E3: ‘South Park’ sets sights on superhero genre with a new game

Here’s a tip for all game developers courtesy of the team behind “South Park”: “No dream levels.”

The advice comes from Eric Cartman, who screams it in the trailer for the sequel to 2014’s “South Park: The Stick of Truth.” The reasoning? “This game has to be sweet.”

Ubisoft today at a media conference on the eve of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), which showed footage from “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” and also unveiled a new franchise in the “Game of Thrones”-like “For Honor,” said it is at work with South Park Digital Studios on “South Park: The Fractured but Whole.”

The game will take a different track than “The Stick of Truth,” a parody of fantasy epics such as “Lord of the Rings.” “The Fractured but Whole” will instead lampoon the superhero genre, focusing heavily on Cartman’s alter ego “the Coon” and arch-nemesis Professor Chaos (otherwise known as the series’ Butters).

The game, according to a press release, will dive into the “crime-ridden underbelly” of “South Park.” Players will once again take on the role as “the new kid” in town, and battle alongside Coon and other kids-turned-heroes such as Mysterion, Toolshed, Human Kite, Mosquito and Mint Berry Crunch. Driving the game is Cartman, who wants to create the most beloved superhero team in history.

In a trailer (note: adult language), players get a glimpse of the Coon’s motorbike and some nifty kite-made levitation devices. Mysterion, the Batman-like alter ego of Kenny, is spied looking brooding at a lunch room, and Cartman gets serious with his mom.

“South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker are said to be heavily involved in the making of the game and the two appeared at the Ubisoft press conference. Aisha Tyler, who hosted the press event, asked the two why they made another video game after declaring they wouldn’t return to interactive entertainment.

“The big thing is we’re kind of whiny babies,” said Parker. “We just realized right at the end ‘Stick of Truth’ [that] we kinda learned how to make video games and it was kinda too late.”

Added Stone about the story of the game: “It’s the next chapter. It continues the story of ‘Stick of Truth,’ where you’re the new kid, and you now have moved to South Park. Now the kids are playing superheroes, so we get really into your back story as the new kid. Like any superhero adventure, we get into the back story of why your butthole is so amazing.”

E3 officially begins Tuesday afternoon, but most of the game reveals happened on Sunday night and today.

Last night, Bethesda showcased footage from “Doom” and “Fallout 4,” among others, while Microsoft broadcast scenes from upcoming games in the “Halo” and “Tomb Raider” franchises. Also today, Electronic Arts showed new footage from “Star Wars: Battlefront.”