14 DAY TRIAL // South Park: The Stick of Truth, the video game based on the cartoon series, has launched with some of its more offensive sections censored in some areas and one of the creators of the universe, Matt Stone, says that the way it has been treated feels like a double standard at times.
The co-creator of the show, who has worked together with Trey Parker on the Obsidian-developed title, is quoted by VG247 as saying that, “It does feel like a double standard, a little bit. We weren’t willing to change the content, but also it doesn’t ruin the game – it’s like 40 seconds’ worth of the whole game. As long as we could make a joke out of the fact that they made us cut this, that was fine.”
The censored elements in South Park: The Stick of Truth have been replaced with placeholder screens that describe what the player is supposed to be seeing and they are in many ways funnier than the scenes, because they fit right in with the overall tone of the cartoon universe.
Apparently, most of the content that was eliminated from the video games could have easily been included in an actual episode of South Park shown on Comedy Central.
To Stone, the video game environment is filled with opportunities to deliver content in new ways and create experiences that challenge the preconceptions of the fan base.
He adds, “There is an interactiveness that makes it different. In movies and television you can do stuff that’s morally grey very easily, because you get to show consequences, you get to show reward, but in a video game there’s a reason why everything is a Nazi, zombie, or alien – these are pretty clear moral choices.”
South Park: The Stick of Truth is a very solid video game experience, which manages to deliver the funny situations and dialog of the animated series and allows players to explore some of the most familiar locations and meet with some classic characters.
The biggest weakness it has is the combat system, which does not use a classic turn-based system and forces gamers to take part in the action by clicking at the right time to launch an attack.
It’s interesting to note that the censored elements of Stick of Truth were not eliminated because ratings boards complained about it, but because publisher Ubisoft was not willing to take any chances and create controversy.