Why Lollipop Chainsaw Could Be Just The Game We Need

I’m not alone when I say that I’m a little nonplussed by the tidal wave of first-person shooter, war-themed video games that have been assaulting (pun intended) our shelves as of late. The resounding success of these types of games is impossible to deny. I mean, Modern Warfare 3 has already grossed over $1 billion worldwide, which is more than most Hollywood smash hits can say.

However, play these types of games enough and they eventually begin to meld together into a lump of rusty, gray slag comprised of infinitely-spawning AI and terrorist plots. There is little surprise or story left in these games; they are content to make their money feeding off of gamers’ insatiable hunger for multiplayer action and sweet weapon skins.

Of course, first-person shooter games only occupy a portion – albeit large portion – of the games available. There are always puzzle games, action/adventure games, RPGs, and a host of other genres to tantalize our palette. Yet even these often fail to captivate us or present any real margin of creativity. And when creativity and innovation are removed from the equation, it takes nothing less than a full-blown combination of mayhem, fun, and crazy to kick start our appreciation of video games.

I think that Lollipop Chainsaw could just be the salvation video games need in 2012. If you haven’t heard of this game yet, it’s worth a glance or two. What’s been released concerning the story is limited at this point. You play as a cutesy cheerleader named Juliet who proves to be anything but timid and delicate when her high school is taken over by a zombie infestation. When all of her teachers, classmates, rivals, and boyfriend are infected by the undead, what’s a girl to do except grab a chainsaw and dish out some carnage?

Where this differs from other zombie games is in its visual delivery. Lollipop Chainsaw includes a passel of gory dismemberments, disembowelments, and eviscerations complete with buckets of blood that gamers have come to expect from zombie games. However, Lollipop Chainsaw also garnishes these bloody activities with a generous portion of rainbows, bubbles, hearts, and pom-poms. The closest I’ve come to describing the game is as some weird spawn of Dawn of the Dead and My Little Pony.

Lollipop Chainsaw is, at its heart, a dichotomy existing somewhere between cute/cuddly and grisly/absurd. Most efforts to combine two very different genres of entertainment result in a production nightmare that either ostracizes its audience or fails to interest them in the slightest. Nevertheless, video games have always excelled at this ambitious venture. I’m reminded of games like Bioshock that combined two different genres (i.e. classical and horror) and succeeded in creating a visual masterpiece as well as a incredibly sound game. I doubt Lollipop Chainsaw will ever match the prowess of Bioshock, but I have high hopes that it will succeed in much the same way.

Why do I think this? Certain elements of the game, all of which have been mentioned in concise gameplay/story-related videos online, seem to point toward a product that covers its bases with great accuracy.

First, the gameplay looks absurdly fun. Your character, Juliet, hacks and slashes her way through hordes of zombies using her trusty chainsaw as well as a collection of adorable, but no less effective, weapons, including pom-poms and her sneakers. Juliet appears to be very athletic and adept at weaving her way in and out of zombies’ clutches, which hints at a functional combat system and a host of unique, acrobatic moves. Quickplay events do make a comeback in this game, which could easily break up the flow of combat. However, each successful quickplay event ends with Juliet dispatching her attackers in a creative, fluorescent manner. In other words, quickplay events aren’t drab or boring in the slightest.

Visuals, as already mentioned, are a bit of a sensory overload, which in this case could be a good thing. What other game can you play that mixes hearts, lightning, blood, rainbows, and flying zombie heads in equal proportions? I doubt gamers who play Lollipop Chainsaw will ever grow tired of what they see. Background visuals (or at least those I could extract from online videos) appear to take a backseat to combat-related visuals. They are a bit cut-and-dry, which could negatively affect visuals and give the game that “unfinished” look. However, visuals still have time to sharpen up before the game goes public, so I can’t really make an official call on that yet.

There is definitely a strong aspect of humor contained within Lollipop Chainsaw. The zombified versions of Juliet’s classmates and teachers still retain a semblance of their original personalities (i.e. the crabby math teacher is still crabby). This will undoubtedly lead to a plethora of high-school-related verbal jabs and puns that are sure to draw chuckles from gamers’ mouths. Some of Juliet’s combat moves (and supermoves?) end with hilarious results. I watched one video in which Juliet faces off against a zombie in the school gymnasium. After she succeeds in severing its neck with her chainsaw, the freshly dismembered head careens through the air and lands neatly in the basketball net at the opposite end of the court. Swoosh.

Also, Juliet’s sidekick, combat partner, and source of company looks extraordinarily entertaining. Her sidekick is none other than her boyfriend’s severed head, which Juliet was forced to remove from his body after he was infected with the zombie virus. She slaps the head onto an artificial carrying case and attaches it to her hip. As she cuts down zombie after zombie, her significantly-diminished significant other offers both advice and the occasional nibble of sarcastic humor. Brilliant.

Lollipop Chainsaw appears to be a game that abandons conventional methods in lieu of wacky, insane fun. It honestly looks so stupid and unbelievable that it ultimately appears endearing. I have several reservations about the game, most poignantly the game’s focus on upskirt shots and sensuality, but I have no doubt that it will be fun to play.

Despite the fact that Lollipop Chainsaw could easily be a resounding success or an absolute car wreck, I admire the producers for taking the initiative to create a game that pushes the typical boundaries of entertainment. I respect games that rely more on imagination and creativity than they do on rigid formalities. I hope Lollipop Chainsaw will help save us from our inane reliance on first-person shooters and help propel us into a new age of embracing games for simply being fun, if a little bizarre.

Lollipop Chainsaw is set to be released sometime late Spring or early Summer. Mark your calendars.