Title: LOLLIPOP CHAINSAW RePOP
Genre: Action
Platform: PS5, XBS/X, Switch, PC
Developer: Dragami Games
Publisher: Dragami Games
Release date: 12 Sep 2024 (digital/WW), 26 Sep 2024 (physical/JP), Nov 2024 (digital PS4/XB1)
Originally released in 2012 for the PS3 and 360, Lollipop Chainsaw was known for being bizarre and campy – as would be expected from a game about a cheerleader fighting zombies with a chainsaw and the disembodied head of her boyfriend – and while it might not have been a mainstream blockbuster, with over 1.2 million copies sold, it doesn’t seem to be quite accurate to describe it as a cult classic either. But over the years, it did seem to slide into that status due to growing increasingly hard to get: The game used licensed western music, and when those licenses expired, the game had to be delisted.
The developers at Dragami Games (formerly Kadokawa Games, which worked on the original release) did not want to leave the game in limbo, inaccessible on current consoles, and so announced a remake of the game, which was shortly thereafter reworded to be a remaster, with the title later announced as Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP. Neither term is 100% accurate, however, as while RePOP has the same art direction, story, and dialogue as the original making it look like a remaster, it also had a massive amount completely rebuilt and revamps a large amount of gameplay in addition to adding new content like a remake.
Lollipop Chainsaw (RePOP) is a silly, zany B-horror adventure in which cheerleader Juliet, who is secretly from a family of zombie hunters, fights the undead with her trusty chainsaw accompanied with her boyfriend Nick, whom she turned into a disembodied head to save him from turning into a zombie after he was bitten. While there isn’t much to write about the story – Juliet just kind of wanders around town fighting zombies and running into a couple of stronger boss zombies and also her family members who are all also fighting them – The English script which was written by James Gunn, now known for his work on Guardians of the Galaxy and Suicide Squad (not the bad one), is filled with weird humour and gratuitous vulgarities which make the game really stand out in a sea of video games where writers who are afraid of offending anyone grow increasingly conservative. The English voice acting is also surprisingly good, especially with Nick, who contributes a lot to the humor by being the singular straight man in a thoroughly ridiculous universe.
RePOP updates the graphics significantly, so that the game now looks far more modern, with better lighting and higher fidelity all-round, supporting 4K and 60 FPS on all platforms but the Switch (which gets 1080p/30FPS), and also toning down some of the more questionable choices of the original, such as over-aggressive vignetting and bloom, and of course the horrid color filters which were the trend at the time (think of the infamous Deus Ex: Human Revolution “piss filter”) which helps in making the game look sharper than ever before.
Gameplay is also significantly revamped with far better input buffering, faster action, massive balance changes to some of the dodgier parts of the gameplay (mostly the minigames), improved gunplay, and QOL changes such as auto-QTEs to reduce (though not quite completely eliminate) the sheer amount of jank found in the original release. The result is a game that feels far more better to play than the original, while retaining its charm.
A topic frequently brought up when about RePOP ever since it was announced, and addressed over and over again by the devs, is that of censorship: The original Lollipop Chainsaw included a ton of raunchy outfits and a lot of dialogue that could be considered offensive, and fans, seeing that as part of its charm, were understandably concerned about changes. Thankfully, RePOP is completely uncensored: While some content, such as collaboration costumes with various series that were only possible at the time of the original’s release due to Kadokawa Games being part of the Kadokawa conglomerate which had the rights to said series, and the aforementioned licensed music which led to the original release having to be delisted, is understandably removed, everything else ranging from the raunchy costumes to beheading and dismemberment and explicit dialogue is left intact. Furthermore, fans have already made a mod to restore the licensed music for the PC release of the game, and besides that, in this reviewer’s opinion, many of the new tracks made for RePOP are actually really good and in some cases fit the game better than the original licensed songs.
Aside from balance and system changes, RePOP also adds a new visual style to the game in the form of RePOP Mode, which changes the color of zombie blood to a fluorescent blue and adds a massive number of colorful hit sparks when dealing damage to enemies, while mostly removing red blood splatters. Though some disingenuous bad actors have taken to calling this a “censorship mode” and bashing the game for it (even though the mode is optional), it does not remove the raunchy costumes or change the dialogue or violence, and it can be observed that some blood splatters are still left in the game (mostly from humans attacked by the zombies). This does not seem to be a mode to tone down the violence, but rather an alternate visual mode for players who are tired of the old look, something like Ghost of Tsushima’s “Kurosawa Mode”.
Unfortunately, the current version of Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP does feature a number of bugs: While this reviewer personally cleared the game without encountering any that were particularly egregious on the PS5 (just one which required a restart from a checkpoint two minutes back and some minor ones involving the audio), there have been reports online of several resulting in soft locks, such as QTEs not working properly: Thankfully, producer Yasuda Yoshimi has already addressed this, saying that the team is committed to fixing the bugs.
Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP manages to breathe new life into a game that was once thought to be doomed to vanish into obscurity. By upgrading the visuals and refining the gameplay while preserving the original’s unique charm and over-the-top feel, RePOP ensures that the Lollipop Chainsaw that players loved remains intact, while adding some much-needed polish.
The Good: Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP is a uniquely colorful, absurd and surreal experience like no other.
The Bad: Though massively improved, the gameplay still has a lot of jank due to fundamental choices made in the development of the original version. Additionally, the brand of vulgar humor might not be for everyone.
Conclusion: By upgrading the visuals and refining the gameplay while preserving the original’s unique charm and over-the-top feel, RePOP ensures that the Lollipop Chainsaw that players loved remains intact, while adding some much-needed polish.
Score: 75/100
Also see:
Review: Demon Gaze Extra – A great dungeon RPG for both genre veterans and new fans
A review copy of this game was provided by the developer.
