South Park: The Fractured But Whole Is Still Coming
When South Park: The Stick Of Truth came out for the leading consoles in 2014, it marked new heights for South Park in gaming. IGN’s review likened the game to playing a 14-hour South Park episode, which feels like exactly what creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker set out to accomplish. It’s an immersive and hilarious RPG that took place in an extraordinarily detailed setting based on the town fans are so familiar with from the show.
Despite the fact that the show has been popular for just about two decades and its loyal fans would follow Stone and Parker through any conceivable venture, it was the first South Park game to truly feel like an extension of the show.
Contrary to what many might believe, it wasn’t actually the only South Park game that had been attempted in recent years. In 2009 a game called South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play saw some success on Xbox Live Arcade, and in 2012 South Park: Tenorman’s Revenge received attention on the same platform for invoking one of the most popular episodes in the show’s history. And today in the aftermath of The Stick Of Truth, Lottoland is hosting a South Park-themed slot machine game amongst its numerous casino games based on pop culture. The core of that game is like any other slot reel, but fun bonus games like a challenge to keep Kenny alive (you know, the character who dies in most episodes) make it particularly appealing to South Park fans.
Despite these efforts, The Stick Of Truth has become the new standard for South Park gaming, and quite frankly received more positive attention than most could have expected. So naturally, in the months following its release, people began speculating about what a possible sequel could look like. Stone and Parker initially indicated that the process of designing the game had been so exhausting that they might not want to do another one. But soon after that news started circulating, the comedy duo and Ubisoft announced a sequel. And ever since, fans have eagerly awaited more word about South Park: The Fractured But Whole.
Information and even rumors about the sequel have been fairly scant for the most part. But according to a recent press release, Ubisoft has confirmed the release of the game in 2017. That means we could still have over a year to wait, but it also means that those worrying about persistent delays or even a cancellation can put themselves at ease. The sequel is coming and every indication is that it will function to some extent like an extension of The Stick Of Truth, amounting to more of a playable South Park story than a spinoff video game.
But beyond the fact that it will be designed in a similar format to The Stick Of Truth, what do we really know about the coming sequel? A Trusted Reviews write-up covered what we’ve heard and seen so far, and while there’s not much detail there, we can get a taste for the general style of The Fractured But Whole. All indications are that it will look and feel similar to its predecessor, though the article notes that the setting will be more original (presumably branching off from core South Park locations somewhat). We also know that the game’s plot will pick up where The Stick Of Truth left off, but instead of playing as fantasy characters the South Park kids will be taking up their superhero alter-egos, led by Cartman’s infamous “The Coon.” Your job (as you embody “The New Kid” again) will be to help The Coon and Co. infiltrate an enemy base to win the day.
It’s definitely an intriguing concept, and one that takes advantage of one of South Park’s more appropriate parodies from recent years. Stone and Parker have proven to be pretty effective at mocking superhero entertainment, and the superhero subplots they’ve used in the show should serve as a perfect follow-up to the fantasy-focused pretend games at the core of The Stick Of Truth. This is definitely a title to start looking forward to for next year.