Very few shows have the cultural impact that South Park has, and even better, the South Park games have been solid adaptations of the source material. Minus the mobile game, South Park: The Stick of Truth and The Fractured But Whole were great RPGs set in the universe. When fans learned another game was in development, it's an understatement to say many of them were excited.
There are still tons of questions about what material South Park will adapt, what the game is designed like, if it keeps to or breaks from past games, and so on. However, fans know that South Park is in development at Question Games, which is composed of developers who've worked on a number of AAA titles, including BioShock. And those BioShock influences could very well shine through.
South Park and Question Games
Question Games is a relatively small studio, composed of reportedly no more than 50 folks. While this makes some larger projects difficult, it has the benefit of making sure a cohesive vision is maintained by members of the studio. Since its formation, it has released The Blackout Club and The Magic Circle, with the latter being highly praised by fans. In both of them, though, the tightknit work, storytelling, and game approach of BioShock can be seen in little crevices throughout the game. Given the BioShock titles are some of the highest-rated games in the industry, it's a good comparison point for the start of the journey.
Of course, just because developers have worked on BioShock doesn't mean this will be that. Expecting that will be too much. However, having a touch of BioShock in its experience pool is no doubt a good thing for South Park. After all, a previous Question Games job listing outlines the exciting expectations of its level designer:
Every good level tells a story – a treasured dream that a player can share with their friends. Stories like "Sooo… I forgot that fire spreads in this game? All those bombs I stacked up went off in my face, and it left me at one health. I was *shaking*." To the player, that experience was one of a kind, and 100% theirs. But their silent partner – the person who put that chemistry set in place next to a big, tempting button saying DO NOT TOUCH … that was you.
Other times, the story of a level is that all the NPCs spawned inside the geometry and stacked up on each other endlessly, unable to reach anything and begging for the sweet release of death. That was you, too. You push the boundaries of what the game's scripting can do to make the first kind of story possible – without leaving too many of the second kind hidden in the walls.
How BioShock Should Influence South Park
Indeed, that very job application outlines how the developer should leverage its BioShock experience here. BioShock made sure its narrative, characters, and level designs all went hand in hand, whether it was the city of Rapture or later Columbia. Rapture is more than enough to inform the fictional Colorado town of South Park. Making sure the narrative picked is on tone should be more than doable, given how every animation, ability, and more corresponded with BioShock's themes. Its characters brought out the morbid, psychological themes of the city, where South Park is a city created by its foul-mouthed children, PC Principal, fine workers of the city, and many more. And its level design goes hand in hand with that, whether it's a subtle hint toward the identity of Mysterion or a big "Do Not Touch Button" that Cartman could never avoid.
Of course, none of this is to say that fans should expect a dark, psychological experience like BioShock, but the skills that go into creating that world, combined with the more personal scope of Question Games, bodes well for it. These skills are seen in The Blackout Club and The Magic Circle, and with Question Games' touch, fans could be in for a treat of a South Park game where everything comes together, not fractured but whole.
A new South Park game is in development.