Genre: RPG
Year: 2014
Developed by: Obsidian Entertainment
Published by: Ubisoft
Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, XBOX 360, XBOX One
#174
Feeling Like: Low bridge!
It is very difficult to be funny. I try to inject as much humor as I can into the 500, but there’s only so many jokes I know and only so many ways to poke fun at myself for spending this amount of time on something so insubstantial.
Being funny in a video game is even harder. Comedy is all about timing, so how do you ensure it lands when the pacing is completely out of the hands of the comedian? Players skip text all the time, voice acting may be cut-off mid sentence due to impatience, or even accidentally. Games typically have repetition scattered throughout in some form or another, and we all know hearing a joke over and over again is the best way to kill it.
So, how did South Park: The Stick of Truth succeed in making me laugh more than any other game I’ve played?
It helps that it’s licensed from one of my all time favorite shows. It also helps that the game looks exactly like the show and I don’t mean you can tell the difference, I mean exactly. The above screenshot IS from the game, but at a glance, could you tell the difference? The purposefully crude animation from South Park translates perfectly into video game form. There aren’t any insanely detailed backgrounds, or ultra realistic facial expressions to capture. It’s Cartman, Kyle, Stan, Kenny, Jimmy, Butters and the rest on an epic adventure with the classic South Park look and feel. For a hardcore fan, this could not have been done any better.
My favorite episodes are the ones where the kids act like kids; if they’re blissfully unaware of something adult, like a porno for example, their exploration to discover the reasoning behind it always makes me break out into fits of laughter. The fantasies they create are responsible for some great moments, like in “Good Times with Weapons“. Stick of Truth isn’t quite that, but they are participating in a giant live action role play scenario, that happens to get interrupted by aliens, gnomes, goth kids, hippies, government conspiracies and Nazis. They break character often to call each other assholes, lament the fact that their parents are going to get mad if they’re home late or stop everything if somebody is actually hurt.
Typical South Park fare.
Eric Cartman may be a loathsome individual, but I had no hesitation picking his side over Kyle’s. I wanted as much Cartman as possible and his conversations never failed to elicit a smile. The writing is just as sharp here as in the show; it may as well be its own series of canonical episodes it’s that intertwined into the show. I’m not sure if my choice was the “right” one to play, but I never felt like I missed out on anything. All the big locations and personalities are here, political correctness be damned.
The gameplay wasn’t the star of the show, but it also didn’t diminish from my experience either. It’s tried-and-true turn based RPG combat, with a ton of potential status effects and frequent upgrades. While some areas were a bit frustrating, they weren’t enough to detract me from completing the game.
There are a few highlights that are responsible for South Park: Stick of Truth being at 174.
Al Gore and ManBearPig showing up was one of them. The premise is silly, digging at Al Gore’s insistence that ManBearPig (climate change) will doom us all doesn’t seem out of place now, but Gore’s hilarious speech pattern and constant reaffirmation that he is “super cereal” is just as funny here as in the show. Plus, I’m a fan of the ManBearPig design. How can you not laugh at this?
I’m not a massive fan of how South Park depicts Canada. I’m not offended in the least, I just don’t find it very humorous. Whenever Terrance and Phillip, or the Royal Family of Canada are featured, I sort of check out. I do invoke the holy trinity of “buddy, guy, friend” often, with a “pal” thrown in for good measure, but that’s the extent of my enjoyment.
Except here.
You’re tasked with traveling to Canada and upon crossing the border, you’re shown a top down view of a Final Fantasy-esque map with castles representing towns and an 8-bit rendition of the national anthem. It’s the only time in the game you see a graphics switch in this manner and it caught me totally off guard. I couldn’t even pick up the controller I was laughing so hard. Bravo, Obsidian!
Fantastic.
But the best moment of the entire game, one that launched it way up the 500 and ensured Stick of Truth would always stay with me is the boss encounter with the Underpants Gnome Warlock. The concept of a tiny creature trying to steal underwear while singing is funny enough, but during this fight you’re shrunk down to their size and facing off directly underneath your parents having aggressive sex.
It’s not a classy silhouette either, nor are there strategically placed household items to block nipples or genitalia. You have to focus on the task at hand while your mother’s breasts sway frantically right above your head, and also dodge your father’s incoming testicles.
It feels mildly forbidden to even write that out.
I have never seen anything like it in a video game, before or since. Trey Park and Matt’s Stone’s dedication to shocking their audience doesn’t always land, but here it sure does. I was laughing constantly at the background porn music, the absolutely filthy dirty talk from your parents and the whole originality of the scene had me shaking my head in incredulity. A standing ovation is required for this one. No accounting for taste.
It’s not going to be for everybody; if South Park is not your cup of tea, then the game won’t be either. I came in as a fan and exited as an even bigger fan. Parker and Stone said they didn’t just want this to be a funny collection of South Park scenes and they succeeded; the Facebook friend system was a terrific way of injecting character lore and details without overwhelming the player with exposition. Traveling around is a piece of cake. Dialogue is sharp, they obviously didn’t skimp on the process or talent when making the game. It’s right up there with The Walking Dead or the Batman Arkham games as worthy extensions of the original products.
Just when I thought the game was getting a little long in the tooth, they throw Nazi Zombie Princess Kenny at me and I doubled over again with laughter. The dedication to clever idiocy and endearing characters is something South Park does as well as anybody.
This isn’t just a neat side project for hardcore fans, this is a good video game. The window dressing and presentation is the star, naturally. Parker and Stone have said making a video game was the hardest thing they’d ever done, and I believe them. I don’t blame other video games for failed attempts at making me laugh, it just makes me appreciate South Park: Stick of Truth that much more.
The 500 