[Review] - The Stanley Parable

After slogging through a slew of AAA titles the past year or so, I thought it high time to try out something from the lesser-known realms of gaming; the mod community. Half-Life 2 being a personal favourite of mine, and the high quality of the Source modding community known to me, I decided to try out a somewhat obscure mod on the HL2 Source engine, The Stanley Parable. Even though it's been recommended to me once or twice on some gaming forums, it rarely features in Top Mod lists and almost never gets mentioned when people list mods you have to try.

Which surprises me. In all honesty, The Stanley Parable probably didn't take nearly as long to create as 90% of the other mods out there, and the total playtime (even if you try out all the endings) won't be more than half an hour. But this doesn't mean that it's not a solid piece of gold in a field of useful, if less valuable minerals.

The thing you have to remember about the modding community is that it's not an industry at all. You have people creating games from existing frameworks that have all the creative drive that a gaming studio should have, but none of the financial obligation. Sure, this means that you get a game where the graphics are a year or two out of date and it looks like a lot of other games out there. But if you're using something like the Source engine that, even when very dated, still more than does the job of creating a very immersive atmosphere, then that argument becomes somewhat less valid. So you've got all the ambition, creativity and originality of a brilliant game, yet unfettered by any kind of publishing studio input where sales figures would dictate the creative direction of the game. Financial gain is mostly completely out of the picture, as most of these mods are released free to play.

Few mods illustrate this better than The Stanley Parable. Similarly to Dear Esther, it's debatable whether this is actually a game or just a very immersive form of interactive entertainment, as there is basically no gameplay apart from walking, and no skill whatsoever is required to complete it. The Stanley Parable explores some very interesting, if not extremely intriguing concepts, such as the relationship between a narrator and the story he/she tells, the inevitability of life and fate, and whether life itself is just madness or a series of pre-ordained paths.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, let's get a quick overview of the game. The mod kicks off with a little cutscene where a voice introduces a man named Stanley, and explains the situation Stanley finds himself in. The rest of the (very short) game, you take control of Stanley and get offered a series of choices, which all affect how the game ends, all actions narrated by aforementioned voice. Later on, the unseen narrator's interest in Stanley's actions rise to the surface as you make a few simple choices regarding obedience, which spark some very interesting lines by the narrator and ultimately lead to very original endings. Without spoiling the story, it is worth noting that there are at least 5 endings to The Stanley Parable, each with its own philosophical motif, and it is worth replaying the game to experience every single one, as a single playthrough shouldn't last more than 5 minutes.

The voice acting in The Stanley Parable is one of only a handful of elements, but is pulled off with  remarkable finesse. Reminding me of the Bastion narrator in some ways, the voice acting is superb and forms the core of the game. Level design is very simplistic, but it serves the purpose of the game very well, with no unnecessary clutter and even broken level design being incorporated into the game itself. The graphics are dated, as the mod runs on the now 7-year old Source engine, but it doesn't detract from the experience in the slightest. As for the story; it is something truly original; if I were to describe it, I would say a mix between the original Portal, an Arthur C. Clarke time travel novel and those adventure books where you had to decide whether you wanted to run from the dinosaur on page 46 or throw your flask at its head on page 39.

Do yourself a favour and get The Stanley Parable from ModDB. It'll only take half an hour of your time, if you try out all the endings (which I highly recommend you do), and make you smile, think and wonder in a way that few other entertainment pieces can achieve. I've honestly never seen another game attempt something quite like what The Stanley Parable has pulled off, and even though short, I enjoyed the ride immensely.

FINAL SCORE: 90%