The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe Review for PlayStation 5

With almost nearing its 10-year anniversary by developer Crows Crows Crows, The Stanley Parable is still that indie darling that is still talked about in the industry to this day. I have always heard amazing things about it and, for some reason, I never took the time to sit down and play it. Perhaps it’s because it was only on PC and I’m not the biggest PC gamer. Fortunately for me, and many others who have not yet experienced this game, its finally made its console debut with The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe. This new version has been a couple years in the making to say the least, but it was absolutely worth the wait. I guess for me, I didn’t wait, since this is my first time playing, but I’m confident in the people who have played already will be very pleased. What I do know is that this isn’t just a basic console port, not only do you get the original game, but there is so much new content added that you seemingly got a very large expansion pack that enhances your journey.

You play as a silent individual named Stanley and while you control Stanley, you will be narrated to by the wonderful British actor Kevan Brighting. The narrator seemingly tells you what you need to do, almost predicting what you’re about to do before you do it. What’s fun is you don’t have to do what the narrator says and contradict his narration. Your job before the game started was someone who monitors data on a computer screen all day. Suddenly your screen goes blank and Stanley decides to get up and wonder around to find out what happened. The narrator does tell you that you are employee 427 of the office building, but as you begin to explore you start to realize the place is seemingly abandoned. What this game does very well is express the theme of choice, there are many surprises and countless outcomes, but that’s where all the fun is and I think this is where I should stop talking about the story. The rest is fun to figure out on your own. 

Comedically enough, I wasn’t really sure if the content I’ve been playing was new or original until I finished my first playthrough and found a door that showed up out of nowhere and had “new content” written on it. There’s a lot of fun and cool things to explore, there’s even an area that’s very fourth wall breaking and shines a light onto itself with a museum of praise for The Stanley Parable. Walking around literally seeing the many awards it has won or having blurbs of critic’s reviews framed up on the walls. The overall satire of the game essentially deconstructing how games are supposed to be played was incredibly amusing to experience. Having recently watched a show on Apple TV+ called “Severance,” it really had a lot of similarities; it wasn’t until after I read that the show was very much influenced by this game. I then proceeded to do some more research online and apparently this “Ultra Deluxe” has about four to six hours of new content, which is longer than the original game! I’m impressed they decided to not go the sequel route and just wanted to improve upon something that was already amazing. 

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is not a game you will really understand how good it is until you experience it for yourself. If you have any desire or curiosity to play this game let me help tip the scale in favor of you trying it out. I feel as though this is one of those staples in gaming that come along every now and then that help influence the industry for the better. 

9/10 

For more information, visit: https://www.stanleyparable.com/

Nick Navarro

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Gaming since I was given an original Nintendo as a kid. I love great storytelling and unique ingenuity. When both collide in a single game, I'm a happy gamer. Twitter/IG @NickNavarro87

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