PixlBit's 2013 Sneak Preview: The Underdogs
Don't count these guys out...they may be some of the coolest games of the year.
South Park: The Stick of Truth
There are quite a few hardcore South Park fans here at PixlBit, so The Stick of Truth is probably not an underdog around this website. But the irreverent cartoon has a pretty poor track record when it comes to video games, and its publisher THQ has been going through a rough time lately, so there’s a lot stacked against this turn based RPG.
Even so, this could end up being one of the sleeper hits of 2013. This is the first game to perfectly mimic that special brand of “beautifully crappy” animation the series is known for, with real time gameplay visually identical to the TV show. This is also the first time that Trey Parker and Matt Stone have sat down and mapped out the entire town of South Park, so fans of the series are in for a real treat.
In fact, “fan service” is the name of the game here, with tons of jokes and cameo appearances rewarding people who have been with the show since it began. From Mr. Kim (owner of the City Wok) to the satanic Christmas Critters to Scott Malkinson (he has diabetes), developer Obsidian has you covered. And of course, the voices are handled by Trey, Matt, and the rest of the cast, so you can rest assured that when you summon Mr. Hankey for a true s--- storm that his “hidey ho!” is authentic.
One of the things that I’m most interested in for this game is the turn based battles. It’s been a long time since I played a traditional RPG on a console, with most games moving towards the real time action mechanics seen in BioWare and Square Enix games. Turn based RPGs have been relegated to handhelds and indie games in recent years, and it’s going to be refreshing to have to strategize. After all, when you have a powerful High Jew Elf in your party you want to make sure he’s bringing all of his power to the battle. South Park: The Stick of Truth was due out in March, but was recently pushed back into the Spring. If you are at all a fan of the show, this one is worth looking at when it comes out.
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