South Park: The Fractured But Whole could be the most offensive game ever created

THERE is a brand new South Park video game. It has an R 18+ rating and is even more crude than you would have even expected. Warning: Graphic.

WARNING: GRAPHIC

I HAD to pick my gender and the options were cisgender, transgender or gender-neutral.

My selection had no impact because the hilarious cutscene with Mr Mackey and subsequent battle with a truck full of rednecks was pre-planned to happen regardless of my choice.

This is just one of the many offensive and highly topical jokes explored in the new video game South Park: The Fractured But Whole.

Just like with the long-running cartoon, Trey Parker and Matt Stone were responsible for writing, voicing and directing the game, which plays like a feature length South Park movie.

Picking up just one day after 2014’s South Park: The Stick of Truth, the sequel ditches swords and spells to see the foul-mouthed fourth graders taking on the super hero genre.

You play the role of “the new kid” who is given a super hero origin story by The Coon (Cartman’s alter-ego).

First tasked with finding Cartman’s cat, you soon discover a plot to raise crime in South Park from a stripper named Classi. From this point on, chaos ensues.

From the minute you choose your skin colour to decide the difficulty of the game — white is the easiest, black is the hardest — you understand the game is layered with jokes stretching beyond traditional humour.

The title has been designed to play like an episode of South Park and the way the gameplay and cut scenes blend seamlessly together really help to achieve this goal — there were moments where the video had finished and I didn’t realise I was back in control.

In terms of fighting, The Fractured But Whole is based off an all-new dynamic combat system offering opportunities to manipulate time and space on the battlefield.

The turn-based combat takes place in a grid, which has to be navigated to inflict or avoid damage. Players can also use their turn to heal wounded team mates to keep them in the mix.

Impressively, Parker and Stone have even worked their humour into these battles, with the characters in each fight throwing witty one liners at each other.

An example of this is seen when you fight the Catholic priests trying to get into your pants. During the battle one pulls rosary beads from his anus and starts whipping himself before launching into the attack, while the other can be heard saying: “Stop playing hard to get.”

While the combat takes a while to master, it’s not going to break your brain too much.

One of the more interesting parts of The Fractured But Whole is how the game constantly breaks the superhero narrative to remind the player this is all just based on the imagination of the kids.

This is seen when the kids are engaged in a battle in the middle of the road, but have to pause the fight to move to the sidewalk so a car can drive past, or when the lava blocking entry to some doors is clearly just red blocks of Lego which are then swept away by an adult.

In terms of gameplay, the open world lets you explore the city of South Park while also completing a number of side missions like getting Stan’s grandfather a condom so he will follow you on Coonstagram — the game’s rip-off of Instagram.

It is during these side missions you will discover just how much effort has been put into creating a game longtime fans of the series will love.

While I haven't finished, the best throwbacks I have discovered so far have been when the Lemmiwinks song is played on a television or when Richard Adler refuses to take a selfie with you because you keep “screwing around” and pushing buttons when talking to him.

There is also the items you can loot from Big Gay Al and Mr Slave’s house, which are all highly offensive sex toys.

South Park fans will love all the jokes hidden in the game.

After playing the game for a good six hours, I have not grown bored and keep looking for secrets while completing the main story mission.

While those who aren’t fans of the show might struggle to get into the idea, people who casually watch should find the game highly enjoyable and obviously diehard fans will love it.

The main story provides plenty of South Park humour, but part of the fun is looking for jokes that are not so in your face — make sure you read the status updates in Coonstagram for a laugh.

Sure, my long-term love of South Park makes me slightly biased, but I think this could be a real contender for game of the year.

And those annoyed by the censorship of South Park: The Stick of Truth can rest easy, with the R 18+ rating meaning the game has hit Australia in its entirety.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole is out now on Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Have you been playing South Park: The Fractured But Whole? Continue the conversation in the comments below or with Matthew Dunn on Facebook and Twitter.

Originally published as South Park: The Fractured But Whole could be the most offensive game ever created