I can't say that a game starring a high school cheerleader would normally be the first thing to pique my interest. But a game starring a high school cheerleader with a talent for fighting zombies with tools typically used by loggers? Yeah, that sounds intriguing.
You know what's even more intriguing? The game is being developed the man who created the bloody/stylish/hilarious "No More Heroes" games with some writing help from the Hollywood director who brought us the horror flick "Slither."
"Lollipop Chainsaw" is a third-person action game set in zombie-plagued San Romero High School. It's also the next project from renowned Japanese game designer Goichi Suda (aka Suda51) and his development company, Grasshopper Manufacture.
Suda51 most recently delivered the bloody, raunchy "Shadows of the Damned" game to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. And he was among the first to splatter the Wii in gore with the rollicking, Remote-shaking "No More Heroes" games.
Warner Bros. Interactive has announced they'll be bringing "Lollipop Chainsaw" to all of us Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners living outside Asia sometime in 2012. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. says they've tapped Hollywood writer/director James Gunn to help out with the story.
Gunn is the guy who helmed one of my favorite horror films, "Slither" (starring none other than gaming favorite Nathan Fillion), and wrote the "Dawn of the Dead" remake as well as "Tromeo and Juliet."
Frankly, "Lollipop Chainsaw's" description contains some serious echoes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" — which in my book is always a good sign. According to the press release from Warner Bros.:
Lollipop Chainsaw is the ‘un-deadly’ story of sweet and killer zombie hunter Juliet Starling and her quest to uncover the root of a colossal zombie outbreak. With her wickedly awesome chainsaw in hand, Juliet slices, dices and splits her way through hordes of the undead, but soon realizes the horde is only the opening act to a festival of zombie rock lords determined to kill the chainsaw wielding cheerleader.
Well, one thing is for sure ... between Suda51 and Gunn we're sure to get a game that is one outlandish adventure. And with a cheerleader hero shaking a chainsaw rather than pom-poms, we're sure to get a whole lotta blood as well.
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Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things right here on Twitter or join her in the stream right here on Google+. You can check out the In-Game Facebook page right here.