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Suda 51 is a genius. He is a man who is devoted to his creative visions and any non-believers be damned. Announced just a few weeks ago as the next game from the wild mind of Suda 51 and Grasshopper Studios, Lollipop Chainsaw is a game that will cause your blood to rush from your head to other places. Unabashedly outrageous and wonderfully provacative, this is a game about blood, sex appeal, and rainbows. Fresh off the release of Shadows of the Damned, Suda has wasted no time making sure that his name is not forgotten. Who else in this industry would give birth to the concept of a Zombie hunting cheerleader with a awfully suggestive affection for lollipops? While his games rarely achieve noteworthy commercial status, they are almost always received well critically. While it is still a bit too early to tell how LP will turn out, the game is already in playable form and it is shaping up nicely.
I was shocked to find a playable demo on the show floor at the crowded Warner Bros booth. Tucked away and overshadowed by the likes of Arkham City and War in the North, LP is still managing to leave a mark here at PAX with surprisingly long lines and festive foam chainsaws being seen everywhere. My demo started with Juliet arriving at her local highschool to find that the grounds had been overrun by flesh eating zombies. The set up is simple but the presentation is clean and bright, far from the standard zombie atmosphere. The game plays like a standard character action title complete with brutal melee combat and deepened by the ability to perform combos and special finishing moves. The concept and specifics of the combat were familiar but when layered on top of such a vibrant and bubbly world, the game feels like something completely fresh. Violence and gore is beautifully juxtaposed against a world that feels like it was born from rainbows and bubblegum and the sexy heroine is the icing on this delicious cake.
While some improvements can be made to the camera and targeting system, performing satisfying maneuvers was fairly intuitive. As one might expect, various move types are mapped to the different face buttons and performing certain attacks in sequence or at a specific point in battle allows for some pretty exciting finishing moves. One finisher involved vaulting over a zombie and then splitting him down the middle with the chainsaw. A sub-boss in the form of a zombified school teacher picked up a piece of furniture and used it to perform powerful attacks and blocks. While the demo itself was pretty standard fare for a character action game, the combat felt great and the little details such as the lollipop health pickups make this title shine.
Having worked on games like No More Heroes and Shadows of the Damned, Grasshopper is no stranger to provocative imagery but Lollipop Chainsaw amplifies this ten fold. Overflowing with sexual innuendo and carefully placed camera angles, Grasshopper has created a tittilating romp that is completely void of shame. After getting used to the combat and camera controls, the developer who was leading my demo told me to channel my inner pervert by taking a peak up her skirt. I gladly obliged only to be shut down by what can only be described as the most adorable animation i've ever seen. When the camera pans around to catch a glimpse of the goods, Juliet shyly blocks the camera with her hands and with that one gesture, my heart melted. It is amazing how the simplest of details can bring a project together and breathe life into an otherwise generic character.
Getting my hands on the game for a few minutes was enough to earn my exuberance but the fine details that landed this game on my 'most anticipated games' list. Thanks to the recent partnership between ex-Konami music composer, Akira Yamaoka and Grasshopper Studios, it has been confirmed that Yamaoka will be responsible for the music. With his knack for capturing atmosphere and darkness in his music, this will be brand new territory for the famed developer who is best known for his work on the Silent Hill series. I cannot wait to see how he adapts his established style to such an upbeat project.
My hands-on with Lollipop Chainsaw was brief and I still have another portion of the demo to play tomorrow but I have already reserved a place for this game atop my "most anticipated games of 2012" list. Stay tuned in the coming days for more. We will be discussing our time with the game on tonights podcast.
Comments
13 years, 3 months ago
Is it because she uses a bedazzled chainsaw as a weapon?
13 years, 3 months ago
Yes. YES!!! Thank you for playing this game. It. looks. SOO GEWD!
So far, does anyone know anything about the plot/story of the game though?
13 years, 3 months ago
holy shit
13 years, 3 months ago
Nick, have you seen Sucker Punch?
I think this is a little like that movie, they present you all your fantasies. God I like that movie.
13 years, 3 months ago
The attention to detail, or at least the different ways they are able to show Juliet's character sound really well thought out and charming. I'm glad to hear that the combat is at least to a somewhat polished level. I don't have any concerns about this game going forward there is still plenty of dev time left to tweak the camera and other little improvements. Unless I hear some news about The Last Guardian being released next year this is my most anticipated game going forward.
Great article, look forward to the impressions on the other parts of the demo.
13 years, 3 months ago
The concept of this game hasn't amazed me like the previous SUDA51 titles have but it's on my watch list. I need my killer7 remake!
13 years, 3 months ago
It's good to hear positive things about this game. I was a little worried about the combat being pretty bad. I hope this is a breakout title for grasshopper and warner bros pushing this title.
13 years, 3 months ago
She blocks upskirts? That's pretty awesome. But yeah, definitely still on my watch list.
13 years, 3 months ago
Maybe my subconscious is simply less mature than I thought, but I'm not entirely sure why hearing about this interested me so quickly. I'm somewhat disappointed to see Juliet is a one-liner popping action hero with a stereotypical teenage blonde twist (from what I've gathered). I was kinda hoping to see an innocent, care-free person that's forced to rise to the challenge at hand. However, I'm still interested in the project developments. Keep us posted, Nick!
13 years, 3 months ago
I love Suda.
With my whole damn heart.
Label me one excited sunnuvabitch.
13 years, 3 months ago
I was behind you/Brad/Joseph in line. I should have recorded footage of your demos. D'ohhhhh.
13 years, 3 months ago
NO TALKING!
13 years, 3 months ago
I don't find the upskirt thing to be adorable at all, it's actually kinda creepy.
13 years, 3 months ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FMqN0hd2co
13 years, 3 months ago
Anymore games and Suda51 can make their own smash bros game!
13 years, 3 months ago
The only way that the game seems to be lacking so far is in the naming department.
Juliet Starling after Travis Touchdown and Garcia Fucking Hotspur? Come on Suda51, we know you can do better than that. I know naming a woman can be a bit intimidating, but I'm sure with a little time and effort you could have come up with a name that would have blown us all.
13 years, 3 months ago
Suda 51 is memorable not just for his craziness but his chracters and I agree with Boomstick because it seems he's losing touch with his ability to create deep mysterious characters. Garcia was a fun character though he was llike a spanish demon hunting version of travis touchdown with a fun sidekick (who should have become a motorcycle at least 1 more time >_>). I just hope Juliet has some history behind her or unique quality besides being moe and killing fools. Bad girl was a great character cuz she looked innocent on the outside but was actually "bat" shit insane. Hopefully Suda knows what he's doing with this character and isn't just concentrating on his ideas over the other aspects. Killer 7 was great because the characters were great. No More heroes had great chacters. Shadows of the damned maybe could have had more characters but they all had a memorable set up. I'm kinda scared now with this title. It'll be fun, but will it be great?
13 years, 3 months ago
I'm really excited for this game, but I hope it doesn't have graded levels, like Bayonetta or DMC. I really can't get into a game as well if I keep thinking about that grade in the back of my mind.
13 years, 3 months ago
I like everything I've heard about this game so far
13 years, 3 months ago
Well this game is different then the mainstream stuff that's for sure.
13 years, 3 months ago
YES YAMAOKA!
Oh god yes, I want this game!
& 'Channel my inner pervert-' that made me laugh. Everyone has one..
13 years, 3 months ago
Ehh, I'm suprised at how much love this game is getting, but i guess uniqueness can go quite a ways. Hope it succeeds.
13 years, 3 months ago
Really, I'm the only one that was disgusted by the game? We wonder why people consider gamers to be sex starved, immature, teenage boys, but then we swoon over a highly violent game in which an insanely sexy cheerleader kills zombies with a chainsaw. Nothing about this game interests me...
13 years, 3 months ago
Really excited for this game, hope it turns out amazingly!
13 years, 3 months ago
I want this game in me now. Now I tells ya!
13 years, 3 months ago
Another game from Suda that I will surely play.
13 years, 3 months ago
another game to add to my list, thanks for the coverage
13 years, 3 months ago
It's always good to see something that stands out in the long line of zombie games.
13 years, 3 months ago
I hope this game is great, but I hope it is not too familiar in terms of combat or shitty in general.
13 years, 3 months ago
Akira doing the music? Awesome! It'll be great to see what kind of range he has musically.
13 years, 3 months ago
I love how into this game I am.
13 years, 3 months ago
This game looks great!
13 years, 3 months ago
Good to see more original content in the video game world. Really hope the melee combat handles well.
13 years, 3 months ago
I've only recently become acquainted with the genius that is Suda 51, and this title won me over as soon as I read his name. It sounds like a fun time, but since I doubt I'll be playing it at any point in my life, I look forward to seeing it on the feed sometime.
13 years, 1 month ago
[...] can read our playthrough impressions from PAX 2011 here. Lollipop Chainsaw is slated to be released sometime in [...]