While this is in no way a review, I feel the need to gush just a tiny bit about Lollipop Chainsaw. Because until I started playing it, I didn’t realize how much of a gaming funk I was truly in. I have a stack of games sitting in my geek vault just staring at me, begging to be played. I’ve dusted off a couple but to mostly “Meh” feelings of apathy. Even the mega hyped Max Payne 3 did nothing for me, nary a whisper of giddy excitement escaped my lips during the blood soaked but short-lived play session.

The last game I really dived into was Mass Effect 3, maybe the ending crushed my soul more than I knew. As a rabid collector of games I’ve found a few choice titles at insane prices. I’ve shoved them aside as my initial happiness dissipated in a swell of blah hitting my brain. Except I didn’t recognize my problem, that is until I fired up the over the top Lollipop Chainsaw.

Lollipop is a game so crazy, so in love with the idea of a zombie hunting cheerleader that nothing stops being fun. Playing through the beginning of Juliet Starling’s quest to right the horrible zombie wrong, I get the feeling that the game itself is in on the joke and revels in it. The crushed together elements of action based survival horror, sugary sweet sparkle sparkle girly moments and laugh out loud humor made me remember something I had clearly forgotten – games are supposed to be fun.

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Games like Call of Duty, Max Payne and the like have become pretty damn serious. Although stellar examples of how far games have come, they’ve also become shining examples of how far away they’ve gone away from past favorites. I’ll play those games to experience the evolution but once I “beat” them, I’m done. They end up leaving me with almost no real lasting impression – sad, I know.

Firing up Lollipop Chainsaw and trying to beat the high scores of each level takes me back to days long past where we’d sit around, looking for every last warp pipe, star and hidden coin. Where we did everything we could to bust our friend’s scores, have a little good-natured joking and go back at it. Something that has definitely been lost in today’s hyper-competitive online multiplayer world.

Is Lollipop perfect? No, it has the typical quirks associated with many action games. Do I care right now? Nope. I’m having too much fun playing a game meant to be fun to care. Because a game starring an absurdly hot girl slicing off heads of the undead makes me love playing again. Who can not love a game where you can get an achievement for looking up the protagonist’s skirt? Believe me when I say it’s not as easy as you think!

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