Key Takeaways
- SOUTH PARK: SNOW DAY! offers a refreshing switch to three-dimensional art while keeping the essence of the series intact.
- Imagination is key in creating characters and gameplay elements, with dark humor and edginess throughout the story.
- Designed for cooperative play, the game provides a fun experience for fans of the series with some audio mixing issues.
The reigns of the South Park video game license has been handed over to THQ Nordic and developer Question Games, who have released SOUTH PARK: SNOW DAY! to the masses. While the previous two games kept the same core art as what’s seen current cartoon, Question Games has switched over to a three-dimensional art design that hasn’t been seen since the 1990s. Series creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker were involved in the writing of this game, as the decision was made to keep the same character themes as the popular Stick of Truth game as both have admitted they took a good bit of these designs from that game for SNOW DAY!.
Snowed In
The game starts like a typical episode from the series as Cartman pleads for a snow day to play with his friends. The obscene humor hits immediately as the game eventually transitions to a three-dimensional look. Matt Stone and Trey Parker set the tone immediately as what to expect in SNOW DAY! as the children embrace their D&D-like characters. There are a ton of fart jokes included with the humor, but what else would one expect from this series? Well cursing, and that’s clearly here as well. The story blends elements from the earlier seasons in the series and the most recent episodes with plenty of returning characters and nods to more recent events.
Some of the more recent elements includes the use of toilet paper as currency and kindergartners running around saying “bruh.” The goal was to make the plot an actual episode of the series, and playing through clearly accomplishes that. The story progresses to be more and more over-the-top with typical double-crosses and throwaways that the South Park series has been known for. It isn’t open world, but rather offers six chapters in various notable locations that are seen throughout the series. Areas do need to be explored as loot crates are spread throughout with hidden areas and light puzzle solving.
Use Of Imagination
The embracing of the ideas that stem from children using their imagination is fully on display in SOUTH PARK: SNOW DAY! as the D&D setup is fully recognized. Players will create the New Kid with solid customization options with more opening up after beating the game. More and more aspects to the gameplay are opened up by completing tasks throughout the progression of the story. Players can use melee weapons and cast magic while using two abilities that can be activated once the character is “Pissed Off.” Stone and Parker wanted to make sure every bit of key descriptors to be edgy and vulgar.
Players will unlock cards and gain “Dark Matter” to grow their skill tree. These become more and more expensive the more the game is played. There are moments of “Bullsh*t” where the boss of that chapter can drop buffs to the enemies or restrict the skills of the players. One of these is changing the melee weapons to pool noodles (the foam noodles used in swimming pools) and that transition from the full-blown imagination to the realism aspects is hilarious.
Players will also gain a card that has limited uses for a super power much like the “Bullsh*t” card. Players will lay their cards on the table prior to beginning a chapter so it will be known what the AI has to use. Cards can also be upgraded by meeting with Jimmy when he shows up during gameplay. The goth girl, Henrietta, is also spread out within the game to offer Dark Matter boosts to further assist.
Design Inspiration
While the gameplay uses D&D inspiration, the actual chapter design and end game is more similar to Diablo. With six chapters and up to four players that can drop in and out of gameplay, the game offers that experience. Each chapter is long, with one having multiple goals that switch up locations. Jimmy even makes a pun at fetch quests with this, as the player has to fetch a box of Taylor Swift CDs, a box of Chinpokomon and a giant drink. The one caveat is if one is in a middle of a chapter and leaves, they cannot return to that point. Hosting a game or playing online is also separate from the single player progression, albeit if beating the game while hosting a lobby does carry over all the unlocked items.
Enemies do not offer a wide variety as these include kindergartners, sixth graders and parents. Yes, they have some variable skills such as archers, shields and those that can throw mortars. There isn’t an abundant amount of action throughout the level, but rather certain areas will have a good bit of enemies. Combat also offers a few different attacks such as a diving attack and holding down the attack button for a heavy attack, but in this way the game plays like an arcade brawler.
As a matter of fact, the combat feels more like the 3D Gauntlet titles seen around the turn of the century. It can be easy to be lost in the confusion of combat at times as players cannot lock onto enemies, which would have been nice. This is an issue due to the free camera movement and the occasional issues that occur.
There isn’t anything satisfying to meleeing enemies, either. This was reviewed on PC with a DualSense controller and while that is an option to select, there may be more feedback on the PS5 version. These are really just a few inconveniences, but once the flow of the game is felt, the combat provides a solid experience. It seems the development team wanted to offer variety within a constrained model that wouldn’t make options overly complicated.
Playing With Friends
Much like those 3D Gauntlet titles, SOUTH PARK: SNOW DAY! is designed to play with friends. There’s even a horde mode that’s included as free DLC at launch that can be unlocked while progressing through the game. Beating the game allows for more upgrades and replays through campaigns. Playing with friends or quick matchmaking are the options to connect with one another.
There’s no lobby system, and during the review period, this was only allowed during certain time slots. It seems if some of the development team was online, they jumped in through plays. Otherwise, players will be with AI bots to fill in the gaps, and the AI is actually useful and helpful. What’s nice is reviving an opponent only involves standing within a circle and the ability to crawl to the AI or others when down is a big plus so others don’t need to find the downed player.
Related
Review: South Park: The Stick of Truth
Does The Game Feel Like South Park?
SOUTH PARK: SNOW DAY! is undoubtedly the purest form of South Park fans could ask for. The 3D design keeps the same feel of an episode of South Park if not portraying more innocence as part of the troll from Stone and Parker could be tricking someone that isn’t aware of what this game is. The game runs on Unreal Engine 4 and on PC will run on almost any setup. It blew through an RTX 3080 at 4K with no graphical issues at all. There’ss even an option to lock gameplay to a certain frame rate range. The character models look fantastic with a 3D render as do all the effects and environments that are sprinkled around.
The audio aspect is where the game stands out the most. The voice acting is equal to what’s seen on the show along with excellent writing and dialogue. It is 100% South Park. The music is as ridiculous as one would expect, which overdramatizes situations to make it more epic even though its using children’s imaginations. This is part of the humor of the series. One major issue, and the main one, comes with the audio mixing. This could be a bug, but the audio mixing was all over the place. It was so bad that for verification, multiple speakers and a headset were used and the issue carried over everywhere. I verified with another game to make sure it wasn’t the system, and it narrowed down to the game. There aren’t any audio options to select in the game outside of volume levels either. The other drawback is the repetitive commentary does get taxing.
Closing Comments:
Anyone who is a fan of South Park needs to play SOUTH PARK: SNOW DAY!, especially if they really enjoyed Stick of Truth. The cooperative gameplay with the action/adventure combat element actually makes this more approachable to play with others compared to Stick of Truth, which was a turn-based RPG. If you are not a fan of South Park, some of the gameplay limitations may inhibit the experience as it seems the development team didn’t want to over-complicate the gameplay while also focusing on the story being told. With post-game options and the ability to play with others, this adds replayability, but currently it’s hard to tell if the longevity will be there unless there are plans for narrative DLC down the road. The horde mode option helps to add to this. The art and combat design here does work, but the main issue comes with the audio complaints with mixing and repetitive lines. The world of South Park is the driving force of SOUTH PARK: SNOW DAY!.
South Park: Snow Day!
Version Reviewed: PC
A blizzard of epic proportions has blanketed South Park. The New Kid, along with Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny need to save the town.
- Released
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March 26, 2024
- Developer(s)
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Question
- Genre(s)
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Action-Adventure
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Strong Language, Violence, Mature Humor
- South Park fans will enjoy
- Humor is present
- Approachable arcade combat
- Long chapters cannot be picked up where left off
- Audio bugs
- Repetitive commentary