After two successful runs in the RPG genre, South Park returns for another round of provocative humor and shenanigans with the release of South Park: Snow Day! Gone are the deep plotlines and tactical combat of The Stick of Truth and The Fractured But Whole in exchange for co-op battles on snow-covered areas. Is this a great new path or will it leave most players cold?

Cards for Inhumanity

Despite being much lighter than what the previous RPG titles have offered in terms of lore, there is still room for mischief and the usual no-holds-barred humor from South Park. These little cutscenes carry the story forward and give all the battles the context they need as to avoid turning into a succession of brainless skirmishes. South Park fans will enjoy them the most, other players may not be too fond of the juvenile humor, but all things considered, this is a game for followers of the franchise and not anyone else.

Ditching both the RPG mechanics and the 2D art style of previous games, Snow Day focuses on the simple premise of 3D battles where up to four players can cooperate under the protection and doubtful encouragement from wizard Cartman. As the new kid, and the only important new kid among all the new kids that may be on your team – bots are an option if there aren’t human players around – you will take on Kyle, Stan, and other known characters from the show, all under the guise of a role-playing narrative.

Missions are often comprised of defeating waves of enemies until you reach the stage boss, sometimes finding and carrying an item as well. It’s straightforward action with melee and ranged attacks, along with a couple of special abilities and the aptly-called Bullshit cards, true game-changers of limited uses that are also available to your opponents – becoming huge is just one of the various powers that are entirely safe to describe in this review.

But let’s go ahead and mention the ability to float by means of fart power, the inestimable health totem, charging forward with the strength of a bull, and more options that can be quite useful when combined with your partners. This is good because it adds variety into each run, but at this point it’s not an exception anymore but the rule, as every game slightly hinting at roguelike mechanics comes with this by design.

Boss fights is where you have to cooperate the most, with fallen players requesting revivals, and some simple mechanics to learn before you can take on the bosses themselves, such as loading up a cannon to take out the shields.

There are three different in-game currencies at work: Toilet Paper, Dark Matter, and PP (Platinum Pieces). Among its uses are upgrading card rarity or re-rolling the available selection, purchasing more cosmetics for the New Kid, or improving your perks through a fairly simple yet functional skill tree. Concerning the various weapons we can use, it doesn’t look like there is a lot on offer here as well.

Bullshit in the Snow

In theory, the playground is set for a bunch of crazy and foul-mouthed kids to wreak havoc, with the occasional appearance of familiar adult faces, although not playable. There is a lot of cussing and pretend dying, and all those card powers can make the battlefield look chaotic and exciting, but an overabundance of flashy effects results in confusion and disorientation, additionally marred by floaty controls and a dodge roll that is far from enjoyable to use. It was impossible to shake this feeling of clunky movement, lack of rewarding hit feedback, and overall unsatisfying gameplay. This is most noticeable during boss battles, where our hits land with a whimper instead of a bang, even considering it’s all make pretend.

Apart from the main adventure, there is a horde mode that players can attempt, but if they don’t find combat satisfactory in the campaign, then this is just going to make matters worse, as it’s an even simpler take on things. Your goal is merely to defeat wave after wave of enemies, upgrade your cards in-between, and repeat. With the unsatisfying movement mechanics and lackluster combat, this doesn’t seem to be a game mode for the ages.

There’s some visible lack of polish as well, including enemies running against fences without any knowledge of what a detour is, our very own character stuck hovering over a seemingly normal snow mound, or Mr. Hankey projecting his fluids through a closed port-o-potty.

Maybe it could be claimed that South Park’s raunchy and poop-filled humor doesn’t resonate with me anymore as it did many years ago; that might be true, but the issue isn’t with the jokes or the narrative themselves, but with the actual gameplay. It feels inconsequential, exclusively tailored for the most die-hard fans who aren’t concerned about the lackluster and repetitive mechanics, and will go for anything South Park. Demanding players, on the other hand, will quickly realize that there are much better cooperative games out there and it doesn’t take a bullshit card to discover them in little to no time.

Score: 6/10

Pros:

• Contains the trademark raunchy humor of the series
• Card system is generic but nice to use

Cons:

• Movement and combat feels somewhat clunky
• Not really fun to play, even with other human players
• Action can become too confusing
• Lacks polish

South Park: Snow Day! review code was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.