The Stanley Parable started as a Half Life 2 Mod years ago, but has recently been remade into its own game. TSP is an exploration game with no action or violence whatsoever; It is driven by the narrator, and how he wants the story to go. If the player does as the narrator says, the game technically will end very shortly (took me 5 min). But that’s not what this game is. When the player “beats the game” the player hasn’t actually beat the game, because it is impossible to beat this game. TSP is called an exploration game. The player is supposed to disobey the narrator and explore the story; Find out what happened to Stanley’s co-workers, wife, and job.

The game is called The Stanley Parable for a reason. It is a parable. By definition, a parable means – A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. This game does exactly that. TSP has a much deeper meaning than you may think. In my personal opinion, the game tries to teach us that we need to decide how we live our life, and not let others manipulate us into how they want us to think. The game is all about choices. The player has a choice to explore the story or simply do as he/she is told.

Story: TSP’s story is as simple as it can be. Stanley has been a victim of “mind control”, but is released by the narrator. The narrator gives specific directions on how to escape and says what Stanley is thinking. The player plays as Stanley, so, the narrator has in actuality, not released Stanley from this “mind control”. (From this point forward everything I will say is subjective and is my opinion.)It is obvious to the player what is going on at this point in the story. The narrator is attempting to dictate how and what Stanley thinks. This motivates the player into doing to complete opposite of what the narrator instructs Stanley to do, because nobody wants to be told what to do. People feel the need to be in control their lives, even though they may or may not be. Like I said before, this game has a much deeper meaning that is almost incomprehensible to think. That may sound absurd, and maybe even confusing. You really have to play the game and experience the TSP for yourself, then decide what YOU think about it.

Gameplay/Controls: TSP has very few gameplay mechanics, WASD, every pc gamer knows those keys and what they do. In TSP, those are the only keys you use. The player walks around, interacts with objects using the mouse, and listens to the narrator.

Graphics/Art Direction: The graphics in TSP are in some areas bad, but in some other areas great! For example, the lighting in TSP is amazing. But that’s about it, all the other graphical features in the game suck.

Soundtrack, Audio, Voice: The sounds and music in this game are amazing. How the game attempts to portray the narrator is done perfectly with the voice of the narrator. The music is simply perfection as well. The background music that is always playing goes perfectly with what is happening in the story at that exact moment.

Multiplayer and Replay Ability: TSP is not a multiplayer game. It would make no sense whatsoever to ad co – op play, because there would be nothing to do. TSP is about the story. Replay Ability? Nah. This game always has a surprise around the corner; The player will never know what is about to happen. It is an experience to play this game. TSP has no replay ability because the player would already know what is going to happen, taking all the excitement/fun out of the game.

Final Verdict:

TSP is a flawless game. It is more than just a game, it a parable hence the title. The graphics may be sloppy, but this is not a graphics game. TSP is about the story, what it means, and the choices the player makes. Everybody who plays this game will have a different experience. Considering what the developers were trying to accomplish, they nailed it. The Stanley Parable was created flawlessly, therefor earning a 10/10.

Overall Score: 10 / 10

Developer / Publisher: Galactic Cafe

Available On: Windows PC

Review Copy Info: A digital copy of this game was provided to RealGamerNewz by the publisher for the purpose of this review.