South Park: The Stick of Truth [Windows, Xbox 360, PS3]

The coveted stick of truth, whoever controls it has limitless power. This much delayed title is finally out and I've been playing it on PC. Yes I have the unedited version and no, I don't think you'll be missing out on anything exciting if your copy is censored. It's just a couple of disgusting mini-games that in terms of gameplay mechanics are pretty boring. Anyway on to the experience as a whole!

Gameplay is broken into two distinctive parts, roaming the world and turn-based battles. Roaming about the world is mostly about puzzle solving. Using things like your long-ranged weapon, your allies abilities and fart-magic, you unlock the path before you and find hidden treasures. When you encounter enemies as you are roaming about, you can hit them with an arrow to stun them in combat, or, if you get the first hit on them, you get to strike first. Then you enter the turn-based battle screen. The style of fighting is akin to a Mario RPG title, where timing and the mashing of buttons will ensure successful attacks. It's mostly pretty fun and you get to learn a lot of different attacks but by the end it is all a little repetitive.

The storyline is great but if you couldn't see yourself watching three episodes of South Park back-to-back this game isn't for you. The story takes a lot of the classic South Park episodes and mashes them into one big plot with a few new ideas for the game. Whilst this does mean it often treads on old ground there are plenty of hilarious and unexpected moments to keep you going. However, there are some moments where the gameplay/storyline overlaps in strange ways and doesn't really feel cohesive. For example, I had already spoken to the goth kids and learnt that I had to dress like them to hang out with them but as this later becomes a quest, I was forced to hear it all again. Mostly though the next plot twist or silly joke is what really keeps you driving along into this game. I wish as much time was spent on the design elements as they had put into the storyline.

Some poor design choices have stopped this from being the game of the year. When you see a mob of monsters on the screen, you battle them all as one, yet when it comes to picking up loot you have to search each monster. Why not streamline this into one loot bag and make it funner for everyone? There is no way to easily see how your weapons and armour compares to what you are buying. Some of the gameplay mechanics are immensely frustrating to use and the game teaches you these fart mechanics that you don't actually need to use in the game. Throughout the whole game you use the WASD keys to move but all of a sudden you need to use the arrow keys to do dance moves. I can't tell if this is a bug, a joke, or Matt and Trey being arseholes, either way it just comes off as frustrating. Plus half the time you are doing the right thing but just not standing in the right spot which adds to the frustration. Of course seeing as I played it on PC there are plenty of bugs and work-arounds but I guess this is the new normal.

It's a good game with good ideas but not enough time has been spent developing it. You will go through moments of pure joy, laughing at the gags and enjoying most of the gameplay, only to be snagged by poor design choices and bugs. South Park: The Stick of Truth is one for the fans and whilst I had hopes it could transcend that status and be an all round fun title it's gameplay isn't solid enough. There is a huge adventure here but only someone who is a fan of the series, could actually stand to play it for that long 7.9/10.