Review: THE STANLEY PARABLE - You Will Never Be The Same

Games by Christian Mills

don’t want to sound like a cynic, but few games surprise me anymore. I’m still quite young, but part of me feels like I have seen almost everything the gaming industry has to offer. There is the constant barrage of annual FPS games, the standard turn-based strategies, the uninspired action titles... all completely expected. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy Dishonored, Saints Row, and GTA, but none of them were out of the ordinary. I bought them looking for a specific experience, they delivered it, and I left relatively satisfied. The Stanley Parable is most definitely not one of those games.

Unfortunately, The Stanley Parable is a game I can’t say much about without completely ruining the entire thing. Here is what I can say. It is first person. You walk around. You click on objects to interact with them. You listen to the narrator. And you need to play it. It is a game of winding, changing narratives in which decisions are paramount. Where you go and what you do are the basis of the entire game, and it works so well. It is a good thing that the narrator had a good voice, because you will be hearing a lot of it.

Each playthrough takes roughly ten minutes or less, but that didn't stop me from putting over 4 hours into the game in just one sitting. There is so much to do I couldn't help but go back for more. Even when I stopped playing, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Be prepared to see a spoiler-filled analysis in the near future.

The entire experience of The Stanley Parable hinges on going into it with an open mind, so I’m going to stop while I’m ahead. If you need action and explosions to be interested in a game, this is not for you. For those of you who are interested in stories, conundrums, and cerebral thinking: play this game. Play it now. You can thank me later.

 

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