Obsidian Entertainment's troubled and long history with this South Park game is finally going to come to an end... in a good way. After the game recently went gold, which means that development is done and finished on the title, Obsidian and Ubisoft released 13 full minutes of gameplay for the upcoming, off-beat RPG.
The video has been making the rounds on the usual social media outlets, and majority of the responses on the video are quite positive. This is definitely a good thing for a game that has been delayed enough times to start down the road of Duke Nukem Forever comparisons. Heck, the only news the game seemed to churn up throughout 2012 was that it was being pushed into 2013.
Of course, it should go without saying that if you're easily offended you shouldn't be here on this page, much less watching a video about South Park. For those of you who have ovaries of steel and gonads of titanium, you might find yourself chuckling at some of the jokes and naughty bits of entertainment.
From a presentation standpoint I have to say that all 13 minutes were slickly done. I mean, the pace, the voice acting, the graphics... all of it looks identical to a South Park episodes, something both Matt Stone and Trey Parker had been vying for in The Stick of Truth. I think they nailed that aspect down perfectly.
As for the gameplay, I think it's also safe to say that it looks good, really good. I was pleasantly surprised that there's a bit more strategy involved with the turn-based mechanics than what I thought originally be there. Getting the player involved with active battle components involving striking and blocking is a great way to keep player engagement high. Added to this, I think the combat – from the outside looking in – holds up well enough to be entertaining for people who aren't playing the game. It was fun just seeing the battle unfold and the different tactics on display.
Heck, if this game had a separate, fully functional, battle mode I honestly think that they could take a run as a legitimate e-sport contender. It's really that good... from what I've seen, anyway. The rest of the game could be poop for all I know.
Still, the video above sets a good tone for what gamers can expect from The Stick of Truth and it looks exceptionally promising. A lot of RPGs in the AAA space are usually aiming to blur the lines between role-playing and Call of Duty (or Gears of War), so it's good to see that Obsidian didn't fold to that sort of gameplay pressure and decided to stick with something both traditional and unique.
South Park: The Stick of Truth is set for release in March for the Xbox 360 and PS3. For more info, feel free to pay a visit to the official website.
