Grave Gamer News & Views — grasshopper manufacture

Lollipop Chainsaw’s “Swan” Trailer

Lollipop Chainsaw is season one of Buffy stitched together with Evil Dead 2.  If that concoction doesn’t resonate with you then allow me to expound: scantily clad teenaged girl spouting one-liners in between moments of extreme zombie gore.  Practically sells itself.

Grasshopper Manufacture took us for a trip last year with the severely underrated Shadows of the...

You might’ve missed out on this one during the entirely over-saturated gaming market of 2011.  Shadows of the Damned, produced by the warped minds of Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil) and Suda 51 (No More Heroes), played better than it sounded on paper.  We’ve seen grindhouse tributes in video games before yet those suffer from a painful condition called “trying too goddamn hard to be cool.”

There’s definitely some of that sickness here, especially in the characterization of Garcia Hotspur and his oversized Johnson (his demonic weapon sidekick that also serves as the most subtle cock reference the game contains).  Atmosphere, quality gunplay, and an enjoyable mix of Evil Dead meets Devil May Cry storytelling serve to keep Shadows from completely giving into the bargain bin, however.  Plus, anything Akira Yamaoka lays down notes to is worth scoping out.

I just really hope you can stomach a dick joke at every checkpoint.  Shadows offers up better juvenile humor than, say, this year’s Bulletstorm but only by a fraction.