[Introduction]
The Stanley Parable sells itself as a "first person exploration game," while others have described it as both an interactive drama and a walking simulator. I suppose the former is true, albeit ironically overdramatic, while the latter just strikes me as derisive. Let's call it an experience.
The Stanley Parable is an experience.
[First Impressions]
Taken at face value, this is a fairly short game in which you follow a short sequence of instructions leading you along a narrative path. However, it won't take long to notice the presence of choices. Sure, the narrator will tell you to take a certain path, but what if you choose a different path?
Therein lies the first spark of intrigue: the introduction of options. This may seem fairly mundane, particularly these days, but once you realise the narrator is a character with whom you can disagree, things start getting interesting.
[Development]
Released in 2013, what would become The Stanley Parable (the game) actually started out as The Stanley Parable (the mod). More specifically, it was a Half-Life 2 mod which was made back in 2011, and while that's already long enough ago to make you ponder the fact that 10 years have passed since then and now, the idea for the mod was born as early as 2008.
Back then, Davey Wreden played a bunch of games and considered how story elements would typically be implemented. By and large, things were really rather linear insofar as storytelling was concerned, and he decided to not only change that, but turn it on its head entirely. So much so that his design document was centered around the concept of messing with the player's head.
So he did. Inspired at least in part by the somewhat more complicated story presentation of BioShock, where nothing should be taken at face value, Wreden began working on a mod for Half-Life. A little thing like knowing precisely diddly squat about the Source Engine didn't stop him; he just taught himself, albeit with the assistance of wikis and forums.
Considering that the finished product was entirely born from his own labor, with the sole exception of Kevan Brighting's outstanding voice acting, it turned out to be an impressive mod, if short. In fact, the shortness was deliberate, so as to promote exploration of the many endings available to the player. Avoiding a lengthy experience makes it far more feasible to see them all.
Eventually, due to the staggering success of the mod, it even became a full-fledged standalone game. How? Through the magic of player contribution. Specifically the player contribution of one William Pugh, who had not only played and enjoyed The Stanley Parable, but also won a Saxxy Award.
Combining their talents, Wreden and Pugh set about collaborating to create the aforementioned standalone game. While the intent was initially to just recreate the mod as a game, it evolved into something more when they began adding more content to the game, including a variety of new endings. They even threw the previous deliberate shortness out of the window for the Art ending, which takes round about 4 hours to get. I'd just watch the ordeal on Youtube if I were you.
At the end of the day, it's a wonderful little story of a thought becoming a mod, which in turn became a game. It's one of the good things coming out of Steam Greenlight, and stuff like this made that experiment worth all the other dross we got. Like diamonds in a stream of sewage.
[Game Mechanics]
It's really rather simple.
After the intro cutscene, you take control of Stanley in his office and you're prompted by the narrator to go look for your missing coworkers. You walk using the WASD keys and interact with objects with E or left clicking. You can crouch with control, but frankly there's no real point to doing so. There's no jumping or anything else of the sort. Beyond moving around and clicking on stuff, you've got nothing, which is really rather appropriate for a character like Stanley.
The only other game mechanic to speak of is making choices. At various intersections in the story's narrative, you'll be presented with choices, usually two, but sometimes more, and they're not always readily apparent.
[Graphics]
It looks fine.
It's a 2013 Source Engine title.
There's no likelihood of the game winning any awards for being stunningly beautiful, but neither is it gonna get hung out for being hideous. It's passable. It's okay. You're not here for the visual feast.
[Story]
This is a story about you.
This is a story about Stanley.
Stanley goes to work, sits in his office, presses buttons and goes home. Until he doesn't. One day, his coworkers disappear, and the narrator prompts him to investigate, which he does. Until he doesn't.
Depending on your choices, a variety of things can happen. Maybe Stanley follows along with the narrator's story. Maybe Stanley doesn't. Maybe Stanley starts interacting directly with the narrator while the story breaks down. Maybe Stanley ditches the narrator entirely.
The story is neither long nor complicated, but it is interesting. The fact that the player, Stanley and the narrator (and the other narrator, I guess) are the only characters with any real presence in the game means that every interaction in the game usually revolves around them in some way, shape or form.
Chances are you won't be blown away by the story, certainly not today, but rest assured that there are some fairly groundbreaking concepts on display here, considering it was conceptualised before 2011. Even today, I'd still say it provides an unusual enough experience to warrant a closer look.
The most common theme is subversion of expectations, as well as the exploration of the nature of narratives. There are indirect questions about what makes a proper story, what makes a proper game, what constitutes a choice. Does it have to be meaningful to count as a choice, or can meaningless choices be thrown to the wayside?
It even dips into a rather philosophical examination of Stanley's life at one point, which might be used as a context for examining the notion of whether working a stable but boring 9-5 job is a fulfilling life.
[SPOILERS]
Curiously, one of the endings indicates that the narrator never expected there to be a player at all, instead being unaware that anyone was controlling Stanley. Another ending introduces a second narrator, who serves a more expositional role, where it's established that the narrator needs Stanley as much as Stanley needs the narrator.
There appears to be an implication that neither can function without the other, and both are oblivious to the presence of the third party, namely the player. It gets sorta meta, but one interpretation could be that for a game to be a game, there must be at least 3 elements: the narrator to provide a story, the character to provide a means of interaction, and the player to use the character to interact with the story.
The first of the aforementioned endings even shows us what happens when the player is taken out of the loop: Stanley just stands there, motionless, while the narrator attempts to get him to do something.
[Pros]
- Fighting the narrator is an interesting addition
- It's a fun little game
- Decent replayability that doesn't require much commitment
[Cons]
- Fairly short
- Bit pricey
- Something of a niche experience
[Conclusion]
For what it is, it's a little pricey at 15 bucks on Steam, so unless you're dead set on experiencing The Stanley Parable, you might want to wait for a sale. Until a sale happens, you can always try the free demo; it can be found on the game's Steam store page.
Come, Stanley, our destiny awaits! Moral compass optional.
/DUX
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