As I trudged throughSouth Park : Snow Day!like a tyke squeeze to finish homework , a long - lost puerility memory turn back to me . I was at my auntie ’s business firm in Cape Cod when I found my cousin’sNintendo 64 . I had never play one before or even seen one in person , so I was eager to try out it out . I had a few game I could fire up , include the excellentThe Legend of Zelda : Majora ’s Mask , but the thing that actually caught my eye was aSouth Parkgame . I was a huge fan of the then - immature series and felt it could do no wrong .
No more than 10 minutes subsequently , my excitation had faded . I was amaze as I tried to figure out the gawky first - somebody shooter , which had me awkwardly tossing snowballs at turkey . Eventually , I gave up and plugged inMajora ’s Maskinstead , go away with a shaping life object lesson : You ca n’t allow blind production loyalty to overcloud your judgment , or else you ’ll find yourself defending a lot of turkeys .
South Park : C. P. Snow Day!brings the cartoon ’s up - and - down foray into back full rophy . The co - op risky venture underwhelms with swampy action mechanism , repetitious scrap , and a poorly implemented roguelite anatomical structure . Fans of the show ’s first few season may get some laughs from its throwback humor , but the fun setup gets level down the drainage like Mr. Hankey .
Goin’ down to South Park
South Park : Snow Day!opens on the correct foot . Its opening cutscene , enliven to match the adult cartoon ’s signature tune style , plays out like aclassic South Park episode . As a deadly wintertime tempest ravages the town , Cartman pray that school will be offset . He gets his wish , joyously fete a snowfall Clarence Day as a news paper demo the dead , icy body piling up in the streets . It ’s the kind of secret plan cable I loved growing up before the show ’s hyper - focus on clumsy societal comment , mix puerility whiteness with pitch - fateful comedy .
That ’s the old schooling coming that developer Question extend for here , for better and worse . Rather than dating itself with well-timed riffs on current case ( save for oneTaylor Swiftjoke ) , Snow Day travel back to a more fundamentalSouth Parkwell — and by well , I mean toilet . The bulk of its jocularity revolve around poop , crap , and shite . It ’s clinical infatuated bodily fluid for anyone who still drive a kick out of seeing someone showered in diarrhea , but it ’s a disgrace thatSouth Park ’s more cunning clowning is miss in that brown wave .
Snow Dayfeels like it was made by fans who grew up with the serial but stopped watching around 2002 . The premise act as on Season 6 ’s Hellenic Lord of the Rings air - up , where Cartman donned his wizard robe for the first time . Characters like Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo and Jimbo are heavily sport in a five - 60 minutes story about the Thomas Kyd ’ snowfall twenty-four hours high jinks . There ’s a Chinpokomon namedrop in one missionary work . If you outgrewSouth Parktwo decade ago , you ’ll feel right at home here . There ’s a nostalgic charm to that , though it ’s a strange decision in the setting of the show ’s evolved voice .
If you ’re just looking to return to the cruderSouth Parkof the late ninety , you ’ll get your filling of crap here .
That might be on purpose . Snow Daydoes feel like it ’s think to be a unearthly successor to the Nintendo 64 ’s dreadfulSouth Parkgame with its wintertime stage setting , emphasis on military action , and a insipid 3D art style that ’s even more disappointing placed directly next to its inspire cutscenes . Despite describe on the show ’s bobble - maneuver characters for its designs , the ocular style patronage in lo - fi appeal for dull environment and character that find flatter than their 2D opposite number . It ’s a letdown coming off of Ubisoft ’s twostrongSouth ParkRPGs , which nailed the show ’s style so well .
Still , I ’m Facebook friends with enough people who exclusively mail nostalgic culture medium from their childhood to hump that this approach will have its fans . If you ’re just look to return to the cruderSouth Parkof the late 90s , you ’ll get your filling of crap here .
It’s not that deep
What ’s a little knockout to appreciate is Snow Day ’s debile multiplayer - focused action . The tale unfolds over five story seeking with aloose roguelite backbone . Players start each gauntlet of literary hack - and - gash encounters with one of three weapon , a ranged tool , and some submarine - abilities that are activated by using vim on a “ Pissed Off ” meter . In between stages , player take hold of upgrade cards that broaden their build . My healing pillar can be interpolate to put down mines on enemies , while my daggers can be modify to increase backstab terms .
It ’s a conversant enough formatting , but one that ’s totally devoid of substance or depth . armed combat itself is a weightless mess . My battle royal swings hardly feel like they join with enemies , while rank arrow do such pitiful price that I barely apply them unless I find some impactful upgrades . While there ’s a dodge roll , a shield , and some status effects at my disposal , every struggle comes down to me press the same attack button repeatedly without feeling any impact in yield .
That ’s where a roguelite upgrade organization would commonly fill in the gap , but I bump off the bottom of that system shockingly fast . In my first run , I ’d buff my dagger to deal superfluous diving scathe and bring up how many arrows I ’d pullulate at once . When I jump my second tally , I ’d almost exclusively see the accurate same upgrade cards every time I was given a pick of three . I made some slightly different choices , but it hardly felt like I was make a physical body . I ’d get dissimilar choices when I fit out other abilities , but every weapon ’s upgrade options are disappointingly limited . Even the game ’s survival of “ Bullshit ! ” bill , which give me an ultimate office like turning giant or summoning a meteor storm , is fabulously slim .
Was I really expecting more from a crap plot ?
Snow Daytries to tease that out more with gradual unlockables , but that progression system of rules is too tedious for its inadequate write up . There ’s a lasting upgrade tree that I can drop “ Dark Matter ” on ( take one shot as to what that might be ) , but those gains are obtuse and lack impact . By the clock time I puzzle the story , I ’d only unlocked 11 of 30 upgrades , the majority of which were gradual health or approach boosts that I could barely feel . Some new cards and cosmetic options for my avatar unlock via challenge throughout , but nothing I get changes or improves the hollow action .
All of that hit for an unrewarding action plot with tag on - on roguelite progression . By the end , I was moving through the repetitive struggle on auto - archetype , hoping for a post - game tress , like its free day one DLC update , that would command even a hint of strategy . The final jest was on me ; was I really expecting more from a quarter biz ?
Don’t trust a bot
If you ’re going to find fun inSnow Day , your best promise is to bring along some friends . Even then , your antics in voice Old World chat will probably do a lot of the gravid lifting . With no existent profundity to scrap , there is n’t a lot of potential drop for team synergies , something that powers cobalt - op titles likeBack 4 ancestry . There are n’t even four melee weapon system to choose from despite it being a four - player game . ability like a gun turret or cat piss ( finally , a change of pace ) add some mild mixed bag , but nothing will change the team dynamic much .
I was leave wondering if the organization was one elaborate trolling created by Cartman himself .
And if you ca n’t convince some friend to hop in , pass for your lifespan . When play solo , Snow Day twin players with three useless bots . There ’s no AI coordination nor any way to wrangle the braindead tykes as they aimlessly move around attack patch of foe at random . My frustration would come to a chief when enemies knock me down in one mission . player can recreate one another by stand in the blue round that appears around their torso for a few instant , but my teammates did n’t seem to get the demo . I had to resume one stage from scratching after watching my one keep bot mate head for the hills around in circles for a practiced two proceedings , reject to revive any downed fibre until he die . At some level , I was left wondering if the system was one luxuriant troll create by Cartman himself .
That sloughy topsy-turvyness gets compounded by the occasional trial - killing bug . One mission had me running from a flame - spewing snow plow . To get on through a gated area , I ’d call for to kill enough enemies in the area before the truck reached me . I was too slow in one attempt as the plow pinned me up against a gate . My team did n’t wipe , though . Instead , my dead teammates and I were pushed through the paries into the next region . One bot survive , but he , unfortunately , was on the other side of the fence and ineffectual to get to us . I quit the run as shortly as I polish off pulling my hair out .
It ’s very cleared from the opening menu ’s rudimentary UI thatSnow Dayis likely meant to be a budget game . It ’s retailing for $ 30 at launch and is very special in scope . I have no problem with that approach shot ; in fact , I embrace more insect bite - sizedmultiplayer experienceslike this that are n’t built to make players access every day . ButSnow Dayends up feeling like an alpha build of an IP experimentation ; it ’ll take a lot of loyalty to the South Park brand to squeeze some raunchy fun out of it .
As I sit down to get this all out of my system of rules like some bad Cheesy Poofs , I decided to render to the infamousSouth Parkgame of my youth for the first sentence in over 20 years . Maybe I would come to obtain some misunderstood charm there that would aid me treasure the appeal here . It only get minutes of fiddling with clumsy controls and brainlessly pour Turkey with pee - stain snowballs to have that I had n’t lose some secret complexity as a kid : It would always be a bad plot from my childhood that taught me a small but durable life lesson .
I hopeSouth Park : Snow Day ! will concord the same nostalgic spot for some edgy 12 - year - old navigating their relationship with mass medium today .
South Park : Snow Day!was reviewed on PC and Steam Deck .
