Break out the Ron Paul GIFs because IT’S HAPPENING! After delays that added up to 15 months, South Park: The Stick of Truth is finally out. The game, written and voiced by South Park creators/writers Trey Parker and Matt Stone, has gone through a little turmoil as Obsidian’s development of the game was hampered by THQ’s bankruptcy and the sale of the South Park licence to Ubisoft.

Usually delays mean trouble for a game in development but most of the critics love this game. If you’re a South Park fan, The Stick of Truth is what you’ve been looking for from a South Park game for years. It’s not just another generic licensed piece of garbage. Obsidian is a developer who is used to working with other people’s IP and thriving. Just ask anyone who’s played KOTOR 2 and Fallout: New Vegas. It shouldn’t be a surprise that it lived up to my personal hype as my most anticipated game of 2013 and 2014.

Anyway, enough of the history lesson and hype. Here’s what the critics think of South Park: The Stick of Truth.

Story

“The Stick of Truth’s set-up draws on the season six episode “The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers” and the three episode arc in the last season which started with “Black Friday”. South Park’s nine-year-old ne’er-do-wells are hosting an epic LARP. Two factions – Cartman’s KKK (Knights of Kupa Keep) and Kyle’s Drow – squabble and fight for control over the titular Stick of Truth, a gnarled sceptre which grants the owner control of the universe. At least in the imaginations of the South Park kids.” – PCGamesN (10/10)

“You are the new kid, and you’ve just moved to the not-so-sleepy Colorado mountain town of South Park with your parents. There are enough bits and pieces in the character creator to make a fairly accurate depiction of yourself, and I enjoyed seeing a little paper me sharing the screen with Cartman and co. in what is essentially an episode of the show. Don’t worry about what name to enter when you’re given the chance, though—everyone refers to you as ‘douchebag’ regardless.” – PC Gamer (9/10)

“This mismatch of childish innocence and adult depravity is what the South Park television show has always been about, and Stick of Truth conveys it wonderfully. It’s childish and playful, yet wholly inappropriate and vulgar. This is an RPG where “Jew” exists alongside the usual Fighter, Thief and Mage classes.” – Joystiq (7/10)

“South Park’s greatest strength is riffing on the zeitgeist – each episode has a mere six-day production cycle – and the game loses something without topical references. It’s dense with fan-serving detail – a trip to Canada is a particular treat – but sadly that’s not enough.” – VideoGamer (6/10)

“The dragging on of jokes is certainly a problem The Stick of Truth suffers from. One of the show’s biggest gags is the repetition of a single idea over the course of an episode. That kind of goof works in a twenty-minute broadcast, not so much over the course of several hours. There are moments in the game that made me laugh out loud, and a number of callbacks to the TV show that worked amusingly well, but a couple of things just went on a bit too long.” – The Escapist (8/10)

Gameplay

“Combat in South Park is turn-based JRPG style (Cartman: “You have to wait your turn, like in olden times!”) with friends on the left and foes on the right.” – Gaming Trend (9.5/10)

“Each of the four classes features a handful of abilities that are all activated with QTE prompts. Attack types are functionally the same as a standard RPG, but everything has a charming, child-like twist to it. The mage’s “lightning” comes from a car battery, the warrior assaults enemies with a baseball bat, and ranged attacks come in the form of dodgeballs and suction-cup arrows. In a genre filled with dramatic storylines and brooding characters, the lighthearted nature of The Stick of Truth is refreshing.” – Game Informer (8.5/10)

“Working in tandem with the abilities of teammates, from Cartman’s farting fire powers to Butters’ comforting healing, there are a lot of ways to tackle any battle.” – PCGamesN (10/10)

“There’s a lot of gear in the game, which greatly expands your ability to customise your character and comes with interesting buffs and modifiers. Combined with ‘strap-ons’, which add additional effects to weapons and armour, this gives you scope to make some unique character builds… Much of the fun in the game—that is, the RPG beneath all the jokes and pop culture references—lies in experimenting with the vast array of gear and strap-ons you find as you play.” – PC Gamer (9/10)

“As role-playing games go, however, The Stick of Truth is notably light on, well, everything. It’s light on challenge: on medium difficulty, combat is a cakewalk, entertaining to watch but rarely engaging your mental faculties… It’s also light on depth: if it weren’t for the profanity, cartoon genitalia, and the sight of a grown man engaged in gentle coitus with a farm animal, you might have retitled The Stick of Truth as Baby’s First RPG. As for choice, the game asks you to make very few narrative decisions, and the one that most obviously masquerades as a game-changing opportunity is quickly thrown away and rendered moot.” – GameSpot (7/10)

Graphics/Audio

“Playing The Stick of Truth feels like mainlining two or three seasons of the show, both thanks to the fantastic animation–which looks exactly like the cut-paper style the show has used for nearly two decades–and the ridiculous script, which is written by series’ creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker.” – GamesRadar (9/10)

“Graphically, the game looks impressively identical to the show, though some may struggle to perceive the value in something that isn’t laden with visual effects and powered by expensive 3D engines.” – The Escapist (8/10)

“Whether you’re in battle or just wandering around the town, everything looks like it came straight from the TV series. The purposely crappy animation style of the show is perfectly captured in every sequence, and every significant character is fully voiced by Parker, Stone, and the other actors from the series. It feels like you’re interacting with the world as you’ve seen it on TV, versus the kinds of tech-limited representations we’ve grown accustomed to enduring in most licensed games.” – Giant Bomb (10/10)

Overall

“The Stick of Truth is the best South Park game by a country mile, but even removed from the franchise’s dismal history with video games, it’s also just one of the funniest games I’ve ever played… Obsidian has fashioned an honest-to-god RPG out of the South Park universe, one with enough depth and longevity to hold your interest even when the comedy takes a breather.” – Giant Bomb (10/10)

“The Stick of Truth makes one thing abundantly clear: I never want to play another South Park video game made without Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s direct, intimate involvement. With a controller in your hand, you are almost literally – gloriously – playing a 14-hour episode of South Park.” – IGN (9/10)

“If you can also forgive the repetitive nature of combat and some uninspired quests, it’s worth taking up arms – or dildos – for The Stick of Truth’s hilarious, disgusting adventure.” – Joystiq (7/10)

“TSoT is the best, most faithful South Park game to date, but it’s still just an okay game. That said it might also be your only chance to fart on a flaming, used tampon and hurl it at Nazi zombie fetuses, unless they make another Postal.” – VideoGamer (6/10)

For more from et geekera, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Tumblr and RSS.