Originally published on Set The Tape
South Park very quickly became an international hit when it first began, and there was a time where you could easily find merchandise for the show in the local high street; from posters to plushies, South Park was everywhere. One area where the series tried to make inroads pretty early on was the world of gaming, with their first game releasing on the Nintendo 64 within the first two years of the show’s release. Despite how popular South Park was the game didn’t do too well, and subsequent games like South Park: Chef’s Love Shack and South Park Rally, released over the next two years would get even worse reviews. Things didn’t look good for South Park gaming, and it wouldn’t be until more than a decade later that things would change for them.
South Park: The Stick of Truth may have released in 2014, but began life five years earlier as development began in 2009 after series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone approached development studio Obsidian Entertainment to adapt the series to the video game medium. Obsidian was chosen as Parker and Stone wanted to create a roleplaying game, and Obsidian’s previous releases in this genre made them the main choice to develop the game. It’s been reported that the original aim of the game was to make a ‘South Park version of Skyrim‘ with the original script weighing it at 500 pages in length; an ambition that would need to be reigned in, as the game would face a number of difficulties during development.
Despite Parker and Stone pushing for the game’s development, and going through numerous hours long meetings with the creative team at Obsidian to help develop the look and feel of the game, things didn’t go smoothly. Due to the adult and often controversial nature of South Park, finding funding for the game was a difficulty, but eventually THQ agreed to back the development. However, when Microsoft cancelled a deal with Obsidian it resulted in job losses at the company, losses that would affect South Park’s development. This was compounded when THQ went into bankruptcy, which resulted in the rights to the game being auctioned off; eventually being bought by Ubisoft. Despite these difficulties, difficulties that have in the past cancelled games completely, South Park: The Stick of Truth somehow managed to reach release.
Taking on the role of a new kid in town, the player is able to create their own character, customising them throughout the game with equipment and cosmetic changes. The game plays like a fantasy RPG, and as such the player is asked to choose a class at the start of the game, picking from Fighter, Thief, Mage, and Jew. Each class has their own combat styles and abilities that will evolve and unlock as the game progresses. You’re picking one of these classes as the children of South Park are playing a fantasy LARP game, and your character finds themselves in the middle of it. But, this being South Park, things are never that simple. As the game progresses, more factions become involved as they battle for the titular Stick of Truth.
Played as a side scrolling 2.5D game, South Park: The Stick of Truth allows players to explore locations from the series, including parts of the town, and other locations that a normal person would likely not be able to predict. These locations have areas that can only be accessible at later points in the game once the player has unlocked new skills and abilities. There are also collectable items to be found that can increase character perks and abilities, as well as several mini games scattered throughout. The game, surprisingly, offers a decent level of variety and challenge that was lacking in previous South Park game titles.
Unlike previous games, South Park: The Stick of Truth received high praise from critics. Thanks to the technology being able to so seamlessly recreate the look and feel of the show it was called one of the most faithful gaming adaptations; something that was only helped by episodes of the show leading into the plot of the game. Filled with references and jokes from across the series, the game offered fans a deep dive into the South Park universe like never before, and it ended up being much loved because of that. During its first week of release it became the best selling game on all formats, and would go on to sell more than 1.6 million copies.
Thanks to the success, South Park would continue to create video games that would tie into the series, featuring heavy involvement from the series creators, with South Park: The Fractured But Whole being released in 2017, and South Park: Snow Day! set for a release on 26th March 2024. It may have taken them a while, but it would seem that South Park had finally cracked their formula, and have become a successful part of the gaming landscape.
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