South Park: The Stick of Truth Previews and Video Interview
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IGN:
Gameplay systems abound now; this isn't just the lightest of light RPGs. You have a full inventory of weapons (like Cartman's Mom's vibrator), including your personal special attack: farting. You can use the power of your a-hole to blast open vent shafts, then use the Underpants Gnome ability to shrink yourself down and fit through the small opening. You can fart at loose wires holding light fixtures over the top of your enemies, severing the frayed cord and dropping it onto your foes below, zapping them. You can fart near broken, exposed gas lines in order to create inferno waves. In fact, the demo ended with an epic ass-to-ass duel between you and Cartman, with each kid trying to overpower the flaming fart blast of the other.
Yes, this is still a Paper Mario-style role-playing game, but it just feels more fully fleshed out now. The show's characters and lore are so flawlessly married to the gameplay systems -- Stan gets enraged when you take out his dog Sparky in battle that he goes into a frenzy mode and attacks more furiously, for example -- that xxx. And the fan service is off-the-charts. The visuals are 100% dead-on with the show, such that if someone doesn't see you manipulating a controller, they will genuinely think you're watching an episode on Comedy Central.
GameRant:
The game world is viewed from the same 2.5D angle, calling on familiar locations throughout South Park and the surrounding forests (and nods to past episodes as well). As the '˜New Kid,' the player navigates through these screens, freely able to move and explore from left to right, and up and down. That freedom to explore will be much needed, given the role-playing mechanics shaping the experience you can't have an RPG without loot, as any gamer knows.
Of course, in this universe '˜loot' is less likely to be enchanted swords and magical gemstones, and more likely to be bean burritos and erotic paraphernalia. Yet the need to search through garbage cans, lockers, and the pockets of the vanquished is every bit as important in leveling up the player's character, and customizing their arsenal and wardrobe.
Digital Trends:
All the voices are present from the TV show as well, and the humor was both accurate for the show and bizarre. At one point, the person in charge of the demo changed the character's outfit from a wizard's robe to fishnet stalkings and a bustier. Oh, and they also gave him a new weapon that looked like a dildo.
(Like.) One of the more interesting conceits of the game is found in the upgrade trees. The personal menus are stylized to look like the new kid's Facebook page. The more you do and complete, the more friends requests you will receive. These somehow tie in to your strength, but exactly how wasn't clear.
PSX Extreme:
Players assume the role of (The New Kid) (aka Douchebag), an agent of destruction sent by Imperial Wizard Eric Cartman. You must infiltrate the fortified base of the elves and locate the legendary Stick of Truth before the guardians (Stan and Kyle) can stop them. The New Kid's special ability is that he farts. That's right, he farts long and loud and can fry his enemies to a crisp with a tremendous gaseous blast. He and his wingman, Butters, carve their way through hordes of fantastical baddies; The New Kid attacks with farted fireballs and even his own turds collected from the urinal. Burritos act as mana, if you're wondering, and the rest is appropriately.foul.
However, there is a wee bit of thinking going on in this game. For instance, a fan can neutralize The New Kid's smelly assault, and an Alien Anal Probe lets insidious Underwear Gnomes wreak all sorts of havoc south of the border. See, it's still sick, but there's a sick kind of strategy involved. The New Kid can make friends to increase his overall potency, for instance, and he's the only one who can unite the warring school clans. Now, as you might expect, Cartman and The New Kid eventually part ways because as it turns out, one is a traitor. Cartman is none too happy about it and they end up throwing down in a battle to determine gassy superiority.
Leviathyn:
One element that pleasantly surprised me was the emphasis on environmental puzzle solving. One scenario has multiple kids blocking your way through the school. No problem; Randy Marsh has taught you the secret of the Nagasaki fart (which you can see in the trailer below). Farting clears the path no problem, until a kid set-up with a fan bars your path. The player has a number of options here: they can walk around trying to figure out another solution, trigger the sprinklers to short out the fan or teleport up to the ducts to bypass the situation altogether.
During our time with The Stick of Truth, we saw more cameos than you could shake a Manbearpig at: Mr. Slave, the aliens, Jesus, Satan, hippies, the Underpants Gnomes, the Woodland Critters, Mr. Hanky and the Crab People all made appearences at some point. A long as Towlie gets included at some point, I'll be happy.
Finally, IGN is offering a video interview with Matt Stone and Trey Parker. The successful duo explains that Ubisoft has been very supportive of the project and that unfortunately the nature of game development makes their iterative approach to creative endeavors take far more time than usual, which explains the multiple delays.
