Parent's Guide: South Park: The Stick of Truth - Age rating, mature content and difficulty

South Park: The Stick of Truth is an action Role Playing Game (RPG) set in the world of the long-running animated show South Park. Players are cast as a new boy in town who soon gets caught up in a Lord of the Rings-style battle between humans and elves (even if it is technically the other kids in town playing make believe and taking it very seriously). The game's been designed to be as much like the series it's based on as possible, right down to the character voices and the simplistic animation. The series' paper cut out look translates really well to a game environment, and the 2D view makes manoeuvring your character and exploring the town a breeze. The script's been written by the show's writers too so anyone looking for an authentic South Park game can rest assured that a lot of care and attention has gone into the game - and it's as funny and daring as any episode.

It should also be stressed that this is a game that's really not suitable for children. South Park's been around long enough by now that most people will be aware that despite its cute exterior, there's no subject off limits for the writers, and they have no problem courting controversy as they satirise things that most TV shows wouldn't dare.

In gameplay terms The Stick of Truth doesn't do too much to shake up the tried and true formula that's been done so well in games like the Final Fantasy series, Dragon Quest, Ni No Kuni or even Pokémon. You're basically tasked with exploring the town of South Park, unravelling the plot and discovering side-quests as you go, while partaking in turn based battles along the way to gain experience. Controls are simple for the most part, and the map ensures that even if you do get distracted by secondary objectives, you're never far from getting back on track.

In terms of accessibility, there a few things to be aware of. For one, there's an element of timing involved with performing certain moves and blocking enemy attacks which can be quite tricky to master, meaning some losses early on for those with less than perfect reflexes. It's worth persevering though, as practice yields rewards and there's usually no shortage of healing items to be looted and saved for tricky fights, but it still may be frustrating for those just setting out. There's also a fair amount of reading to do, too - even if a lot really isn't suitable for young eyes.

In all, this is definitely one for older teens and adults.

This being a South Park game there's undoubtedly some content here that's not suitable for children. The Stick of Truth is essentially an interactive episode of the famously offensive series - which is great in that is provides a genuine South Park experience for players who are old enough, however it also means that it's not for kids. There's copious voiced and written bad language (including the 'f' word), racial stereotypes, cartoony but graphic violence, references to drugs and sex and some flat-out gross stuff going on here (alien probing, anyone?). As South Park viewers will tell you, these elements are hallmarks of the show too and usually serve to satirise as well as amuse but that doesn't make them any less adult. Put simply, if your children are at an age where they are allowed to watch programmes like South Park then the game offers more of the same, along with a solid RPG to boot which is great. For anyone unaware of the show, don't let the cartoon characters on the box fool you, this is definitely a game for older teens and adults, not children.

Age Ratings

Format Reviewed: Playstation 3