Join lobby, get in a frosty brawl with Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny, and check out our South Park: Snow Day PC Review
Return to a sleepy town that survived the attack of Mecha-Streisand, played host to Elton John, and where it’s fine to love a Smurf. Welcome to the third South Park game. Follow on from Stick of Truth and The Fractured But Whole, a blizzard of unimaginable proportions blows into this small-town setup and a magical team based brawler ensues.
The Premise
Developed by Question and published by THQ Nordic, the most magical day in a young child’s life is not just more of the same. Players do return to South Park as the nefarious “New Kid”, Main Street remains the same, and Cartman is still an ass, but the gameplay during winter is distinctly different. Where the two most recent major franchise spin offs brough us an RPG, fans can expect some fantasy infused child’s play and a series of increasingly chaotic multiplayer instances with, all with a drizzle of very light customization. In essence, it’s snow day and it’s time to show your new friends why the High Elf King and his like are no match for a New Kid.
Taking Things To Another Dimension
Even as we first stepped back into the South Park one thing is obviously new. Opening up the character creator, you’ll be presented with a disappointingly slim set of pickings sewn onto a 3D model. While there’s no restriction on the way you use the available options, making a character feels like painting with broad strokes. For example, almost all of the capes are simple color swatches. The lack of clothing options and light touch character changes make me highly suspicious we might see a wealth of cosmetic DLC in the future, and it impacts the long term replay value later on.
The character creator is just the first sign that the team at Question didn’t opt to continue with an established aesthetic and directly ape the Comedy Central series. Instead, Timmy, Butters, and the citizens of this small town are rendered in full 3D. It’s an unexpected choice but manages to work for the most part. Just like the waves of animation making it onto PC and console, from Sand Land to SpongeBob SquarePants, the move from 2D to 3D isn’t nearly as jarring as it used to be. The streets of this small town are temporarily changed by incoming snow drifts, making comparisons between styles a lot less obvious. Still, this does take something of a step sideways to a familiar but different approach that ultimately servers the gameplay as much as the artistic integrity of the source material.
Gameplay and Combat
At the core of this 3D change is the wider gameplay and combat. Rather than embrace turn based mechanics or side scrolling systems, Snow Day is a whole lot of rough and tumble. Movement and smashing Kyle’s stupid face in are all easy enough to understand. Free form movement within a locale allows players to use the action combat mechanics to dole out a light and heavy attack, choose from two equipped weapons, utilize powerful special moves, throw down an ultimate power, and clamber around the snowstorm that billows across the local parks. These, like the writing and upgrade systems, are wrapped up in their own language. Healing totems are garden rakes that spout healing Cheesy Poofs, while Cat Piss turns enemies to fight for you. Ultimate perks are labelled Bullshit cards, unleashing anything from giantism to vampires and zombies.
These all provide plenty of ways to join your friends and clobber through a variety of levels, from Main Street to the local hospital, all filled with silly kids pretending to be barbarians and adults all hopped up on strange magic. Each run ends with an obligatory boss battle, but I won’t give away all the twists. Up to five New Kids can venture out from Cartman’s back yard into a deftly written story that’s about as long as a South Park box set, and just as entertaining. The script and writing are not as chaotic as Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s best, but there are genuinely inspired moments. I can’t say I’ve ever had quite the same experience as Princess Kenny blowing us up with love bombs or firing a toilet roll gun at a humungous three story poop. Little moment’s like these and the ability to dip into a child’s imagination, however warped these ones are, make the campaign a riot.
The Longer Game
The longer game, however, has some work to do. Across five levels and three difficulties the campaign is carried by the character’s charm. I never thought I’d use that description for South Park. The game mechanics are, however, hardly challenging. Cheesing levels using ranged weaponry and Cat Piss is far too simple, even when things get chaotic. Choose to swap things up and there are only a few weapons or secondary abilities to swap in. Skill customization is limited to a series of purchased perks and a separate Dark Matter character upgrade system. This leaves the upgrades feeling effective but also unenticing.
Despite opening up a few new maps and some poop jokes, the upgrade system does little to make the remaining game much more than rinse and repeat. Sure, Henrietta’s day one DLC maps and the Dark Pact challenges can change things up, but the cosmetic rewards feel limited while the upgrade system isn’t strictly game changing. There are tons of cool hats, however.
Back to School?
South Park: Snow Day is largely saved by its writing. The team behind it treat this escapade like an episode of the TV series. There’s a definitive narrative and the same outlandish twists, while throwing the odd blow at religion and stupid adult behaviour. After panic buying all the toilet paper in town, there’s even a moral at the end. What there isn’t is a real reason to keep going back. Like a real snow day, there’s a time when playing in the snow isn’t as appealing as heading off to do something else. If you love South Park, then this is absolutely worth a look. If you can grab the game at a box set price, then it’s definitely worth your time.
Frivolous, farty, and gloriously chaotic but not the best episode of South Park I’ve ever seen. South Park Snow Day PC, Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation versions are all out now. Check out the official website for more.
