The Stanley Parable - Review

Over the past few months, it has been suggested that I play a game called The Stanley Parable (big shout out to Nolls).  It is a game that has an interesting if not simplistic sounding premise, looking to take a short break from console games this seemed like it might be a bit of fun.

I have a bit of a sweet tooth, one thing I like in particular is a chocolate tart that Marks & Spencers do.  It is small in size with a deep base filled with soft smooth chocolate & sprinkled with nuts.  It is sweet, tasty & goes great with coffee.  Playing The Stanley Parable I found myself asking was this the tasty sweet nutty treat I wanted or just some tart?

The story is about a man named Stanley, a man who sits in an office pushing buttons all day who one day realises there might be other options.  The best description for the game is the one used on Steam, 'You will play as Stanley, and you will not play as Stanley.  You will follow a story, you will not follow a story. You will have a choice, you will have no choice. The game will end, it will never end'

The whole game is narrated by Kevan Brighting, who tries to 'help' lead you where you are supposed to go but that doesn't mean you always have to listen or do what you are told.  The writers for the game Davey Wreden & William Pugh have created 19 multiple endings.  Most can be obtained in a few minutes, others can take a few hours, my favorite endings were; whiteboard, out of map, confusion & museum.

To say any more than this would ruin the story for you but in terms of story I cannot recommend it enough.

Visually the game is simplistic but that doesn't mean it looks bad, you are in an office building & most of them have a slightly generic feel.  That being said as you can see from the image above there are some very interesting areas to see.   It may sound odd but visually one of my favorite things was the start menu,  you are looking at an office desk & on it is a monitor with the start menu also showing the office desk while you look at it most likely on an office desk - it just made me smile.

The music is fleeting & moves between many different sounds including; whimsical, upbeat, dark & contemplative which is impressive for a score that is not even an hour long. 

There a few artists who helped create the music for the Stanley Parable, they are:

Blake Robinson - who created the Stanley Blake Orchestra who performs orchestra versions of video game music.  Some of his work includes; Dexter for Orchestra EP, Duke Nukem 3D Mixes,

Chrono Trigger: The Last Day of the World & he is also the composer for the game Portal Knights.

Christiaan Bakker - composer, 3D artist, computer programmer & technical artist who created a number of interesting works including; Estranged Act 1, From Earth & Jaykin' Bacon Episode 3.

Yiannis Ionndes - composer, sound artist & audio programmer but with exception of his work on The Stanley Parable I struggled to find information on what his other works were.

While there is not a lot of music I don't think it is a game that requires a lot due to the narration used throughout the game. That being said I did have a few pieces that I really liked, they are; 'Introducing Stanley', 'Following Stanley' & 'Stanley was Happy'.

The gameplay, where to start?  The story is the gameplay & the gameplay is the story.  I think only someone who played this game will be able to make full sense of this statement.  The narrator is Kevan Brighting who has a fantastic voice & has also worked on; Black Messa  (voice of the scientist), Procrastinathan - (narrator) & Ocean Horn - (voice of the Hermit).  His voice is always present as you play, sometimes to praise you, other times to scald you & sometimes to sing for you.

The gameplay is simplistic & uncertain, one choice might cause something minor to change or something major.  Some of the details in the background are fantastic, one of my favorites was the slide show in the board room.

While it is or was once was an over used phrase The Stanley Parable could be compared to the Matrix, 'unfortunately no one can be told what the Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself'.  This statement could not sum up this game better & I would highly recommend anyone play it no matter what kind of games you normally play or how much or how little you play games, everyone can appreciate this game.

Well I played the game for less than five hours but I had more fun with it than I have had with many games over the years.  It is an instant classic & definitely worth the €11.99 I paid for it.  My recommendation would be to buy it, play it & just try to tell me you don't like it.  Another easy game to score, this one gets a 4 out of 5