Support NeoGAF

[Shard]

The Header:

What is South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play!?

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/s/southparklgtdpxbla/

Play as Stan, Kyle, Kenny, Cartman, or any number of your favorite South Park characters in South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play! It's the fast-paced action/strategy game, where you play to save the town of South Park. Combining snowball-throwing action with tower defense strategy, the game is designed for players of all skill levels. Unlock special content and new characters throughout the game for your in-game scrapbook. Play locally with up to four players or team up on Xbox LIVE in the story-based campaign or the extra-demanding Challenge levels.

* It's South Park: Your favorite characters from the popular animated TV show come to Xbox LIVE in an exciting action/strategy tower defense game.
* Unlockable content: Unlock your favorite South Park character and unleash each of their special abilities. Continue to unlock more than 80 videos for your scrapbook.
* Strategy, South Park-style: Build snow mazes to outsmart your enemies, and use the town itself to destroy your foes.
* Multiplayer: Play locally with up to four players in intense cooperative levels, or team up on Xbox LIVE in either Challenge or Campaign mode.
* New achievements: Twelve new achievements for you to earn along with the South Park gang.
* Xbox LIVE Arcade exclusive: South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play! is available exclusively on Xbox LIVE Arcade.

Release Date
http://www.gamespot.com/news/blogs/...uth-park-erects-xbla-tower-defense-oct-7.html

That Microsoft and Comedy Central were collaborating on a South Park-themed Xbox Live Arcade game has been known since the 2008 Electronic Entertainment Expo. However, aside from a brief, nondescript trailer (which can be seen at the 49:55 mark in the movie below), Microsoft has been completely quiet on what, exactly, fans of the hyperbolic cartoon can expect from its game adaptation.

That changed today, however. Along with announcing that the next feature-laden Xbox Live update will arrive on August 11, Microsoft also confirmed that South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play! will be available on Xbox Live on October 7. The launch will coincide with the premiere of new episodes for the back half of Season 13 of South Park on Comedy Central.

As the name implies, South Park on XBLA will be tower defense-style action strategy game. Microsoft didn't delve deeply into gameplay specifics, saying only that South Park's roster of "lovable characters" would be engaging in snowball fights as part of their tower defense strategy.

Microsoft did not reveal pricing information for South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play!, and had not responded to information requests as of press time.

Pricing:

http://www.southparkstudios.com/games/lgtdp/promotions.php

This game has been priced at 800 MS Points


Dev Diary Entries:

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/splash/s/southparklgtdpxbla/devdiaries.htm

Pretty much everyone in the South Park offices is a gamer. So why is it that if you want to play a South Park game you have to break out some obsolete, dusty gaming system from the back of the closet? And let’s be honest, the previous games were disappointing and looked nothing like South Park; obviously the reason for the long drought of new games.

In late 2007, we brought together a very small team and formed South Park Digital Studios. The idea was to create a group of folks who would focus on everything ‘South Park’ but the television series. We expanded into the offices next door, which lets us not only have direct input from the show's creators Matt and Trey, but we also "borrowed" a few long-time South Park employees to run the new company. The digital studio has been working hard to complete a wide range of projects, including the new South Park website (SouthParkStudios.com ), cool new products, and games. Yes, games! We want this to be the first of many new video games based on series.

South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play! is the first South Park game in over 8 years. Unlike some past games, SPLGTDP actually looks and sounds like South Park. Making this game equal parts fun and challenging was a high priority, and we wanted to give it the unique look and feel fans expect from South Park. Tower defense is a solid and popular genre in gaming, and we felt would be a great platform to bring South Park ‘back to life’ in the gaming world.

We definitely want both fans and gamers to experience something different than traditional tower defense games. This game is a hybrid between tower defense and action. Not only do you build towers like a traditional game, but you also run around and throw snowballs as the South Park kids, acting like a moveable tower. Even better, you can play at home or online with friends. In South Park the boys always enjoy playing video games with friends, so multiplayer support was a must. But we didn't forget the single player, four characters can be controlled by one player at the same time. Whether you are a single player, playing with friends on the same console, or with other friends or fans from around the world, you will have the same great South Park experience.

We Will Have No 3D Characters!

When we started working on SPLGTDP, I think our biggest hurdle to overcome was the bad taste the early South Park video games left in our collective mouths. They didn't look or feel like South Park with those big headed 3D characters and backgrounds. We wanted to make sure that our return to the world of videos was true to the spirit and style of the TV show.

A lot of time and effort goes into making South Park look crude and sloppy. And after almost a year of production, I honestly think my counterparts at DoubleSix and Microsoft would grudgingly agree. It's a hell of a lot harder than you think to make something look like South Park.

Lucky for us, we already have a ton of content for the game, thanks to 13 seasons on TV. Of course we knew that Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny were going to be the main characters; but there are so many fans out there who love all the secondary characters too. I know, it's tough to admit that Butters, Jimmy, Timmy and Craig are secondary characters, but it's true. We really wanted to find a way to bring all those characters into the world of the game and make it as rich as possible. I'm very happy that there are a total of 15 un-lockable characters in SPLGTDP, including all the ones I mentioned above. The game also features 11 different locations like Stan's house, the elementary school playground and the Great Wall of South Park.

One element of the game that did not exist were the staple of tower defense games. The towers had to designed from scratch. Check out the progression of designs from the very early stages.

These first towers were too hi-tech and have a 3D look that is distinctly not South Park.

We really wanted the towers to look like they were designed and built by the kids using cardboard, tape and whatever was lying around. The storyboard department South Park did some very cool sketches and helped DoubleSix and Microsoft understand the style of the towers. This design inspired the upgraded laser tower in the game.

This design, also by the storyboard department, for a marble or gumball launcher didn't make it into the game, but demonstrates how we wanted the towers to look as if the boys used anything they could find and their imagination.

Many of these towers are in the game, and are a big improvement from the first designs. They also have the "homemade" feel that we were looking to create. You can also see from these sketches that tower upgrades are bigger-and-badder than the standard size to make them easily distinguishable during hectic game play.

We really hope fans enjoy the game, but more than anything else we hope you feel like you are getting to run around inside the world of South Park. And many thanks to the talented artists who swallowed their pride and trusted us when we asked them to "stop making it look too pretty."

Where is it Kyle?

While Double Six and Microsoft were working out all the game mechanics for South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play!, our crew here at South Park Digital Studios was busy trying to gather up all the cool stuff to put into the game. We had to provide artwork, game specifics, as well as the cut scenes to tie it all together.

Over 13 seasons, South Park has amassed a massive amount of art. Gathering assets for SPLGTDP was a very challenging job indeed. Besides the hundreds of new lines that were recorded and processed, we had to find tons of other stuff from the archives. It's easy for hours to slip away while you try to find a particular line of dialogue for Ginger Kids or the original animation files for Jakovasaurs. You can be sure we had lots of laughs finding them. "Let's look for treasure, Phillip!"


Some of the most exciting visual elements in South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play! are in the interstitial videos. We began by having some of our favorite in-house South Park artists do test sketches of characters in various styles and poses. After a style was chosen, everyone got to work hand drawing images and cutting them together. We added new dialogue from the Matt and Trey, new music from South Park's super sweet composer, and a few other surprises too. "Who's causing all this?"

To Throw or Not To Throw?

When we started this project, we had the idea of taking the Tower Defense genre and evolving it towards an action game. Instead of building towers and then sitting back, helpless, to watch the enemies march across the screen, players take control of Stan, Cartman, Kyle, and Kenny and jump into the fight. They build towers but they also throw snowballs, charge up their shots to make powerful yellow snowballs (hmm . . .), collect the coins the enemies drop, revive fallen friends, and use their special abilities to wreak havoc. So instead of a passive strategy game, we set out to make an active action game with a backbone of strategy.

That sounds pretty straightforward until you have to do it! We faced a lot of problems that typical Tower Defense games don’t face. For example, we wanted the four characters to play differently. Cartman should feel like Cartman, Stan should feel like Stan, and so on. We started out by defining some roles that players could understand from other games, roles such as Sniper, Brick, Medic, and Support. Talking with the guys at South Park Digital Studios, they decided that Kenny should be the sniper, Cartman the Brick, Kyle the Medic, and Stan the Support. Kenny got the best range, Kyle is the fastest (so he can reach fallen friends and avoid enemies), Cartman does the most damage, and Stan can heal the town. Of course, it didn’t stop there. Besides the four main characters we had to work this out for all the unlockable characters too, like Wendy, Jimmy, Pip, Tweek, and so on.

Picking up coins was another tricky idea. Most Tower Defense games just award you cash for every enemy you defeat, which you then spend on more towers and tower upgrades. We wanted to push the action element, though, and dodging enemies turned out to be a fun part of gameplay. So we had the enemies drop coins instead of giving them to you automatically, and since the coins disappear after a few seconds all the players are pretty constantly in motion – shooting, running, dodging, grabbing coins, and building and upgrading towers. Coin collecting also turned out to be a great example of what we call asymmetrical gameplay. An experienced gamer could focus on the tower strategy while a novice gamer playing with him or her could just grab coins and throw snowballs. Giving players the ability to divide up their roles was an important part of the multiplayer experience.

In the end, we took our inspiration not just from Tower Defense games but also from classic action-arcade games like Robotron, Pac-Man, and Crystal Castles. Early games like that have defined many of our gaming ideas and vocabulary at a fundamental level – run, shoot, grab things – and I turn to games like that the way a scientist does the Periodic Table of Elements.

The result is South Park: Let’s Go Tower Defense Play! We love playing our game and we bet you will too. Let’s go!

Previews:

Kotaku
http://kotaku.com/5353105/south-park-lets-go-tower-defense-play-preview-yellow-snowballs-added

1UP
http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3175313

G4TV
http://g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/5282...Go-Tower-Defense-Play-Comic-Con-2009-Preview/

WorthPlaying
http://worthplaying.com/article/2009/9/25/news/68798/images/

Video:

Gametrailers
http://www.gametrailers.com/game/south-park-lets-go-tower-defense/9151

Youtube
http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&hs=3SP&q=South+Park+LET%27S+GO+TOWER+DEFENSE+PLAY!+Video&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=NgfASvzwJ8PU8AbUjeWxAQ&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4#

Screenshots:

Achievements:

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game/south-park-lets-go-tower-defense-play/achievements/

There are 12 achievements with a total of 200 points.

Rochambeau 15
Activate a Special Ability

Come On. Catch Me. 15
Earn a Gold, Silver or Bronze Medal on any level

Couch Potato 10
Watch a video clip in the Scrapbook

White Trasher 20
Destroy an enemy with the junkyard crane near Kenny's House

Space Cash 20
Collect 100 coins in 10 seconds or less

Treasure and Plunder 15
Collect 1,000 coins

Fightin' Round the World 20
Throw 1,000 snowballs

Better than Platinum? 15
Earn a Myrrh Medal on any level

Look For Treasure 5
Earn a Platinum Medal on any level

Ungroundable 20
Earn a Bronze Medal or better on 5 Challenge levels

MANBEARPIG! 20
Beat Mountain on Insane difficulty using walls and snowballs. No towers!

Secret Achievements

Secret Achievement 25
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

Reviews:

IGN XBLA: 7.0, Decent
http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/103/1031444p1.html

 

[shattyboombatty]

so... many... tower defense games. I feel like there's a new one every week.

 

[Dead Man Typing]

Cool, I've never played a desktop tower defense game. This might just have the hook I need to get into the genre.

If it's 800 I'll probably bite, if it's 1200 then the trial game will have to impress.

 

[Jonsoncao]

800 I ll give it a try, 1200 is a "no thanks"

well I guess this game is just for SP fans, will not be as deep as Defense Grid

 

[B.K.]

Do you get to protect the shitty wall from Mongolians?

 

[kai3345]

Does anyone actually enjoy tower defense games?

 

[Stabby McSter]

Does anyone actually enjoy tower defense games?

i enjoy them for an hour, then lose interest

they should just rerelease the south park game from the n64 on xbla. i'd maaayyybe get that

 

[elrechazado]

heh, hippies and ginger kids.

 

[onken]

First I've heard of the game, looks pretty neat.

 

[T-Matt]

I'm sure I'll get this.

 

[AlphaTwo00]

Tries this at PAX. Enjoyed it, pretty action packed for a TD game. However, the logevity of this game will live and die by it's multiplayer and online.

 

[Azure Dream]

so... many... tower defense games. I feel like there's a new one every week.

It's almost this generation's Kart Racer. Has there been a WWE Tower Defense game yet? :lol

 

[pilonv1]

echoing the 800 point sentiment here. 1200 for this is just pushing it too far, considering Defense Grid was 800 and will probably have 10x the content

 

[Skenzin]

I enjoy them quite a bit.

The problem is there aren't enough good ones. PixelJunk Monsters and Defense Grid seem to be the shining exceptions. This one looks like it plays badly.

 

[onken]

echoing the 800 point sentiment here. 1200 for this is just pushing it too far, considering Defense Grid was 800 and will probably have 10x the content

You just know it's going to be 1200, these big brand tie-ins always are.

 

[pilonv1]

You just know it's going to be 1200, these big brand tie-ins always are.

i know, im just setting myself up for the disappointment

 

[msdstc]

Haven't had a new south park game in forever. I'm not a big tower defense game fan, wish they could make a full game in the southpark realm.

 

[Shard]

Do you get to protect the shitty wall from Mongolians?

Yes and maybe no, you get to protect the shitty wall but thus far they showed ginger kids.

 

[Brashnir]

Yes and maybe no, you get to protect the shitty wall but thus far they showed ginger kids.

I see Mongolians in the thread banner. You better not be lying to us up there.

 

[123rl]

This makes me want to go and watch South Park again. I'll try the game and probably end up buying it

 

[Shard]

I see Mongolians in the thread banner. You better not be lying to us up there.

I am only going off of what has been shown thus far, Mongolians could very well be in the game.

 

[Keavy_Rain]

I'll echo the 800MSP = Buy, 1200MSP = Pass sentiment.

As for "liking" Tower Defense games I loved Crystal Defenders and feel that was the best 800MSP I've spent in some time. I wish they'd add some new content to the game via DLC or something, as its gotten kinda boring.

 

[Nelo Ice]

http://www.southparkstudios.com/games/lgtdp/promotions.php

sign up to get a code for free levels

 

[Jonsoncao]

http://www.southparkstudios.com/games/lgtdp/promotions.php

sign up to get a code for free levels

It's almost time to kick some serious ass in South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play! The brand-new game will be available world-wide October 7 exclusively for Xbox LIVE Arcade for 800 Xbox Points, but you can get in on the action now.

800 hooray!

 

[CrunchinJelly]

Is this trailer new?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrCLXi8_nmg

It looks like South Park, but at the same time looks a mess.

 

[Shard]

IGN XBLA Review:

http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/103/1031444p1.html

Closing Comments
Let's Go Tower Defense Play! isn't a terrible game, which is more than you can say for most South Park releases. That said, it fails to offer any real fun as a single player game and only really works as a nostalgic look at some of the funnier bits in the world of South Park. Anybody in the market for a middle of the road tower defense game with some cursing and jokes you've heard before has found their match.

6.5 Presentation
A series of cameos and classic moments are used in place of anything new or exciting.

7.5 Graphics
The best looking South Park game. It sticks to the art style of the show well. Why aren't there any animations in the cut scenes?

8.0 Sound
A tad repetitive, but overall quite strong.

6.5 Gameplay
Weak as a single player game. Middle of the road as a multiplayer experience.

7.0 Lasting Appeal
Nice unlockables to extend the experience beyond the campaign.

7.0
Decent OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

It's up but holy crud it's taking forever to download.

 

[supermackem]

It's up but holy crud it's taking forever to download.

How the fuck is this 800mb+ lol, was going to get the trial but dont think its worth the download to my cap lol.:lol

 

[Shard]

How the fuck is this 800mb+ lol, was going to get the trial but dont think its worth the download to my cap lol.:lol

Probably due to the audio and show clips.

 

[Gowans]

How the fuck is this 800mb+ lol, was going to get the trial but dont think its worth the download to my cap lol.:lol

Mackem how many times have I told you, switch provider!

 

[elektrixx]

I've been playing Defense Grid so much that I don't think I need this game anymore. I can only see a lesser experience here.

 

[Gowans]

I've been playing Defense Grid so much that I don't think I need this game anymore. I can only see a lesser experience here.

Yeah I'm going steadily through Defence Grid but South Park has Co-op right?
will be fun to play with the Mrs.

 

[Shard]

Yeah I'm going steadily through Defence Grid but South Park has Co-op right?
will be fun to play with the Mrs.

Yes, up to 4 people.

 

[Gowans]

Yes, up to 4 people.

Looks like I'll be nabbing it tonight then.

 

[pilonv1]

it's pretty basic. if this wasn't southpark you'd never look twice at it

:lol silver medal is

Spoiler

clyde frog

 

[SentientStone]

Any plans for a future PSN release?
I would love to get this! :lol

 

[Shard]

Any plans for a future PSN release?
I would love to get this! :lol

In a word, no, in fact, cross out every other platform you can think of, this is a first party product.

 

[Sleeker]

This is gonna sell like hotcakes

 

[SentientStone]

In a word, no, in fact, cross out every other platform you can think of, this is a first party product.

I'm going to be a sad panda.

 

[pilonv1]

What sort of stupid leaderboards dont put your position? Amazing

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

:lol

Come On. Catch Me.
Earn a Gold, Silver or Bronze Medal on any level

So awesome. Pretty simple game, but I quite like it.

 

[Nelo Ice]

ign review kinda turned me off on the game but i'll wait for impressions and more reviews to see if i should pick it up or not

 

[Son of Godzilla]

IGN XBLA Review:

http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/103/1031444p1.html

IGN is such a joke. Someone would have to be trying hard to look like such buttmonkeys.

 

[Shard]

IGN is such a joke. Someone would have to be trying hard to look like such buttmonkeys.

In the interest of fairness, how exactly are they wrong?

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

:lol

I thought it was simple because I didn't realize you could build new towers. Nope, it's just like pretty much any other tower defense game, with the bonus of being able to move around and warp over to other characters. Each character has their own special move too and I was looking through the Scrapbook and there are a SHITLOAD of unlockable characters.

So this is basically Castle Crashers in TD form. Only you kill Gingers and, well, I don't want to spoil the equally shitload numbered amounts of unlockable enemies. Also, bovs, tons of unlockable towers.

Anyway, yeah, one probably only ever needs one TD game, and I passed on Crystal Defenders and haven't gotten Defense Grid, so this will probably do for a long while.

 

[Gagaman]

Can't be any worse than Chef's Luv Shack I suppose.

That's funny, I thought Trey and Matt didn't want any more South Park games made after them ones a few years back. I guess they've changed their minds.

 

[ChackanKun]

No PC or PS3 or PSP?

 

[TAJ]

IGN is such a joke. Someone would have to be trying hard to look like such buttmonkeys.

But are they five-assed monkeys?

 

[pilonv1]

No PC or PS3 or PSP?

no able to read?

 

[ChackanKun]

no able to read?

no able to not be a jackass?