“South Park,” the long-running and often controversial show on Comedy Central, is having a banner year. It’s currently in the middle of season 21, and this week it launched its second major video game release entitled “South Park: The Fractured But Whole.”
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC.
Rated: M for Mature.
Price: $59.99.
This is the follow-up to its 2014 game “South Park: The Stick of Truth.”
Show creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker haven’t made a “South Park” movie since 1999’s “Bigger, Longer and Uncut.” Since that time, they’ve set their sights on something more ambitious: video games.
The games, written by the “South Park” team and developed by Ubisoft San Francisco, have acted as extensions of the show. There’s no editing necessary. Every joke that may be too edgy for cable television is somewhere in these games.
Don’t expect “TFBW” to buck “South Park’s” 21-year trend of low-brow humor mixed with social commentary. Those themes are alive and well from the very beginning. The main character, who players can create in their own image, is simply known as The New Kid. This is the same character from the first game as the events pick up close to where the last game left off. The New Kid still has his signature ability: on-demand flatulence.
“The Stick of Truth” followed the usual cast of Stan, Kyle, Cartman, The New Kid and friends as they began a townwide fantasy role playing game that echoed the style of “Game of Thrones.” With superhero movies being the big box office draw, the kids have shifted toward hero factions in hopes of launching their very own franchise like Marvel Studios. Their hilarious franchise plan spans years with dreams of core movies, spin offs, Netflix series for lesser characters and digital tie-ins.
The crew has creative differences about the direction of the franchise and splits into rival factions, hence the literal meaning of the game’s punny title “The Fractured But Whole.” What begins as a harmless rivalry of elementary school kids eventually spins out of control and includes the fate of the entire town. Only “South Park” can craft a narrative where the pretending superhero children have to actually save the town of woefully ignorant adults.
As the writing goes, “TFBW” doesn’t miss a beat from its predecessor. It toes the line between gross-out toilet humor and adept social commentary on current events. If anything, they may have gone too far in a few cases. For instance, there’s the controversial decision to not have difficulty setting choice that’s disguised as a race joke. The difficulty is set based on the skin tone chosen for The New Kid. As Cartman says as he narrates, “This doesn’t affect combat, just every other aspect of your whole life.” The darker the tone, the more difficult the game is. “South Park” has never been known for shying away from controversy.
Other than a few jokes that miss the mark, the game is genuinely funny for its 20-hour playtime. Fans of the show will love the near endless string of references. If anything, the game leans too heavily on them.
The gameplay shines when danger arrives. “TFBW” fixed the combat in the series, which was generally regarded as overly simplistic in the first game. Rather than just having simple button prompts for stationary characters like in the first game, “TFBW” plays more like a game of chess. Each battle takes place on a grid of rectangles. It’s there that players can move freely to occupy one rectangle with their three unique abilities. These abilities can be ranged or close attacks, support abilities for teammates or many other variations of the two. It’s up to the player to put that knowledge together to try to outsmart the enemies by staying one step ahead.
“TFBW” has everything a good sequel should have. It builds on the groundwork laid by original while staying true to the classic and hilarious “South Park” tone. The original was no slouch, especially considering it was the first RPG set in the “South Park” universe, but “TFBW” surpasses it in every way. It’s not just the best “South Park” game. It’s one of this year’s best RPGs.
Max Parker writes as The Game Guy at www.communityvoices.post-gazette.com. Twitter: @PGHGameGuy.
First Published: October 19, 2017, 4:00 a.m.
