The Good vs Bad when it comes down to Lollipop Chainsaw
As for the good things about Lollipop Chainsaw: The story and cast of characters keep things outside of (and sometimes even within) the combat interesting throughout the entire game. Actually, the story is explained near the end of the first chapter and sticks to what is explained without the use of sudden plot-changes or distractions. Juliet (the protagonist), her family, and her enemies are interesting for the fact that they are all nuts, in a good way. With Juliet having the personality of a stereotypical cheerleader and her decapitated boyfriend making jokes along the way, the game also offers a great sense of humor. Jokes based off of what's in the game as well as those referring to pop culture (ie: Facebook, Youtube, My Chemical Romance, etc.) will be heard and likely enjoyed by most players. Juliet is also among the more attractive female protagonists I have played as for quite some time.
Lollipop Chainsaw's gameplay may not be all that original (especially when comparing it to Suda's "No More Heroes" franchise), but it definitely brings some new things to the table. Cutting open zombies to see rainbows and hearts pour out (as opposed to blood and guts) is among the first of these 'new things' that it offers. You can also use Juliet's chainsaw as a firearm, her decapitated boyfriend's head as a projectile, and encounter sections of the game that are mini-games to keep things fresh. Lollipop Chainsaw may also seem as if it has very little replay value at first, but if you choose to play it again the replay value is definitely there and is quite high. New enemies can be fought and there are plenty of things (ranging from skills to costumes) that you can unlock along the way.
The games controls may seem clunky at first, but after a good 30 minutes to an hour of playing you may find yourself killing zombies with ease. While on the topic of zombie killing, Lollipop Chainsaw also offers many different kinds of zombies that require different strategies to defeat. Some may go down after you simply slash through them a few times, while others will go down a lot faster if you shoot at them.
I tend to leave the sound design out of my reviews lately, but leaving it out in my review for Lollipop Chainsaw seemed wrong. The games soundtrack is actually pretty good and contains songs from "Lollipop" by The Chordettes to new jams like "Rock n Roll" by Skrillex. Speaking of "Lollipop", you will hear it a lot. If it doesn't get stuck in your head after playing this game; you're one hell of a resistant person. I've been told that I was whistling it without even being aware twice now, and it's only been a day since the game was released. Ah, and this may not be all that great to some people, but being able to play the game with English or Japanese voices is actually quite an interesting feature, though I personally prefer everything in English.
As for the "Meh" things about Lollipop Chainsaw; the game took me about 7 hours to finish on my first playthrough and I only ended up dying 6 times. This isn't really that much of a bad thing though, considering what kind of game it is. In my opinion, if a game like this were any longer I don't think it would be as fun to play. Going back for gold medals, looking for collectibles, and actually enjoying the story because the game wasn't too long are bits of Lollipop Chainsaw that I enjoy the most.
As for the bad things about Lollipop Chainsaw; I don't really have many bad things to say about it besides the fact that the camera angle can be extremely annoying to deal with sometimes. This is especially true when you have to fight in smaller areas.
Overall, Lollipop Chainsaw is a great game that brings the player a lot of fun, laughs, and an experience so bizarre that it will definitely be remembered over time, which gives it an 8.5 out of 10.
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(Review based on PS3 version.)