South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker offer a distinctive voice in the entertainment landscape, particularly within an industry increasingly sensitive about comedic boundaries. South Park addresses virtually every topic imaginable, a quality that has sustained the TV series for over 20 seasons and propelled their humor into successful musicals like Book of Mormon.
The team at senses.se greatly enjoyed Ubisoft’s South Park: The Stick of Truth, developed by Obsidian Games. The game effectively captured the authentic South Park aesthetic and offered a compelling action role-playing experience that encouraged continued gameplay to discover the unfolding narrative. The sequel, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, continues the storyline. This time, Cartman shifts focus from Dragons & Demons to establishing a Superhero franchise on Netflix (Coon & Friends) while simultaneously competing against the Freedom Pals and confronting formidable arch-villains.
Fractured But Whole demonstrates enhanced ambition. The graphics, optimized for current-generation consoles, feature improved textures, reflective surfaces, and a generally refined polish, while retaining South Park’s distinctive cut-out animation style. Swedish developer Massive, now part of Ubisoft, implemented the Snowdrop engine to power the game. As in the series, Matt and Trey largely provide the voices, and the game freely satirizes current political issues, social media trends (such as Coonstagram followers), and bodily functions. The game features an open world and offers approximately 15-20 hours of gameplay, depending on the player’s dedication to completing all objectives.
The new combat system is deeper and more tactical.
A key addition is a more strategic combat system. Beyond timing attacks and blocks, players can now strategically position characters on a grid to evade enemy special attacks or lure multiple enemies into vulnerable positions for area-of-effect damage. Fractured But Whole also incorporates a crafting system, allowing players to create essential items and potions by combining resources.
Why not joke a little with Kanye West while you’re at it?
From a technical standpoint, Fractured But Whole represents an improvement over Stick of Truth, which was initially developed for previous-generation consoles. The remastered version of Stick of Truth is included with the purchase of Fractured But Whole, and playing it beforehand is highly recommended. Fractured But Whole boasts a more expansive world, a deeper combat system, and an increased volume of content, including DLC planned for release in the coming months, featuring new locations and missions. Fans of the first game will likely find the sequel equally enjoyable.
At the strip club you get to both fight and give lap dances…
However, replicating the impact of the original can be challenging. The first South Park game achieved such a high level of quality, entertainment, and humor that surpassing it, even with significant effort, proves difficult. Furthermore, the focus on Dragons & Demons, wizards, magicians, warriors, and Jews resonated more strongly with some players than the superhero theme. Ultimately, these are minor considerations, and the fact that purchasing the game grants access to two excellent titles raises the question: why are you still reading this review instead of acquiring South Park: The Fractured But Whole?
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