A hack and slasher in the vein of God of War, or Devil May Cry, Lollipop Chainsaw begins with the chainsawing cheerleading zombie hunter Juliet making her way to San Romero (good reference) high school in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, brought forth by a Robert Smith looking "goth geek" named Swan. Juliet finds help in the decapitated head of her boyfriend Nick, armed with a sharp tongue, and not much else but the ability to pilot headless zombies through a mini game.
Going up against the almost full partnership are some of the most durable and coordinated zombies to have ever existed. Juliet can soften up up zombies to make decapitating them a little easier, but this quickly becomes difficult as zombies can easily bust through Juliet's pom-pom combos, soaking up hits like a fleshy rotting sponge. Find yourself in the middle of a zombie horde and you'll get frustrated quickly. As Juliet isn't equipped with a block, her only way out is to leap frog over zombies until she's out of trouble. But even this can be difficult with an often ill-tempered camera and fractured targeting system.
Juliet will also get aid from her zombie hunting family. Sisters Cordelia and Rosalind take down zombies with sniper rifle and bus, respectively. Father and mother will also make the ocassional call to Juliet, offering gems of advice like "don't forget to dodge."
Music plays a big role in the game, and is actually one of the game's redeeming qualities. The main bosses of each level, the "Undead Elite," are each based after a specific musical genre. The undead Zed is a punker whose screaming insults take physical form; Viking metal Vikke is a dead drummer who borrows some of Thor's talent for lightning; psychedelic hippie zombie Mariska has literal split personalities; funk zombie Josey is what you get when you cross Baron Samedi with George Clinton and T-Pain's penchant for autotune; and finally there's Rock n' Roll zombie Lewis sporting an Elvis style pompadour and a bad ass bike.
Chainsaw was able to get some notables to lend their voice to help make the living dead bosses come...well..."alive." Alumnus of "Walking Dead" and "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer," Michael Rooker provides the voice of Vikke; Jimmy Urine of the band Mindless Self Indulgence plays the punk zombie Zed, and Shawnee Smith from "Saw" is psychedelic zombie Mariska.
The soundtrack is great. Decapitating zombies while the likes of Children of Bodom and Dragonforce blast in the background is pretty cool. Juliet can also purchase new mp3s at "Chop2Shop.zom." The soundtrack also features the likes of Skrillex, Five Finger Death Punch, Toy Dolls, and Joan Jett. While the tracks are great, they can get repetitive quickly. You'll have to drop by the Chop Shop frequently to upgrade your arsenal and stats. But by my third visit, I was completely sick of the Chrodettes' "Lollipop." Sure it was funny at first, but dear Lord does that get old quick.
What it (severely) lacks in gameplay, it does somewhat make up for with style. Slicing through a boss with a quicktime event will see a rip slowly make its way across your TV screen. There's also a grainy effect to give the game a "grindhouse" look. One liners are littered throughout the game, spoken by bosses and Juliet alike. While some may give you a bit of a chuckle, don't count on any knee slappers. Juliet's Clueless style valley girl act meshed with a chainsaw wielding zombie hunter may have sounded like it would've been an interesting merger, but it just tries too hard to titillate and be risqué. Cut scenes provide the player with plenty of chances to peek up Juliet's skirt (a trophy is even offered for those who manage to succeed in game) not to mention the numerous revealing costumes you can purchase. The majority of the tongue in cheek humor is all but tolerable for anyone that's managed to graduate junior school.
I wanted to like it, I really did. And I did my part in hyping it, which I now feel earnestly guilty about. For those still interested, save yourself the trouble and either rent it, or wait for a price drop.
