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SOUTH Park doesn’t have a great history of licensed games, but the last few entries have been promising.
South Park: Stick of Truth and South Park: Fractured But Whole gave fans like me exactly what they wanted, and felt like you had been inserted straight into an episode.
They are filled with shock humour, fourth wall breaks, and political commentary, essentially what you expect from South Park.
These are the things that people want from a South Park game, and both Stick of Truth and Fractured But Whole nailed it.
South Park: Snow Day! is the third entry in the series’ recent gaming renewal, but fans immediately noticed it was not like the others.
Not only did it make the move graphically to 3D, but it has made a jump in genre from turn-based RPG to roguelike horde mode.
A change in genre is not necessarily a bad thing, as the humour of South Park lends itself to any game with a strong storyline.
This isn’t what has happened here, as the gameplay focuses on waves and enemies, and all of the comedy is limited to cutscenes.
The issue is that the genre is oversaturated, and there are already many games with dedicated horde modes that do this much better.
Snow Day! only has six weapons and you have to pick one melee and one ranged for each mission.
However, the two-handed axe is strictly better than the others and even invalidates most of the range weapons.
Hordes can be huge, and you can quickly find yourself overwhelmed and require the axe’s area-of-effect damage.
There is also a heavy reliance on multiplayer, as the NPCs that fill up your party in single-player mode hinder you more than help.
You’ll find yourself spending resources to revive them, or starting over as soon as you are downed.
After finishing Fractured But Whole, I couldn’t wait for the third entry in the new South Park games, but Snow Day! Only left me disappointed.
If you like horde mode-style multiplayer games, there might be something for you to enjoy, but there are so many other games on the market that do it better.
On the other hand, if you want Snow Day! for South Park’s classic humour, there’s not much of it here, and you’re better off playing older games or watching the show.
If you want to read more about recent gaming releases, check out our Rise of the Ronin preview.
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