Wednesday, October 30, 2013

The Stanley Parable Review

The Stanley Parable Logo Art 
     Hello everyone and happy Halloween.  Now some people would guess that I would do Halloween themed game, but due to my lack of preparation I will not be doing a game fitting that criteria.  Instead I will be reviewing a game that takes place inside a office building- OR DOES IT!!
     This, my friends, is the Stanley Parable, which will be the longest game you will ever play because it doesn't end, you can keep playing it over and over and over again, all with different outcomes.  So its pretty awesome, least to say.  I will now attempt to explain the concept of the Stanley Parable to the best of my extent....BUT FIRST, a word from the developers and composers.  The Stanley Parable was made off the Source Engine like so many other awesome games such as Garry's Mod, Team Fortress 2 and Half Life 2.  The game is a first-person interactive fiction modification, meaning mod, that was developed by Davey Wreden and composed by Blake Robinson the game was released on July 27, 2013 and was remade into a separate actual game on October 17, 2013.  The game doesn't allow any combat sequences, but instead controls the protagonist, through a surreal environment, while being narrated by British actor Keven Brighting.
The "Mind Control Facility" in both the original mod (top)
and remake (bottom).
The mod's environment was primarily created by Wreden
 using default models in the Source engine, but Pugh
helped to significantly improve the game's assets for the remake.
The game takes place in a office building where the player assumes the role of Stanley, an office employee whose job it is to follow commands that appear on his monitor without question.  Then one day his monitor is blank, after waiting quite a while no new orders come in and finally he exits his office to find everyone has disappeared.  From this point the player takes control of Stanley and investigates the mysterious disappearances of all of Stanley's co-workers.  On of the unique concepts of the Stanley Parable is that the player can choose to follow the narrators choices or make their own path.  For example near the start of the game, the player encounters two open doors and the narrator says Stanley goes through the door on the left, now Stanley can either choose to go through the door or take the one on the right, when you do this the narrator will adjust his narration to accommodate to the different choice Stanley has made while sounding slightly annoying that Stanley didn't follow the story.  This is one of the many choices the player can make while going through the game, allowing them to play through the story while varying the game experience depending on the choices the player has made.  This allows for as many playthroughs as the player desires.  Overall, I would give this game a 8.1 for a enjoyable unique experience.  Only fifth-teen dollars for the game on Steam, totally worth it.  I hope you have all enjoyed this review and happy Halloween 2013.  This has been Jacob Arnold, signing off.
The Stanley Parable Launch Trailer
Watch it in full screen and select 720 HD in the 
quality section

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