THE END IS LOADING

Ah, the Winter Steam Sale. A glorious time when PC gamers can pick up all kinds of marvellous titles for a fraction of the cost. I, myself, picked up a couple - Trying to limit myself to picking up only a select few titles, under three pound and not going over that unless I really wanted it. Well, it turns out there was something that I really wanted, and have only recently got around to playing. The Stanley Parable is a game that I have been utterly fascinated with for months now. It's not just that it gets rave reviews, even from those who are usually no fans of the 'Here's a big environment, walk through it and discover!' variety of game, but it's the nature of those reviews. There's an element of secrecy surrounding The Stanley Parable, like it is an enigma that can only be unwrapped in the playing. Unlike every other title we might hear about, where reviewers, critics, lets players and all and sundry inbetween will be happy to divulge every single detail of every single mechanic anybody could possibly be interested. There was only one, single unifying response towards going into detail about the game from all corners.

Don't.

Just don't look for details. Don't ask for details. Here is a bare bones of what it's about, a tease of the experience, now go and play it for yourself and experience this absolutely bonkers creation!

The question does come to mind - How on Earth can something even begin to live up to hype like this? When you're actively told to expect the unexpected, to have an experience that is only relatable through the gameplay, is it possible to come out anything less than disappointed? Like entering Cadbury World and finding that, for all the polish and the anthropomorphic cocoa beans they want to litter the place with, it's still a factory where very heavy, industrial equipment makes chocolate overseen by some very bored looking employees in white smocks. Not an Oompa Loompa in sight.

So, to be foolish enough to keep chasing this analogy, what is The Stanley Parable? John Cadbury, or Willy Wonka? Well, my friends, in my experience if it's either, it's most definitely Gene Wilder at his most charming and his most deranged.

What is The Stanley Parable, you might ask? Well, Total Biscuit's 'WTF is...' above gives a good run down - But to give the very short version, you are Stanley. You walk out of your office one day to find all your co-workers missing. Go through the door on the left.

That is the game in a nutshell. Or at least the springboard that takes you on an experience that leads to... Who can really say? I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to agree with the general consensus here. This is something that needs to be played, and if you ever see it on a Steam weekly/daily sale, or indeed the upcoming Summer Sale? Jump on it. Just do. The only thing I can tell you is how it made me feel. It's a strange thing, really, because in any other game I'd point to a great set-piece, or a moving narrative moment, or a really exciting piece of gameplay. In Mass Effect 3 I'd point you to Mordin Solus' storyline as one of the most moving, and well written, moments of the game. In Saints Row IV I'd tell you a story of the hi-jinks myself and a friend got up too abusing the Black Hole Gun and the Abduction Ray. In Sonic The Hedgehog 2 I'd talk for days about the amazing soundtrack that, even now, a decade an a half later still gets stuck in my head. But my one, prevailing memory of The Stanley Parable will be how it made me feel.

On the surface, it's a game that's a lot like Portal in a way. You go through it, and a voice from above tells you what to do - But as you go on the sardonic nature of the narration begins to make you wonder. At least, this was the impression I got on my first play through. On subsequent ones, I've found that this aspect changes depending on your actions. I decided to write this blog after I played the game as it is 'supposed' to be played, always expecting some kick in the tail, some sudden surprise. But aside from some very subtle, and very pointed bits of dialogue - It was a very underwhelming experience. Which, in it's own way felt right.

Where the game truly shines, is what happens when you go off the track, and really I suspect is the way this is all supposed to be played out. Afterall, given the choice, when do gamers do as their told? I know that as soon as I got to a certain point in any Elder Scrolls game, I just wave goodbye to the main quest and load up on sub quests, leaving the kingdom to save itself while I got kill some rats in some guys basement or deliver beer halfway across the world. The mad thing is, I take pride in this! As if I'm beating the machine, as if it cares. As if, in Skyrim, the Stormcloaks and the Imperium are both cursing my name because I'd rather doss about in the mountains than get rid of all these pesky dragons from the land.

That is the impulse I suspected the game was going to take great joy in mocking. It's exactly what Totalbiscuit describes in his own video, and those elements are there. If you really want to get into this aspect, go and buy the game then try to get the 'Knock Five Times' achievement. It's the game in a nutshell, and is absolutely hilarious. However underneath the hilarity, I also found it deeply disturbing on some levels. I've played a good two hours so far, and have found at least three endings where I've just had to stop, push my computer chair back from the desk and walk away. It hit me that hard. As I said above, I went through my more vanilla play through expecting something very hard hitting - And to be quite frank, it's a good job this game is all psychological, because I think if they went in for just one good jump scare I'd have a heart attack. That's how much of a wreck some of the endings made me into.

Yet the mad thing is, I know there are more and I suspect there are things I've simply glossed over. I was sceptical at first, because I thought the two doors were the be all and end all of the game - But when I progressed further I found there are more environments to explore, more things to tamper with, just more to this game than meets even the most inquisitive of eyes. It may, at times, make me consider and question more than some would say a game has any right to, but I want to go right back and play more of it regardless. As the loading screens remind us, the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end...