The Stanley Parable
Developer: Galactic Cafe
Price: $14.99 (on sale for $11.99 until Oct. 23 at 8am)
Platform: PC (Steam)
A copy of The Stanley Parable was supplied to us
The Stanley Parable does not conform to traditional games and provides a rich, dynamic story through the power of video game.
Before you read this review, or ANY review of The Stanley Parable you should go download the free demo right now on steam. Here is the link, click the “Download Demo” button on the right. Click here if you have Steam already installed. This is the web link again but at full length:http://store.steampowered.com/app/221910 is where you should go, and click “Download Demo” on the right hand side of the page before doing anything. And If you like the game demo which you have just played then you should buy the full version of The Stanley Parable without reading any further.
The game has players controlling Stanley, a man who sits in his desk chair and works is repetitive, meaningless job day after day without question. Players guide Stanley on an adventure of self discovery, searching for answers to why one day his coworkers are nowhere to be found while also diving deeper into the meaning of Stanley’s own existence. The storytelling is progressed by the different choices Stanley is faced with and the core gameplay focuses around making these choices. Every choice, and detail is exceptionally well narrated and explained with the utmost detail. The game is more often than not ready to handle a lack of choice as well.
The Stanley Parable is game you are going to play through multiple times over the course of several hours. As a result players will often encounter repeat situations. The Stanley Parable was designed for this type of play through, so the story reacts accordingly. However when playing through portions at a fast pace, the narration will interrupt itself when the next trigger point is reached. It’s harsh and unnatural but not something encountered unless players have already experienced the content and are comfortable pushing ahead.
The Stanley Parable can be enjoyed by veterans of PC games, and even the casual players, assuming they can play a first person game on a gamepad. The one problem when using the gamepad is that at the time of writing this I was unable to get my controller’s y-axis to invert (It works for the mouse controls though). Overall not a large issue as precise aiming is not required.
The Final Word
The Stanley Parable is a game that needs to be played to understand. The writing and voice acting guide the player through a story that can only be expressed through a medium as interactive as games. The narration interrupting and control, inverting issues are dwarfed by the charm. The Stanley Parable put a smile on my face, and kept me coming back to experience everything.
– MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Great
