Lollipop Chainsaw

So I finally got around to finishing Lollipop Chainsaw this week, having bought and finished numerous games between originally getting it, and now. I think that says a lot about LC, in and of itself, but I'd hate to leave the review at that, so allow me to elaborate.

STORY
Lollipop Chainsaw tells the tale of Juliet Starling, your everyday, unassuming teenage cheerleader. Except, she isn't. Despite the ditsy, uber-happy demeanour of our heroine, Juliet is actually a monster hunter, a hunter of zombies to be more exact. And on this particular day, her birthday, a Zombie outbreak has begun at San Romero High (get it?) and it's up to her to stop it.

Ok, so the story isn't great. It's reason enough to go from place to place chopping up the 5 zombie lords of Rock n Roll with a rainbow blazing chainsaw, but it's not going to make you think at all. The best thing about it is certainly the characters. Juliet is ditsy, but also speaks in a highly confident manner. She's says a lot of really funny things, and the crude humour really works in the games favour.
But, by far, the best character of the game is Nick. Despite being a severed head, he really is the most normal character you'll see. And his reactions to these messed up circumstances offer some of the biggest laughs in the game.

PRESENTATION
This game probably won't win any awards for graphics, but for what it's worth, Lollipop Chainsaw doesn't look bad. It's visual style fits well with the game's personality, it's bright and colourful, and just a little bit weird. What caught my eye most of all was the visual effects used during combat, most of the zombie's blood is replaced by rainbows, stars and love hearts, adding to that kooky vibe.

The game's soundtrack is equally as kooky, with heavy metal and rock tracks being mixed with unbearably catchy tunes such as "Mickey" (Toni Basil) and "Lollipop" (The Chordettes) and like the visuals, it's not the best thing ever, but damned if it doesn't fit the game perfectly.

The voice acting, again, isn't great but fits the personality of this game so well. Michael Rossenbaum (Of Smallville fame) brings the surprisingly normal (severed head) Nick to life, with some really fantastic deadpan lines. Tara Strong (Harley Quinn in Arkham City) brings some extra kooky from her last big video game role and kicks it in to gear as Juliet. All the Zombie lords have their own personality, and their respective voice actors (including Michael Rooker and Shawnee Smith) bring them to (un)life.

As I said, however, none of these things are really great. The soundtrack is unusual, and really love-it or hate-it, the voice acting is generally quite good (though not award winning), and while the visuals work nicely, they could use some more work. But yea, let's call it ever-so-slightly above average.

GAMEPLAY
Now here's where Lollipop Chainsaw let me down. I don't mean to spoil it so early in the segment, but there it is. Lollipop Chainsaw is a fairly standard hack 'n slash game, with a long list of issues.

While button presses are quite responsive, there's just not enough variety to keep most people interested. Yes, there are more combos to unlock, but generally, there's not much to differentiate them from each other. I mean, yes, the animations are different, but there's very little benefit with mixing up combos. At all. It makes most of the combo unlocking seem highly unimportant.

One of the most disappointing aspects of the combat is, in fact, the lack of feedback that what you're doing is working. I mean, there are a few satisfying moves (like the dropkick) that you can clearly see affects the zombie horde. But the majority of moves seem to just glance of your opponents, even the heavier of attacks.

And finally, there's just not much in the way of variation. There are a couple of mini-games that are hit or miss, Zombie basketball is about the only real highlight I can think of.
There is one level that's quite full of variety, and that's the video game level of all things (HOW META!!), but the other 5/6ths of the game are just really quite bland (gameplay-wise).

REPLAYABILITY
So, at the end of each level, the game grades you on how well you did; how long it took you, how well you performed in combat, how many retries you needed, etc. There are also online ranking boards if you feel the need to compare yourself with other online zombie hunters.
There are also fellow students to go back and save, should you miss any the first time through. It unlocks the best possible ending, so there's that.

OVERVIEW
Lollipop Chainsaw is, in a way, one of my least favourite types of game. Everything just meshes so well, the visual design, the soundtrack, the voice acting and the quirky story; everything (while not amazing) compliments everything else. Until we reach the gameplay. It's all just very bland, with very little visceral feedback, despite the potential (I mean, you're chainsawing zombies!).
The lack of variety is just another reason why playing this game felt more like a chore than anything, despite the awesome, out there vibes that penetrate every inch of this game.

So, if you're not above playing a game for everything but the gameplay, this game would do for you. I just think that if you're going to shell out such an unreasonable amount for a brand new game in the first place, the gameplay should at least be satisfying. (And if you're wondering, a brand new game in Australia these days costs upwards of $80). Definitely a rent first.

Next week, I'll be reviewing The Amazing Spiderman. YAY! See you next time!