South Park: The Fractured But Whole Preview
When South Park: Stick of Truth arrived a little over 2 years ago, I was disappointed. Not so much that it wasn’t a good game, that was not the case at all. In fact, it was an awesome game and I gave it a stellar review score. It was a let down in that it was not available on next generation consoles at the time. Not being able to play Stick of Truth on a PS4 or Xbox One was a huge missed opportunity but I also understand the game took nearly 4-years to make. So it likely wasn’t possible to get it ready for next gen systems. This time around; however, South Park’s latest game will be on our current gen consoles and based on the hands-off demo we watched at an Ubisoft event at E3 this year, it will be well worth the wait.
The foul mouth kids from South Park are back and are in fine form. Once again nothing is off limits and they are equal offenders when it comes to insensitive humour. Just have a watch at the E3 gameplay showcase with Trey Parker and Matt Stone from the Ubisoft press conference to get an idea of how far the development team goes to push every boundary in the book. A Canadian court once described South Park as a “vulgar, socially irreverent program that contributes nothing to society”. Sure, that might be the case but there is no question in my mind Fractured But Whole’s vulgarity will lead to many gut busting laughs. The demo we saw at E3 was nothing short of hilarious and the new additions this time around should make for a game fans of the franchise will thoroughly enjoy.
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“The demo we saw at E3 was nothing short of hilarious and the new additions this time around should make for a game fans of the franchise will thoroughly enjoy.”
The Fractured But Whole takes place the day after The Stick of Truth ends. You are the new kid in South Park and all the other kids in town have started playing superheroes. Yes, you are still a douchbag. After a fallout with Cartman over planning a film franchise, the boys start a civil war and fight over who should be in their films. This sets the stage for you to become a superhero and so you’ll need to choose one of the games 12 available superpowers.
The superpowers (aka. classes) range from the “Brutalist” who is a close range brawler to a “Blaster” who can launch fire from any range. The idea being is you are able to create a superhero to your liking that can kick some butt holes (see what I did there). You’ll also be able to mix and match powers from the classes as well. Bottom line, expect a deeper and more customizable experience this time around.
South Park: The Fractured But Whole will feature the same turn based gameplay we saw in Stick of Truth but with expanded combat options, and more interactive humor. Stick of Truth featured basic turn based combat while Fractured But Whole will allow you to move around the battle area in order to set yourself up for optimal offensive and defensive positions. And of course the game will allow you to gas out an entire room with a fart of epic proportions. Also, it appears there will be a massive amount of opportunities for search and exploration in the game. Oh I hope you aren’t the sensitive type, cause you’ll be offended.
There is no question South Park fans will get a kick out of The Fractured But Whole but even those turn-based RPG fans who are looking to laugh their asses off there is plenty here to enjoy. South Park: Stick of Truth was one of my favourite games from 2014 and I have no doubt South Park: The Fractured But Whole could easily be in the running for my game of the year in 2016.
South Park: The Fractured But Whole will be released on December 6, 2016 on Xbox One, PS4 and PC.
