Write this down: by and large, licensed games are terrible.

It seems like there has always been a tangible disconnect in quality between moneymaking franchises and video game developers, because whenever a publisher gets their hands on the rights to a popular franchise, they typically churn out unplayable swill. The Simpsons are guilty of it, Back to the Future is guilty, Batman is guilty; the list goes on forever. But some of the worst serial offenders of these licensed game atrocities reside in the Colorado town of South Park.

Like most licensed series, South Park games have historically been unbearably awful. In 1998, Acclaim Entertainment released a first-person shooter featuring Kenny, Cartman, Stan, Kyle, and the rest of the South Park crew. It was quickly panned by the critics resulting in Acclaim's cancelation of a planned sequel. However, players did have the ability to urinate on snowballs, so that was pretty fun.

Then, in 1999, the developer released a minigame-laden trivia title called South Park: Chef's Luv Shack. Players who had the misfortune of purchasing this game found themselves in a depressing game show hosted by Chef. Honestly, it wouldn't be unfair to refer to Luv Shack as "that game they ripped off from Mario Party." In fact, I'm pretty sure that was the working title.

But I guess Acclaim's conscience wasn't bothered by their blatant thievery, because they continued ripping off Mario titles the following year when they released a substandard Kart racer called South Park Rally. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, it might be a little harsh to accuse Acclaim of ripping off Mario Kart considering that basically every licensable franchise released a Kart racer in the early 2000's.

After this short but pungent string of games, the world was given a well-deserved reprieve from South Park titles. For nine long years, no other video game cashed in on the South Park franchise. However, in 2009, South Park Digital Studios, Doublesix, and Microsoft teamed up to produce a South Park-themed tower defense game called South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play! This has been the most well received SP title to date, but, as you have seen, the competition was not exactly stiff.

So, when Obsidian Entertainment announced that they would be working directly with Matt Stone and Trey Parker on an upcoming South Park RPG, fans of the series started giggling uncontrollably. Obsidian is a well-regarded RPG developer who has worked on titles like Fallout: New Vegas and Dungeon Siege 3. It's not every day that a genuinely talented developer signs on to such an aggressively silly project. Still, one has to wonder if even Obsidian can keep South Park out of the Walmart bargain bin.

Both Obsidian and the comedic team of Matt Stone and Trey Parker have been loose-lipped about the thought process behind their upcoming RPG. They obviously want to release a South Park title that's worthy of the fans' 14 year loyalty, and in order to do that, they'll need to stay away from past mistakes.

For Matt and Trey, one of these mistakes was compromising the show's artistic style. In the past, developers have not been concerned with capturing South Park's trademark construction paper look. But according to Feargus Urquhart, CEO at Obsidian, that was the first thing that the South Park team was worried about. In a recent interview with Game Informer, Urquhart discussed the initial meetings with Parker and Stone: "And what was interesting, and what it came down to was really talking about 'what's that first step?' 'What's that first thing we need to do to make sure that this can really be a South Park game?' And by the end of the meeting, it just came down to; if we can't make the game look like South Park, then why make it?"

So that's what they've done. Urquhart and his team have put together a game that is purportedly like "playing an episode of South Park." There's no unnecessary 3D animation in this game. In fact, everything in South Park: The Game has been hand-illustrated and hand-animated.

Gamers who are familiar with standard RPG control setups should have no problem adjusting to South Park: The Game's simple interface. The combat system is comparable to games like Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi, but includes a summoning system and the ability to augment your weapons (a la the Final Fantasy VII Materia system).

But even if the mechanics and the setup are wonderful, a good RPG is nothing without a solid story. And that's where Matt and Trey have taken control. Aside from personally writing the storyline, they've had their hands in every element of the game's development, just to make sure that it stays true to the source material.

Players will find themselves in the body of a new kid in South Park who is participating in a live action role-playing game that the neighborhood kids started. Eventually, the game will evolve into full-fledged adventure, featuring paladins, wizards, rogues, and whatever other classic RPG tropes you can think of. Once Cartman guides you through the setup process, you're off to slay a dragon, or off to the City Wok to pick up some Kung Pao chicken.

Only time will tell if the super team of Obsidian and the South Park Creators will result in the first truly solid South Park game, but if anyone can pull it off, it's these guys.

There's no word yet on when the game will actually ship, but Obsidian has been teasing a late 2012 release window. Normally, I would suggest that you should replay the previous titles to tide you over, but I think we can both agree that that's a bad idea.

By Josh Engen
CCC Contributing Writer