'South Park: Snow Day!' - Cartman's snowy adventure on PC and Switch

Berlin (dpa) — Cars skid around uncontrollably, townspeople battle severe cold, chaos breaks out: A massive snowstorm has hit South Park and plunged the city into a snowpocalypse.

But as the adults deal with the aftermath of the storm, Eric Cartman has only one question on his mind: Is school closed?

That’s the premise of “South Park: Snow Day!,” a new game for consoles and PCs based on the popular animated series. In it Cartman dons his legendary wizard costume and a whimsical journey through South Park begins.

At the beginning of the game, the players create their own character. The selection of clothing and accessories is limited, but more can be unlocked as the game progresses.

Once your choice is made, a tutorial starts and you move along a snow-covered path surrounded by a few trees and figures.

The familiar locations of South Park are left out for the time being. As you trudge through the snow, you discover the game's currency: toilet paper.

It’s in short supply due to the snowstorm and can be exchanged for your first weapon. Abilities depend on an energy bar that fills up or reduces as players deal out or suffer damage.

Familiar South Park character Jimmy Valmer appears and gives you your first ability — the fart escape. However, his main task is not only to pass on skills, but also to introduce aspects of the game influenced by the roguelike genre of role-playing games.

Before each level he gives out cards that you can choose from to improve your skills. Jimmy returns again and again throughout the game and can be bribed with toilet paper to reshuffle the cards.

In multiplayer mode, players fight together with friends, requiring a coordinated strategy to defeat boss opponents. However, there’s no clear distribution of the game’s roles such as tank, healer, and damage dealer.

The wintry atmosphere and the variety of quests promise a lot of fun but that promise isn’t really fulfilled. The gameplay and the combat feel monotonous, and simple button mashing is often required.

Nevertheless, the typical South Park humour comes across well. The characters keep the mood high with their cheeky sayings, and the many allusions to past episodes will please fans.

“South Park: Snow Day!” is available for PCs and Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and Playstation consoles for around €30/$30.