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Hi, and welcome to another ValveTime review.
Today, we’ll be taking a look at The Stanley Parable,
the overhauled standalone sequel to the original Stanley Parable mod for Half-Life 2 released back in July 2011.
After the initial success of the mod, Davey Wreden, the game’s original creator,
set out to expand and improve the concept by creating a brand new standalone experience
using the Portal 2 version of the Source engine.
After two years of development and many more months of hype,
can this narrative-driven experience live up to fan expectation?
Should Stanley venture out of the office and explore the world beyond,
or would he be better off pushing buttons in a drab office?
Let’s find out!
Narrative
Following a brief introductory cutscene,
The Stanley Parable opens by placing you in the shoes of the title character Stanley,
a mysteriously obedient and mute employee who has spent his entire life up until this point
repetitively pushing buttons in the dull, claustrophobic office of 427.
Shortly after being dropped into presumably the most important moment of Stanley’s shallow life,
the player is introduced to the Narrator, an unseen, omnipotent, and infinitely witty British gentleman
with a knack for telling stories.
[Narrator] When Stanley came to a set of two open doors, he entered the door on his left.
[James] After noticing that all his co-workers have mysteriously disappeared from their desks,
the Narrator attempts to guide Stanley through his carefully planned-out storyline.
At this stage, the player is given free rein to interact with the world, and narrative, as they see fit.
The game serves as one of the few examples of a title which permits players
to interrupt or damage the narrative experience, even going so far as to heavily encourage it
as a form of exploration and nearly endless humor.
It feels as if we could literally sit for days talking about the fantastic and absolutely hilarious writing,
which really does stand as the backbone for the entire experience.
Not only is the writing exceedingly well-crafted,
but it also feels perfectly suited for telling the host of stories contained within The Stanley Parable
while also developing numerous thoughtful parodies of popular storytelling and video game techniques,
including the concepts of interactivity, player agency, narrative choices, linearity,
the relationship between the game developer and the player, and so much more.
While simply drawing attention to these concepts may have sufficed on some basic level,
we’re glad Davey and the team decided to go above and beyond
to not only use the commentary to drive the game’s narrative forward
but to also completely obliterate the fourth wall on multiple sidesplitting occasions.
As a primarily narrative-driven experience,
much of The Stanley Parable’s appeal comes from not only the brilliant writing,
but the impeccable performance of Kevan Brighting as the Narrator.
[Narrator] Okay, yup... It’s worse.
[Narrator] I might be remembering this wrong.
[Narrator] It’s possible the story is back where we just came from.
[Narrator] Why don’t we go back the other direction and see if we missed anything.
[James] As the only real character, much of the narrative and its delivery falls on the Narrator,
making it all the more impressive that Brighting’s performance never fails to impress,
regardless of the potentially bizarre narrative circumstances Stanley and the player manage to find themselves in.
[Narrator] My god... Is this really how much you dislike my game?
[Narrator] That you’ll throw yourself from this platform over and over to be rid of it?
[Narrator] You are literally willing to kill yourself to keep me from being happy.
[Narrator] Am I reading the situation correctly?
We really hope he will will continue to make video game appearances in the future,
as the man is solid gold and we seriously can't get enough.
While the gameplay involves little more than clicking on objects
and exploring environments from a first person perspective,
the draw of The Stanley Parable lies primarily on the concepts of choice, freedom,
and subsequent repercussions.
While players looking for deep or engaging gameplay mechanics will be rather disappointed,
we feel that would be missing the point entirely.
Do you follow the Narrator’s directions to the letter
or do you ignore everything he says in order to provoke a reaction?
The choice is up to you.
[Narrator] Alright, I’ve got a solution.
[Narrator] This time, to make sure we don’t get lost,
[Narrator] I’ve employed the help of The Stanley Parable Adventure Line.
[Narrator] Just follow the line. How simple is that?
[James] With a number of different endings and alternate pathways,
The Stanley Parable is far deeper than it may originally appear,
with even more additional content dynamically unlocking as more and more playthroughs are completed.
That isn’t to say that every ending or choice you make feels balanced,
as some feature vastly longer series of increasingly strange and hilarious circumstances,
while others may feel rather reserved in comparison.
That doesn’t mean the more serious or grounded endings and choices don’t also feel suitably rewarding
and entertaining in their own right;
we just personally found the more unusual scenarios to be the most enjoyable,
and we’re sure the majority of players will feel the same way.
That said, every decision you make feels meaningful in a way which seems not only fitting, but memorable.
With somewhere between two to three hours of content that we’ve found so far,
The Stanley Parable features substantially more content than its mod predecessor.
While two or three hours might not seem like a substantial amount of time
compared to a typical big budget triple-A title,
we feel the game’s length is adequate enough to suitably demonstrate and explore the core concept
without letting it overstay its welcome to become overdone, repetitive, or predictable.
While it may have been possible to squeeze just one or two more scenarios out of the main concept,
we would be lying through our teeth if we said we weren’t happy with the distribution of the game’s content.
While the majority of the experience is entirely new,
returning players may recognize some of the content on display,
as a number of narrative choices, themes, endings, and lines of dialogue
have been recycled from the original mod, for better and worse.
Better because the older content has been expanded and reintroduced in a way
which feels fresh and suitable for the game’s enhanced scope,
and worse as some of the older content can still easily develop feelings of déjà vu for players of the original mod.
[Narrator] Stanley was fat and ugly, and really really stupid.
[Narrator] He probably only got the job because of a family connection; that’s how stupid he is.
[Narrator] That, or with drug money.
[Narrator] Also, Stanley’s addicted to drugs and hookers.
[James] A number of other prominent games are referenced heavily throughout the game,
following the appearance of Half-Life 2’s opening chapter in the original mod.
While we won’t spoil the surprise by revealing which games are shown or discussed,
we will say their inclusion feels appropriate for the off-the-wall nature of The Stanley Parable,
and the appearances function as insightful commentary on both game design trends
and the gaming community at large.
The bizarre tone is maintained even outside of the game itself,
as the appearance of the unconventional main menu and a series of absolutely absurd achievements
help to establish the game’s unusual and hilarious nature before you even hit play.
Presentation
The Stanley Parable largely takes place in industrial tunnels, office corridors, and cubicles,
all of which feature their own distinct themes and color palettes
which are consistently interesting and well designed.
The game’s art style, while simplistic on the surface, features numerous contrasting color choices
which have been deliberately designed to help prevent the environments from becoming dull or repetitive,
no matter how many times you may have to walk through them.
The dull, monotone grays of Stanley’s office are immediately contrasted by sharp oranges, browns, and blues,
symbolizing feelings of freedom, exploration, and adventure
as Stanley travels further and further away from his old, monotonous life.
The contrasting shades of orange and blue also help to evoke a pleasant sense of nostalgia
by replicating the simplistic nature of the corridors from the original mod,
something which becomes even more relevant later on.
Lighting and color shifts are also surprisingly effective at helping to shift the game’s narrative tone
between the more serious and thoughtful darker endings, and the opposing, more lighthearted scenarios.
Examples of this can be seen throughout, as some of the darker endings take place in dimly-lit environments
with only sharp red and white lights breaking through as harsh contrasts.
On the other hand, some of the more laidback and silly endings make use of vibrant green and yellow colors
to draw even more of a playful contrast to the office-grays seen throughout.
The whole team at Galactic Cafe have managed to bring out the best
of the Portal 2 version of the Source Engine, and it definitely shows.
Portal 2’s amazing lighting and particle effect systems are regularly on display,
repeatedly serving as helping hands to guide the player to where they might want to go,
and even to where they shouldn’t.
Portal 2’s world portal system is also used to create deliberately confusing and mind blowing environments,
something which serves as a thought-provoking reminder that Stanley’s world
isn’t as simple or straightforward as it first appears.
[Narrator] Whatever it might be, Stanley, I’m ready for it!
[James] The excellent presentation continues with audio,
as an amazingly simplistic yet effective original musical score
manages to bring the world and its events to life, regardless of the current situation or tone.
[Narrator] Alright, I’m in a good mood. You’re going to die anyway.
[Narrator] I’ll tell you exactly what happened to them.
[Narrator] I erased them. I turned off the machine. I set you free.
[Narrator] Of course, that was merely in this instance of the story...
[James] Unquestionably brilliant audio quality throughout also helps to really seal the deal.
Performance
As usual, we played The Stanley Parable on a number of different PCs with varying configurations,
and we’re happy to report that the game’s performance remained pleasantly consistent throughout,
with no noticeable drops in framerate.
The small number of maps, generally large environments, and impressively short load times
help to keep the action moving at a steady pace while ensuring that the player remains immersed
and engaged without too many cuts to black.
The necessity for these extremely short load times is emphasized at numerous points in the game,
as loading sequences and “game resets” are frequently used for comedic and narrative purposes.
[Narrator] Do we need to restart the game again?
[Narrator] Well, I find it unlikely that we’ll ever progress by starting over and over again.
[Narrator] But it’s got to be better than this.
[Narrator] Okay, let’s give it a shot; why not?
[James] However, we should mention that we did encounter two or three game-breaking bugs
at multiple points in our pre-release review version,
including weird texture issues, button prompts not appearing or updating on the screen,
and even an incident involving the player camera remaining permanently black following a scripted sequence.
The latter issue proved to be the most problematic, as it failed to correct
regardless of how many times the save file was reloaded,
eventually forcing us to restart the game from the Windows desktop.
While we’re confident the Galactic Cafe team will have these bugs sorted out
by the time the game goes live to the public, we thought it was worth noting just in case.
Conclusion
At its core, The Stanley Parable is an extremely simple and original concept
which is executed to near perfection in a format
which is as brilliantly clever and insightful as it is hilarious.
From impeccable writing and acting, to superb audio and visual design,
and amazing attention to detail in all regards,
The Stanley Parable ends up leaving an extremely memorable impression,
with a narrative which manages to stand toe-to-toe with some of the best games of the past few years.
We guarantee that the time you’ll spend with Stanley will be easily worth the price of entry,
and we wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone with an interest in video games or interactive narrative.
We can’t wait to see what Davey, William, and the rest of the team at Galactic Cafe will cook up next.
[Narrator] Okay, then, it’s an adventure.
[Narrator] Come, Stanley, let’s find the story!
[James] If you’re looking to learn more about The Stanley Parable,
we have included a number of helpful links in the video description,
including a direct link to the game’s Steam Store page if you want to get your hands on it.
Hopefully you have enjoyed our review.
If you have, be sure to subscribe for more ValveTime videos, news, and reviews coming soon.
Thanks for watching and bye for now.