Sentinel Reviews

Final Fantasy. Oblivion. Skyrim. Diablo. We can list a new game with these illustrious Role-players.

 

South Park: The Stick of Truth.

This is the new Role playing game from Ubisoft and it’s up against stiff opposition.

 

The first thing that struck me when I played the game was how much it looks like the show. It looks so similar in fact, that if I didn’t have the controller in my hand I could have sworn I was watching Comedy Central.

 

The feel of South Park saturates everything in the game. From Cartman’s house to the iconic South Park sign, everything has been kept true to the vision of the show.

 

Sure it’s doesn’t have the graphical fidelity of Skyrim nor the excellent animation of the Final Fantasy series but that’s not the point. Ubisoft weren’t planning on making a next gen title, they didn’t make a game to rival the graphics of Call of Duty Ghosts or Ryse Son of Rome. What they set out to do, and have done in a spectacular way, was to bring us a South Park video game.

 

The beginning of the game sees you pick your character. You play as “New Kid”. The newest resident of the town and you are given your first quest by your parents.

 

Go make some friends.

 

From that one simple mission you are quickly transported into the make believe world that the kids of the neighbourhood are playing in. You begin by finding Cartman in the kingdom of Kuppa Keep (the human stronghold). It’s here that you first see The Stick of Truth. The mystical totem that grants whoever possesses it ultimate power. After a brief tutorial you are attacked by a band of Elves and the Stick of Truth is stolen.

 

The rest of the game is spent trying to find The Stick.

 

In typical South Park fashion it’s far from a simple kids game and you soon find yourself thrown into government cover ups, betrayal and of course, Nazi Zombies.

 

I won’t get into spoiler territory but the plot is solid enough with plenty of cringe worthy guilty chuckles, exploration and side quests to keep you playing up to the ten hour mark.

 

The attention to detail that the creators have gone to is phenomenal. Some of the shows best running gags and one off cameos go to provide brilliant distractions to the main quest line.

 

The controls are very straight forward and easy to get to grips with, the one exclusion to this (and it’s probably just sheer lack of skill on my part) was blocking enemy attacks. I found that this was very hard to pull off on any but the most basic of attacks.

 

One part of the game sees you traveling to Canada. When you get across the border the game morphs into the same style as the old Pokemon games for the Gameboy colour so many years ago. I have to admit that I enjoyed this section for the sheer novelty.

 

Once again the soundtrack to the game is brilliant. It evokes tones of Final Fantasy, Lord of the Rings and Skyrim. It’s a brilliant little touch that never lets you forget that you are in the make believe world of Elves and Humans.

 

I have to admit then when I first heard that pretty much everywhere except the USA were to have censored versions of the game I let out a sigh and wondered what horrible patch job or ramshackle attempt at continuity we were likely to get. I needn’t have worried. There were only a few scenes that were to be censored and instead of completely succumbing to the wishes of the Gaming Gods we have a screen that has text telling us what is happening in the screen. I can’t think of a better way this could have been done and I feel that it was a massive middle finger for all censorship.

 

There’s two ways to look at The Stick of Truth, one is as a RPG As an RPG I found the game to be lacking in true diversity and decision making. You don’t ever get the change chose your own path and the game only seems to have the one conclusion. The combat is repetative and the weapons were too similar to provide any real change in play style. The majority of the missions amount to “go to point A, speak with someone and then return”. After a couple of hours the seemingly endless trips from one end of the town to the other was wearing me down. There are moments that show the game was taking itself seriously as an RPG. The climax of the game had all the traits that any of the juggernauts of the genre share.

 

The second way to look at Stick of Truth is an interactive episode.

 

If you look at this simply an episode that you are able to be a part of it is brilliant. It has stayed true to the vision of the show and has everything that we would expect from an episode. You will find yourself barking out a laugh before you can help yourself and then guiltily looking around to see if anyone saw you.

 

If you are a gamer and you want a truly epic RPG to spend your time on, don’t bother with South Park: The Stick of Truth.

 

If, on the other hand, you are a fan of the show or a casual gamer then I’d suggest you buy this game. It is amazingly funny, the attention to detail has been staggering and it truly is the closest thing to a South Park theme park that we are likely to get.

 

Whether Stick of Truth is an astounding success or a terrible failure depends entirely on what you want from it. Personally, I’d be happy to give Ubisoft my money.