frozengriever

Background

Lollipop Chainsaw was one of the games that was released during the 2012-2013 zenith of 7th-gen consoles. While I definitely recall watching a trailer or two back in the day due to its unique premise, it didn't stick in my memory as I wasn't so interested in hack & slash games at the time and it was ultimately overshadowed by the deluge of absolute bangers that was released during that period. I only rediscovered this game in the past couple of years when I started collecting old PS3 games and I saw it being priced suspiciously high. When the remaster was announced, I added it to my wishlist so that I could see what all the fuss was about. However, the middling reviews of the remaster put me off so I decided to take the plunge with the PS3 version instead.

Production

Lollipop Chainsaw is an action game revolving around an all-American high school cheerleader irreverently hacking and slashing her way through a zombie apocalypse that befalls her small town.

I have a soft spot for auteur-driven games or movies, where the creator's voice shines through, rather than just consuming a generic entertainment product. Lollipop Chainsaw undoubtedly falls into this category, with its menus and loading screens evoking the style of 80s-90s American comics, and a soundtrack filled with retro pop-rock classics. The licensed soundtrack adds a lot of character to the game and its loss in the remaster was a big factor for me to seek out the original PS3 version instead.

Despite its grim subject matter, the game’s tone is decidedly lighthearted, with the violence presented as cartoony rather than horrifying. Slicing through hordes of zombies during the game is accompanied by sparkly hearts and rainbows particles effects, seemingly the precursor to the Harley-vision sequence from James Gunn's 2021 Suicide Squad movie. While the story isn’t particularly interesting, the writing unmistakably reflects James Gunn's late-2000s edgelord phase, brought to life through brilliantly over-the-top voice acting.

From a technical perspective, the PS3 version ran fine though at a 30 fps frame rate which was unfortunately a common target for 7th-gen consoles. I didn't notice any bugs or crashes during my playthrough, with the minor exception of an ending achievement triggering when it wasn't supposed to.

While I didn't get the remaster, the PC version should be the best option if you want to experience this game in 4k60fps as it could also be modded to restore the original music.

The game

Lollipop Chainsaw is divided into a series of linear levels, with each level having a decent number of checkpoints to restart from after dying or quitting the game. The overall game is quite short, with a single first time playthrough likely to take about 7 hours. The levels are bookended by long but skippable cutscenes that advance the story. There are also a number of shorter cutscenes that punctuate each level, most of which are annoyingly unskippable. While most of the cutscenes intend to be humorous, they quickly become annoying with repetition, especially those that have to be repeated between checkpoints.

The game has a basic upgrade system, where you earn currency from pickups or combat which can then be spent on shops located at certain points within the levels. There are two distinct currencies, a basic currency for purchasing combat upgrades and another for cosmetics. Unfortunately you won't earn anywhere near enough currency to buy all upgrades in a single playthrough. There isn't a distinct new game plus mode, but completed levels can be replayed indefinitely to farm for additional currency.

The core hack and slash gameplay is based on 3 different basic attacks, each having clear uses, and a dodge button with generous i-frames. The basic attacks can be chained together to form combos, with new combos unlockable through the in game shop. I found the shorter combos which are unlocked earlier to be more useful throughout the game as enemy attacks will interrupt your longer combos. Stuns are a key combat mechanic, which allows for the next hit to be an instant kill and is best used on some of the tougher mobs in the game. The highlight of the combat system is the sparkle hunting mechanic, which triggers a short cutscene and awards additional currency when you manage to kill 3 or more zombies in one hit. Overall, however, the melee combat feels underpowered, with the chainsaw attacks in particular requiring many hits to kill even basic zombies. Fights often devolve into circling around groups of zombies to herd them together before hitting them with one of the short combos.

A ranged attack is added partway into the game but the shooting mechanics feel quite clunky and unsatisfying. There's a headshot system but the hitboxes of the zombies feel very inconsistent, often not matching the actual model. There are some temporary power ups that can be triggered with a consumable, but I didn't find them necessary and often forgot about the mechanic during my playthrough. The health system is based on a simple health bar, allowing you to withstand a generous number of hits before dying. Healing is only possible through lollipop consumables, which can be found sporadically throughout levels or purchased from shops. However, there is a strict limit on how many you can carry at once. This design encourages a more cautious approach to combat, contrasting with systems where health can be regained from defeating enemies.

There aren’t many enemy types in the game, but they are distinct enough to require different approaches, adding some variety to the combat. Minibosses scattered throughout the levels add some challenge, although they remain vulnerable to basic combat tactics. The boss fights at the end of each level are a highlight; each is a multi-phase affair with interesting set pieces, although none present a significant difficulty spike compared to the base game. The biggest gameplay weakness lies in the minigames scattered throughout the levels: most feel gimmicky, introduce mechanics that aren’t used elsewhere in the game, and gate progress, as none of the minigames are optional.

Conclusion

Lollipop Chainsaw is a game where the individual elements combine to create an experience greater than the sum of its parts. However, this isn’t quite enough to elevate it beyond a mid game, as the core combat lacks variety which is not made up for by the gimmicky minigames. While it's a unique and fun experience the first time around, it feels like there’s little reason to revisit it.

6/10 - Worth trying if you enjoy hack & slash action games

Background

The nostalgia is strong with this one. As a 90s kid whose parents would never think of spending money on violent fare such as Doom, the otherwise adventure game focused LucasArts Archive was the Trojan horse that delivered my first FPS experience in the form of a demo disk containing the first level of Dark Forces. I had countless hours of fun blasting away at pixelated Stormtroopers, with authentic blaster sound effects and John William's film scores reinterpreted in MIDI adding to the unmistakeably Star Wars soundscape. Though I vaguely recall getting the full game at some point and skipping through the levels with cheats on, the game has long since been consigned to the Sarlacc pit of my memories since the turn of the millennium. That is until Nightdive Studios announced this remaster.

The remaster

Nightdive Studios has a good track record of lovingly remastering retro classics for modern platforms, and this remaster definitely lives up to their reputation. Playing on the PC, the default WASD mouselook controls are in line with modern FPS games. A quick weapon select wheel is a great new feature to help players manage the large arsenal. The remastered 2D sprites and textures do an excellent job of recreating in HD the game as you remember it, rather than the pixelated 240p reality of the original game. The cutscenes have been well remastered with hand drawn and rendered art that closely follows the original spritework and pre-rendered animations, while avoiding the telltale flaws of lazy AI upscaling. Art galleries and behind the scenes content is also included, as well as an easy achievement set to round out the remaster.

The game

While the remastering work is excellent, the underlying game itself has not aged well., particularly weapon design. While there is a good number of weapons, 10 in total half of which includes a secondary fire function, most feel redundant, offering only minor variations in functionality. The Stormtrooper Rifle, available within seconds of starting the first level, is sufficient for most of the game due to its plentiful ammo, while the next couple of weapons are mechanically similar ranged rapid fire weapons. While there are more interesting weapons like the grenades and concussion rifle, they suffer from awkward mechanics or inconsistent performance. Additionally, the game's vertical aiming system is frustratingly imprecise, which detracts from the experience given the significant verticality in many levels.

The roster of enemies suffers from a lack of variety, with map data showing that over half of the enemies count across the game are Imperial Stormtroopers. Most other enemies are simply variants of ranged attackers, requiring little adjustment to the standard run-and-gun approach, despite large hordes that appear in the later levels. Even the boss fights fail to introduce meaningful variety, often boiling down to similar tactics against enemies with larger health pools. The only combat hazards that do force you to stop and think are laser turrets and mines, although their fixed nature ultimately limits the threat they possess.

The game’s levels successfully capture the atmosphere of the original Star Wars films, clearly attempting to depict locations and facilities that feel grounded in the Star Wars universe, as opposed to the more abstract level designs of Doom. Each level is structured as an individual mission that includes a mission briefing, and occasionally a cut scene, providing an objective for the player to pursue beyond shooting enemies and finding keys. The original game engine includes features that were not present in Doom, such as platforms that can move and rotate, rooms that can be placed above other rooms, allowing for in game puzzles can get quite complex. Individual levels are huge sprawling affairs and since the game doesn't include mid-level saving or checkpoints, some of the longer levels can be quite a slog to get through in one sitting. The game does include a generous extra life feature that allows you to respawn in the level if you die, and this gives some motivation for the player to scour the levels for secrets to find extra lives or ammo caches. While the single player campaign clocks in at only 5-6 hours, it still verges on overstaying its welcome due to the repetitiveness of the core combat loop.

Conclusion

Ultimately, Dark Forces is a product of its era, riding the mid-’90s wave of Doom clones while also offering a unique chance to explore the Star Wars universe during the long hiatus between the original and prequel trilogies. While Dark Forces introduced some technically innovations to the FPS genre, it fails to match the timeless gameplay of Doom (1993) and was quickly overshadowed by genre-defining titles like Duke Nukem 3D (1996), Quake (1996), and Half-Life (1998). Today, amidst a deluge of Star Wars content and retro-inspired “boomer shooters,” Dark Forces Remaster is a perfectly mid game that can provide a few hours of nostalgic fun, but little else.

5/10

Scoring explanation

I'm hoping to start this series of reviews to share my opinions on "mid" games, which are not all time classics but still manages to entertain. 7/10 - Every gamer should try this 6/10 - Worth it if you're a fan of the genre 5/10 - Fun to be had but there are better options 4/10 - Has its moments but mostly a waste of time