SOUTH PARK: THE FRACTURED BUT WHOLE just came out in October and there’s a free demo on Playstation 4. I didn’t play Stick of Truth, but I’ve been watching South Park since I first saw Mr. Hanky in 1997, so I thought I’d give it a whirl.
Similar to a previous Try-It Tuesday title, Adventure Time: Finn & Jake Investigations, SOUTH PARK: THE FRACTURED BUT WHOLE is “2.5D,” which means a 3rd person side-scroller — left and right — with limited depth of movement — forward and back. I explored the world by watching for icons and pushing the corresponding controller buttons to interact with people and objects.
But, unlike Adventure Time, this game is absolutely NOT for children and probably not for a lot of adults, either. Finn never found a butt plug and personal lubricant next to Jake’s bed, or had to flip through a notebook of pornographic drawings to find the secret password “Fuck You Mom.”
SOUTH PARK: THE FRACTURED BUT WHOLE was developed by Ubisoft San Francisco and published by Ubisoft in collaboration with South Park Digital Studios. It’s available for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC, and is rated “M” for mature audiences, for Blood and Gore, Mature Humor, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs, and Violence.
There are toilet-based mini-games, a turn-based combat system with powerful fart attacks, and in-game social media “Coonstagram” for taking selfies with other characters and boosting popularity. Based on the items I found in the game, there appears to be a crafting component, but I didn’t get to make anything before my one hour of demo time ended.
Visually, SOUTH PARK: THE FRACTURED BUT WHOLE looks just like the TV show, so playing the game feels a lot like being right in the middle of a new episode. I can handle South Park’s irreverent, rude, crude and offensive humor in 22-minute chunks, but I don’t know if I can handle hours and hours of a video game. I’ll stick with BioShock and Fallout 4 for now.
~ J.L. Hilton
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