South Park: Snow Day Review – Chaotic Co-op Fun

South Park: Snow Day on PC

Fans of the South Park TV show and previous South Park games have been eagerly awaiting a new adventure featuring the quirky little town full of familiar characters, and South Park: Snow Day! has finally arrived to answer this call.

The plot is fairly straightforward – the town of South Park has been hit with a vicious bout of weather, causing heavy snow to fall across everyone’s doorsteps. Upon loading up the game for the first time, an animated 2D intro sequence that is oh-so-ever South Park plays, featuring Cartman pestering his mother to find out if school has been cancelled by the snow.

After a hilarious back and forth with the boy, the town finally closes all schools in the area, leaving Cartman to gear up in his familiar wizard costume and step outside into a snow day to play with his friends – which includes you, the new kid!

As everyone stepped outside into the snow, there are some adjustments to get used to, as the jump from the classic South Park 2D style featured in the animated intro to the 3D game style was slightly jarring. However, even in 3D the characters have their same charms (and flaws, of course) – so this isn’t so much a drawback, more of a readjustment to make for fans of the show or those who have played previous South Park titles.

While I had initially been uncertain of the 3D approach in the early minutes of the game (despite knowing it was coming), this style only seemed to grow on me the more I progressed, striking me as charming, and a welcome new direction. The town of South Park is undeniably entertaining to explore in this format, with the graphics maintaining that simplistic South Park energy while also being rather eye-catching.

From the little particles of snow flowing through the sky to the ambience created by surrounding lights in Kupa Keep, the graphics are not only visually appealing, but the sense of adventure and exploration is much more vivid in this 3D reimagining of the town, which ended up amplifying the feelings of childlike imagination.

The story is fairly simplistic, but this makes it straightforward to follow. There are also some funny references to previous South Park games, such as the Stick of Truth, to which Cartman is still acting salty over you, the New Kid, previously becoming “too OP,” which caused him to rewrite the rules of for Snow Day!

Character creation is rather barebones to begin with, but gets the job done just fine. However, you can unlock and purchase more cosmetics as you work your way through the game. Cosmetic items also feature references to iconic episodes of the show, such as a Tunic decorated with a graphic of the hilarious Pokemon knockoff, Chinpokomon.

There are also several emotes, mostly consisting of various dances, which are somewhat amusing, and somewhat horrifying. While my immediate fears were that the game would somehow become a dancefest as if I was in some sweaty Fortnite lobby, I have to admit, these dances are rather charming and entertaining when presented with the stubby, stylized South Park style characters. In Co-op mode, they can cause a good laugh with friends, while in solo play you’ll rarely see them anyway, other than when completing a chapter.

While the visuals and characters are certainly a charming aspect of South Park: Snow Day The true highlight of this game is undoubtedly the quirky and funny gameplay mechanics, which make Snow Day feel familiar, yet fresh on the surface. With a toilet paper currency that brings back ridiculous memories of pandemic TP hoarders, you can purchase weapons and obtain new cards to amplify the skills of your New Kid.

New Power cards can be acquired by exploring the town of South Park and completing milestones. Of course, Powers can only be used while your character is Pissed Off, which is determined by taking or dealing damage. As if that wasn’t amusing enough, enemy leaders can play Bullshit Cards to gain an unfair advantage over you in combat, which creates some hilarious encounters.

The game also has pretty simple and forgiving controls, which make it very relaxing to play. Charming narrations and interactions with all kinds of familiar characters, from the friendly Butters and Timmy to the mysterious goth kids, or even Mr Hanky himself, will point you in the right direction and keep you moving forward, hacking and slashing your way through a bunch of elves towards victory.

Furthermore, you can customize your playstyle through selections of a melee weapon, ranged weapon, cards that amplify certain aspects of these weapons such as damage, speed, and bonus effects, as well as a Perks system similar to the Illithid Powers of Baldur’s Gate 3. This enables you to collect and spend a substance known as Dark Matter to improve your New Kid through various Skill Trees, each of which can be respeced at any point, refunding your Dark Matter and letting you start again with zero penalty.

Also, with this being the first time there has ever been co-op play in a South Park game, it’s a lot of fun, enabling you to team up with friends or other players and jump into the winter chaos together. Or, you can simply play through the story alone and have friendly bots jump in for combat to even things up, the choice is completely yours.

This will be a huge plus to anyone looking to play through the game as a solo adventure, as they are in no way hindered by a lack of co-op. For the majority of your adventure, you will be able to explore and progress on your own, as the friendly bots will only appear and assist you during combat. This is hugely beneficial, enabling you to continue progressing at your own pace, without friendly AI getting in your way, or proving a nuisance in any which way.

Overall, South Park: Snow Day is an absolute blast, full of hilarious little quips and interactions. The various powers and Bullshit Cards are incredibly amusing and add chaos to gameplay that initially seems simple but opens up as you play. If you’re looking for a game in which you can sit back, chill out, and enjoy South Park humour in a new way, then Snow Day is a brilliant choice.