Lollipop Chainsaw

Suda51 has gained a cult following for his games such as Killer7, No More Heroes and more. These games are renown for their irresistible charm and crazy Suda humor. They are also known for having a theme such as NMH's anime style or Shadows of the Damned's mexican movie motif. Lollipop Chainsaw is the next game made by Grasshopper Manufacture and Suda51. The games early influences are apparent with Buff the Vampire Slayer and High School of the Dead. This is a Suda game from top to bottom. Unfortunately the characters and story in LC is weak on all levels. Juliet simply isn't a very compelling character. The story which is non-apparent also leaves much to be desired. The game starts off with Juliet's 18th birthday(everyone will remind you of it). She is a zombie hunter with a long line of zombie hunting in here blood. Suddenly, zombies are all over San Romero High School with their appearance being unknown early on. The story takes a back seat for gameplay which isn't what you want from a Suda game. Gameplay is your standard character action game with repeated playthroughs in mind. The game encourages you to play past levels repeatedly for medals and other bonueses. This is probably needed as the game is short without getting everything. I beat it at around 5 hours which isn't enough for me. There are some annoyances to the combat such as a wonky camera. Game design is also weak as it forces you to kill a set amount of zombies in nearly every part of a level. It feels like an older game as it forces you to clear room after room. The also has a horrible pacing issue as it continues to pile on enemies after enemies while never giving you enough time to breath. Graphics wise the game looks awful and my older game comment applies here. The game has frame rate issues, pop in issues, and glitches while walking around the enviornment. The graphical comic book style helps, but it isn't enough. The music though is fantastic! Having Pac-Man Fever is enough for me to love the soundtrack. It also has a great range of licensed music and other original music. My main issues with LC is that it isn't what I want from a Suda game. The game only gets crazier later on, but it doesn't show what it does best from the start. It also continually repeats game modes and mini games which make it feel like it was cheaply made. The worst segment in the revolves around Zombie Baseball which forces you to do an escort mission while shooting at enemies. This part easily frustrated me and seemed so unnecessary. It's a shame that LC is disappointing in many regards since it does have some crazy Suda moments. If you wish to see them you'll have to play a decent character action game that is awful in most areas. I'd only recommend a rental from people willing to go through some bad stuff or the most loyal of Suda fans. Hopefully we can get a better game from Suda that can be on the same level as Killer7.