The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe Review
Plenty has already been said about why 2013’s The Stanley Parable is so phenomenal – so much, in fact, that one section of 2022’s The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is a literal shrine to all of the praise and accolades that have been deservedly heaped upon it. To prattle on further about how it cleverly messes with your own video game expectations or how it dissects the choices games often give us would only belabor long-since made points (not to mention risk my own words showing up in the inevitable 2031 re-rerelease). But then again, there I go doing exactly that, because despite those points having already been well made both about and by The Stanley Parable, they still ring as true as ever – and Ultra Deluxe’s new content proves it has plenty more worth saying, at a scale that goes far beyond a simple remaster.
Before we get too deep, a quick spoiler warning: The Stanley Parable is a hard game to talk about because so much of its charm and delight comes from discovering its surprises for yourself. I am going to do my best not to ruin that experience while I tell you why it’s one worth having, but I will be talking about some of what already made the base game stand out, as well as the general scope and structure of how Ultra Deluxe builds upon it. So while I’ll avoid ruining the specifics of any jokes or endings, my real recommendation is that you should stop reading here, play it totally fresh, and then come back and see how your own thoughts compare to mine. But if you need a little more to go on before making that leap, read on.
"Sometimes The Stanley Parable feels like an exploration of the peculiar madness of boredom. Other times it’s something else entirely: a joke at the player’s expense, a commentary on choice
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