lollipop Chainsaw can become repetitive by the end. Grasshopper Manufacture have tried to battle this by adding moves to purchase with in-game coins, but this only adds so much to the game.

So with that said, I should hate Lollipop Chainsaw, right? Well no. While the combat is not awe-inspiring, it just needs a little more variation. What makes the game unique are the different bosses, mini-games and the art style that constantly changes. One level has you going on mushroom trips that take you to all sorts of weird and wacky areas. Another level has you fighting in an arcade and even entering a game (without the use of drugs). Lollipop Chainsaw is more concerned about mixing up the scenarios than giving players the same thing they have been spoon-fed in so many other games. I mean what other game can you shred through hordes of zombies only to create plumes of rainbows, hearts and initiate a special sparkle mode?

This variation in levels has clearly taken its toll on the game though, with Lollipop Chainsaw only lasting between 4-8 hours.  The game is extremely linear with little to no exploration. Other than beating high scores and fully upgrading/kitting out Juliet , there is not much else to do. Whether you like the game or not will depend on your enjoyment of the story. If you buy into Suda’s weird world then you will have a blast with this, if not you will hate it. As with other games from Grasshopper, Lollipop Chainsaw seems to have a polarising effect.

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