Let’s get one factor straight: Lollipop Chainsaw is superb. This seminal, subversive monstrosity from the minds of legendary developer Suda51 and Hollywood big-shot James Gunn (in his PG Porn period, no much less) is as amusing at this time because it was over a decade in the past; it’s outrageous, ridiculous, obnoxious, garish – we completely find it irresistible, and we’d rank it amongst Grasshopper Manufacture’s greatest work. Sadly, this RePOP remaster isn’t nearly as good because it might be – even when it’s higher than nothing in any respect.
Operating in 4K at a barely inconsistent body charge, the visible upgrades are sufficient – though a number of the antiquated animations stay. The unique sport was all the time a low-budget affair, however the points stick out like a sore thumb on PS5, as objects evaporate out of existence and zombies inexplicably T-pose on the horizon. Cheerleader heroine Juliet Starling additionally doesn’t really feel fairly proper; there’s a delay to the controls which makes fight really feel swimmy relatively than snappy, and a few ill-conceived alterations to the velocity and circulate of the protagonist’s actions don’t actually work as meant.
In additional constructive information, a dramatically rebalanced store means you possibly can unlock lots of the character’s skills a lot earlier on this model, and that looks like a wise alteration contemplating lots of the combos within the authentic have been locked behind unfathomable grinds. The chainsaw blaster has additionally been completely redesigned, and whereas it feels OP on this model, we kinda respect that; Lollipop Chainsaw, whereas it does have rating assault components, isn’t vying for an esports award, and so the shortage of steadiness is okay from the place we’re sitting.
We’re much less eager on the eponymous RePOP mode, which tones down the blood and gore from the unique launch and replaces it with one thing somewhat extra PG-13. Whereas it’s non-compulsory, we reckon the developer may have gone additional right here, incorporating flowers and different paraphernalia to promote the household pleasant presentation. We’re additionally upset on the lack of licensed music which was a giant characteristic of the unique; The Chordettes stay, however lots of the different pop and rock songs are gone.
A recent batch of costumes spherical out the revisions, however it is a pretty barebones remaster exterior of that. Some baffling modifications – just like the removing of comedian ebook character introductions – don’t make sense to us, however don’t precisely wreck the discharge. It simply appears like this might have been extra: the gameplay feels stodgy and wanted much more TLC – and the watered down soundtrack, regardless of how comprehensible, strips it of a few of its soul.
That is nonetheless fun out loud affair, although; a raucous and totally ludicrous launch that deserves to exist on trendy {hardware}. However when the supply materials is this good, it deserves an distinctive remaster – relatively than one which’s simply adequate.
