Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Switch & PC)

Well, I can’t say that I had Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP on my bingo card for most unlikely remasters of all time. Still, for a game that quite literally had no backwards compatibility with next-gen hardware following its original 2012 debut, I suppose it made sense for its developers to return to the roots to give it a little extra, I don’t know, oomph. Juliet Starling is back, as are the swathes of undead cheerleaders and jocks of San Romero High, and they’re looking as equally glorious as they are, well, fleshy. The question is, how much has changed since it made its launch on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 back in 2012? Eh — it’s a little more pervasive, I’ll say that much. But then, what can you expect from a skater skirt-sporting, chainsaw-obsessed cheerleader with a toothy grin for lollipops and headless jocks? It’s in the DNA, man.

Anyway, in case you haven’t slugged through the gory corridors of the third-person comic book-style hack-and-slash chapter, then allow us to fill you in on all the juicy details. To put you in the picture, RePOP is, for lack of a better description, a rekindling of what developer Grasshopper Manufacture aimed to achieve back in 2012: a ludicrously perverted hack-and-slash action game that, while still inclusive of all the usual tropes—a textbook storyline, semi-open world stages, and on-the-nose personalities—was capable of making two products out of the one lollipop stick. The only major difference this time around, of course, is that things are a little shinier, meatier, and substantially better in terms of performance, visuals, and overall quality. Well, I’ll park that one for a minute.

Interested in hearing more about the resurrection of Juliet Starling? Then let’s go ahead and put the blade to the, you know, corpse.

Hack Yes, Juliet

It all begins with a run-of-the-mill zombie outbreak—the same sort of unprecedented scenario that we’ve seen infiltrate the horror genre hundreds, if not thousands of times before. San Romero High—a textbook All American academic institution by trade—has fallen to the neck-biting sociopaths, and as it turns out, one of the victims is none other than the teenage heartthrob of our protagonist, Nick. But, there’s a silver lining to all of this: the headless wonder isn’t quite dead — or at least not to the point where a few witty remarks and questionable jokes aren’t able to escape through the pouting lips, anyway. And that, really, is where you begin your journey: shackled to the animate remains of your boyfriend, and hell-bent on the idea of reclaiming San Romero High from the undead and tying a few knots along the way.

Lollipop Chainsaw is about as much of a hopeless love story as it is a mindless action flick. On one hand, you’ve got an overarching tale of undying love—a story that revolves around both Juliette and Nick—and on the other, you’ve got a relatively textbook case of wall-to-wall action-oriented shenanigans. Combined, Lollipop Chainsaw fashions a straightforward A-to-B zone-hopping voyage, one that predominantly sees you traveling through various sections of the beloved high school, touching gloves with zombified bosses, and racking up immeasurable amounts of points, perks, and other nifty collectibles. Is it simple? It most certainly is. Is it absolutely bursting at the seams with innovative ideas and attack combinations? Not exactly, no. Is it fun? Oh, you better believe it.

Blades & Pom Poms

The combat in Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP operates in an almost identical fashion as its hack-and-slash peers—mash a button here, splatter a brain or two there, and so on and so forth. Respectively, the weapons that you use throughout the duration of the campaign are—you guessed it—chainsaws, which you can swing, jab, and essentially wave around in all sorts of dance-like routines in order to stack bodies, claim rewards, and unlock a few hidden secrets along the way. And, honestly, there isn’t really a “trick” to any of this, weirdly enough; if you’re not decapitating a lifeless zombie with one arm, then you’re probably altering the world around you by smashing something else to smithereens. Simply put, if you’re mashing buttons, then you’re probably doing something to pivot the narrative to its next beat.

Alright, so there are some things that require your attention—hidden doorways, collectibles, and enemy behaviors, for example. Aside from the mindless killing sprees that you frequently indulge in, each zone also contains several different side quests—saving fellow students from succumbing to the flesh-deprived corpses that roam the corridors, usually. However, none of these extracurricular activities are mandatory, as such, but rather, optional objectives that can offer you additional points and other lavish benefits on completion. Speaking of which, RePOP has several new items to pop—outfits, chainsaw skins, and hair colors, to list just a few. Granted, none of these things are particularly “wow” worthy, but they’re certainly a sweet bonus for the returning San Romero High grad student, for sure.

More Pop For Your Pennies

At its very core, Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP is still the same game that touched down on Xbox 360 just over a decade ago, only it no longer carries a few janky features or questionable on-screen effects, but rather, a polished UI and all of the sprightly quality-of-life improvements that comprise a well-oiled resurrection of a cult-like IP. From the moment you plunge into the depths of San Romero High, the technical details become almost too clear; the inclusion of a more colorful art style and stunning 4K 60fps rendering, to boot, makes it all the more appealing to the naked eye, for sure. And it’s thanks to these few minor tweaks that Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP isn’t so much of a shameless cash grab, but rather a full-fledged reprise that’s deserving of all the attention and credit.

Suffice it to say, Lollipop Chainsaw is an oddly unique piece of art, and to be honest, that certain kookiness is as equally present in RePOP as it was back in 2012, if not more, weirdly enough. From the supercharged hi-fi soundtrack to the insanely unorthodox enemy designs and stages — RePOP elevates just about every nook and cranny that formulated the predecessor and still somehow manages to find a way to make old habits more palatable and inventive. The only major downside to all of this, of course, is that there just isn’t a huge amount of replay value; in fact, once you’ve swept each of the relatively short stages beneath the rug, there isn’t much else to do except part ways with the credit roll. But that’s merely the case of me finding something to pick holes in, to be fair. Still, for a six-hour game, you’d expect more.

Verdict

It wasn’t something we asked for, but my god, it was something that was worth holding out for. Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP is hands down one of the most engaging hack-and-slash games of the third quarter, and it truly is a testament to how a little lick of fresh paint can reinvigorate the basic infrastructure of an old game. Alright, so its storyline is, you know, meh, and its combat mechanics don’t necessarily reinvent the wheel, either. Having said that, the amount of fun that can be found in the mere act of bashing the odd zombie in the forehead with a candy-coated chainsaw is ridiculous. And that’s exactly what RePOP is: a simple yet annoyingly fun way to slaughter a few short hours between slightly more convoluted action-oriented sequences and mind-numbing RPGs.

For a mere rehash of a slightly older game, there’s a surprising amount to love about Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP—so much, that it almost excites me to know that, after over a decade of it laying dormant on ex-gen hardware, folks can finally get their hands on it. Sure, it’s a remake with a different splash of paint, but the fact that it pours just enough content into the original blueprint certainly justifies the price tag in this case. And so, to put it simply, if you did fail to get your hands on the debut chapter back in 2013, then take it from me: RePOP is the definitive way to soak up all the best parts of Grasshopper Manufacture’s cult classic ordeal. Scratch that — even if you did play the original, then play it again, as you’ll no doubt find plenty of fresh incentives sewn into the patchwork here.