Should South Park: The Stick of Truth have an Adults Only rating?

17 years has gone by so fast since the boys of South Park in Park County, Colorado debuted on Comedy Central. The show has become known for its grotesque, offensive humor which has gone on to reference bagfuls of people from celebrities to politicians. It has bashed many topics of racism, sexism, religion, and stereotypes. With the help of UbiSoft and Obsidian Entertainment, Trey Parker and Matt Stone (creators of South Park), brought their offensive masterpiece of a show to the joysticks and keyboards of the gaming community. This is not the first time, however. Does anybody remember the South Park original game released for Nintendo 64? Or South Park Rally? Or Chef’s Luv Shack? Yea, neither do many people. The Stick of Truth will be remembered for some time, though. Not just for its constant humor, but for its deep role-playing mechanics and somewhat surprising duration which fails to become tedious. Through this 16-18 hour campaign, there are quite the number of offensive and disturbing scenes. Some may wonder how this game was even released. My question to the readers: Should South Park: The Stick of Truth be rated Adults Only? (Warning: Spoilers ahead)

The Offensive

We begin the game as the new kid who has no name until Wizard King Cartman dubs thee Sir Douchebag. That is not even a good sample of the vulgar activity exhibited. Although the activity does come rather fast if you like to explore and plunder all the “junk” you can find in the game. You befriend Cartman and the human tribe of Kupa Keep right off the bat and if you want, you can trek through his house shortly after. The vulgarity starts when you enter his mother’s room and raid her drawers in attempt to salvage some change or potions. Instead you find the majority of typical things she would possess, such as multiple sex toys with hilarious, gut-wrenching names and some illegal paraphernalia.

I found it hilarious you could find these and actually sell them for a profit to other children or folks around town. You should kind of expect that if you are a die-hard South Park fan though. It gets more offensive as you go, however. It isn’t the farting magic you obtain from random sources, which is the funny inner-child feature we all needed in this game. It get’s bad when you are abducted by Visitors from the pilot episode of the long-running series. You find Randy Marsh in the same room as you and have to free him from getting an anal prone from a very odd machine that resembles a penis. The game goes on to get very, very, very insane and quite unreal for video game standards. You go from performing two abortions (one on Randy and one on a Nuke located in a very odd destination…) to traveling through a man’s anus filled with unspeakable objects. It is just crazy how much nudity and sexual references you see and hear in this game.

Why go AO?

It must have pondered the thoughts of many others why this game wasn’t given the prestigious AO rating that games like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Manhunt 2? They both disturbed people to the maximum at their times but haven’t even reached the levels of offense this game achieved. Even though other versions of those games were made to be rated M, it still shows there were reasons to switch the game to a one year differential of purchase.

There isn’t one point in any other video game I have endured that has had me in the midst of battle with underpants gnomes while my character is shrunken and the battlefield takes place on the protagonist’s parents bed while they are above the fight performing intercourse. The fight actually ends with your character being crushed by his father’s own testicles. I had laughed so hard I literally fell out of my chair. Although it is extremely funny, it crosses lines that have never been approached in a role-playing game. You see so much genitalia and intercourse it makes GTA: SA’s version of the “Hot Coffee” mini-game seem like nothing big at all. Plus, it couldn’t have been activated without a mod. The sex-scene battle in The Stick of Truth is required in this game. Along with the other various activities that holster their fair share of potty humor on steroids.

To strengthen this side of the discussion, I also haven’t felt the urge to vomit at a video game before. It’s just gross, funny but gross and not normal for video game standards. It almost feels like it wasn’t tested by the ESRB and just given the rating based on its television rating of TV-MA.

Why not go AO?

Remember when I said there is a one year differential between M and AO? I think that is a valid enough point but it is actually more than that. The television show has stepped on the toes of many figures in society and still has gotten away with the majority of it all. While doing so, it upholds its strong reputation in the entertainment world. We see most offensive things on TV today because of the influence it has made. Television is different from movies and games, however. You can filter your TV to block those channels for young  viewers who don’t need to see watch shows like South Park. You can’t stop your kid from finding someone old enough to purchase a game or movie of this caliber.

Kids will play this game and probably learn a few offensive things along the way, but when I looked at the bigger picture it was a game based on kids using their imaginations and engaging in role-playing in the real world. In fact, if you watched the last season of South Park, the trilogy made about Black Friday leads up to the events of The Stick of Truth game. They go through a war to be the first 30 people in the mall on Black Friday to get 80% off on either Xbox Ones or Playstation 4s. After the events occur and hundreds are left dead, they find it hard to enjoy the game they bought and begin to play outside. Sure it could defeat the purpose by making those succeeding events into an actual video game, but when kids view what they are doing beyond all the humor, it’s just a group of children having fun. Not running drugs and guns or shooting prostitutes and authority figures.

The Skinny

I honestly couldn’t make the big decision of what this game deserves as a rating. Mature seems suitable because it is a very mature-based game obviously. Many facts support both sides so we shall leave it to the ESRB to make a decision down the road if they feel inclined to do so. In the meanwhile, if you are a South Park fan and or RPG genre fan, you should definitely try South Park: The Stick of Truth if you can stomach the story and content that comes along with the amazing gameplay mechanics. If you want to voice your opinion on if this game deserves a different rating or not, feel free to leave your comment below.