This was one of those games that I was so hyped up for that I couldn’t wait to play it. It had been delayed time after time and each time it got delayed I would groan in frustration and wait until the next release date was announced. When the hard release date of this game was announced and the game went gold, I went ahead and got my pre-order. I have to say that I bought South Park: The Stick of Truth on my PS3 as a whim because of two reasons. One I received a gift card and figured what the hell and two I’m a casual South Park watcher. I don’t watch every episode but that doesn’t mean that I won’t leave it on if I happen to find it on when channel surfing. Anyway, I ended up loving The Stick of Truth and figured that this one would follow in its footsteps.
The Fractured But Whole takes place right after The Stick of Truth. You are now king, but a sinister plot is brewing in the background. Also, it’s now time to play super hero’s. You’ll transform yourself from king into the super hero of your choosing in order to…wait for it…find Scrambles, the missing cat. There’s a hundred dollar reward for Scrambles and if you get it, you can help kick start the Coon and Friends franchise. There will be many obstacles in your way like a rival super hero gang, Freedom Pals, and Super villain Professor Chaos. While looking for Scrambles and battling your way through sixth-graders, Professor Chaos’s minions, and other obstacles you’ll find yourself uncovering the corruption behind the South Park Police Department. Just when you think it’s over and you’ve won, the game has only just started as Mitch Conner has some plans of his own.
This game is just like a South Park episode meaning it’s highly over the top. At first this is funny, but about 15 hours in, it’s not so funny anymore. For me, the perfect way to end this game would have been to defeat Professor Chaos, and finally find Scrambles. The whole Mitch Conner thing and how things went from there was just too much and it kind of ruined the game as a whole for me. I have to say though I did enjoy the whole super hero thing and how the kids switched games and had all these plans for franchises and spin-offs and based itself off of the whole Marvel and DC Universe type thing. That was done in a clever way, not to mention that all of your favorite characters from the show are in the game and it really gives you that whole South Park feel. If the game was a little shorter, I can’t believe I’m saying that, and a little less over the top it would have been the perfect sequel to the Stick of Truth. The fact that the game ran a little too long, became a little much and kind of crossed the line a few times, kind of knocked the game down a bit.
The playability of this game was much improved from the Stick of Truth and the battles were much more strategic. This made playing the game more fun and challenging as you really had to think about your next move. I really liked this aspect of the game as it was turn based and felt very old school RPG, but in a South Park way. This really made the game and the battles were really great as they had to be thought out and you had to see which other super hero was going to work best with you. The strategy side of this game was just perfect and a few times I had to go back and switch things up in order to create the perfect team to match my own character. I also have to credit this game for running as smooth as it did. There were a few hiccups along the way, but nothing major and game breaking. This was a good thing and it made the experience of playing better.
The graphics for this game were basically the highlight of the game because it put you right into a South Park episode. It’s pretty amazing how the graphics match up perfectly in order to do this and it really works for this game making it another highlight of this game. I loved being able to go and explore all of South Park and have it actually look like I was walking through the show and going into everyone’s house. I can’t say enough good things about how this game looks. I know it’s a simple graphic just like the show, but the fact that you feel like you’re in a episode of South Park only boosts the game.
There are a total of 36 trophies for this game and they’re pretty easy to get. All you have to do is basically play the game. Most of the trophies come naturally even though you may have to search for a trophy or two. The trophies themselves involve random things like finding collectibles, which can be done after the main game as you can still explore, to some gross things like using everyone’s toilet within the game. There are also some story based trophies and some battle based trophies along with playing on the highest difficulty. All of these aren’t so bad and even playing on the highest difficulty wasn’t all that hard. It’s a really do-able trophy list that shouldn’t be a problem.
There is no multiplayer for this game and I like how it wasn’t tacked on to try and sell more copies. This is a single player game and it was made that way for a reason. I really couldn’t see there being a multiplayer portion to this game and there isn’t a need for it. Not every game has to have some tacked on multiplayer.
Overall I give this game a 3 out of 5.
What’s Great:
+ This game really makes you feel like you’re right in the middle of a South Park episode as everything is basically the same as the show.
+ The switch from Medieval play to Super Hero’s was pretty neat and fluid that was also a fun take on the Marvel vs. DC Universe thing.
+ The playability of this game was much improved from The Stick of Truth and really worked for this game as you had to be more strategic and really think about what you were doing during the battles.
What’s Not So Great:
– The game ran a little long and the story line became a little scrambled because of it. Sometimes bigger isn’t always better and this is one of those cases.
– Fart jokes and other risqué jokes can only go so far and about 15 hours in, you’ll be tired of them, not to mention it’ll be even worse if you have to do another playthrough in order to beat the game on the highest difficulty.
I have to say that my feelings about this game are mixed. I enjoyed most of it until it went a little over board and instead of laughing at what was an obvious joke I found myself cringing. After the main story was revealed and then there was a sub plot hidden in there, it became a little tiresome to play and I just wanted the game to be over. I’m going to say that if you’re a die hard South Park fan, that you’ll want to pick this one up because it’s a 20 hour long version of the show. If you liked The Stick of Truth, I would still say that you might want to give this one a go, but expect it to be a little more over the top than the first game. If you’re not a South Park fan and get easily offended by random things, I would say to steer clear of this game and find yourself something else to play.
1 Broke Gamer Girl 