South Park fans have been waiting patiently for a good licensed game since the series debuted in 1997; however, the past games were quick cash grabs that did not feel, look, or sound like South Park. Yet, this is supposedly going to change with The Stick of Truth, the first game that creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have helped develop. By being involved, they demanded the ‘cutout’ look of South Park, as well as the need to write and be involved with the day-to-day development.
However, the initial game has been delayed three times and even changed publishers when THQ filed for bankruptcy. Yet, many avid followers consider these delays necessary to fine-tune the gameplay and get rid of the bugs. Some have been worried that the script of the game will not meet the high bar of South Park episodes, which have been praised for their relevant humor. The documentary 6 Days to Air shows the pain-staking process of creating an episode in less than a week; which allows the writers to comment on current events. This pertinence is the sole reason why the show remains fresh after seventeen seasons.
With these delays, the script cannot be rewritten each time: so what happens if the jokes become old and stale by the time the game is released? Recently Rev3Games’s Scott Bromley got to play the first hour of the game and has commented on this growing concern:
“(Roaming around South Park) was really exciting because it felt like I was actually in a living, breathing episode of South Park…[South Park has delivered] some of the best satirical blows; yet, in the first hour I was confronted with a couple references that while are cute could have been laugh out loud funny if the game had actually hit its original target date.”
Again, he only played the first hour of a supposedly twelve-hour game, so this should not be blown out of proportion. But as much as the game feels like a “living breathing episode of South Park,” it would not have the show’s charm if the jokes were irrelevant. However, at this point there is nothing the writers can do; the game is less than two weeks away from release. Hopefully the care that the developers have taken with the license will make up for the possible stale jokes; but between Book of Mormon and Team America, Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s passion projects have yet to disappoint their fans. Now, if the script worries a gamer on a limited budget, the interesting turn based RPG style will, at the least, make the game an interesting buy.
The game is available on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC: and has a North America release date of March 4th. You can also take a look at Scott Bromley’s reaction to the demo.