Satire at its finest as The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe edition goes live

The Stanley Parable's long awaited re-release has finally gone live this week, and it lives up to the expectations of the first.

Announced in December 2018, The Ultra Deluxe edition was set to release in 2019 prior to the amount of delays it went through. After over 3 years of waiting, the game was released April 27th, 2022 on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. With more content than the original game, The Stanley Parable, there is more for players to see and do while experiencing a timeless classic whether it be for the first time, or the 50th time

So, what is The Stanley Parable?

For those who have not played it before, The Stanley Parable is an enigma of a game. Starting out as a mod developed for Half-Life 2 in 2011, it became very popular and was developed into its own game in 2013. This led to major success for Davey Wreden and William Pugh, who co-created the original and worked on the updated Ultra Deluxe edition, earning them awards in the process.

The game is centred around a man named Stanley who works in an office. He works in office 427 pushing buttons all day. One day, his co-workers all disappear and Stanley (accompanied by the narrator who tells this story) goes through his office to find out what happened to them. Throughout their adventure, Stanley is given a set of choices that will determine how his adventure ends. With those choices comes even more questions about what is going on, how did Stanley even get in, and why does the narrator know so much.

How has it stayed so popular?

For a game to be seen as revolutionary to the community, it needs to bring something to the table that no other title has done before. In the case of The Stanley Parable, it is the combination of satire, the illusion of free will, and the meta of the narrator reacting to scenarios you would not expect. An example of this would be when you (the player) are caught out by the narrator for acting out so much. The narrator recognises you are not Stanley, which then changes a series of events and leads you to a different ending than if you were to obey even once.

Since its first release in 2013, this game has been an iconic choice for many to play through. The usage of achievements when it was ported to Steam also gives a clear insight into how detailed The Stanley Parable was when it was first made. With the achievement "Click Room 430 5 times", the narrator makes sure you know he's aware of the achievement and pushes you further. This game made the most mundane task of following instructions into an overthinking and thought-provoking adventure that never ends.

Now...what does the Ultra Deluxe have to offer?

The Ultra Deluxe version of this already great title has much more to offer content wise. Continuity is a big theme for this addition, with the narrator’s voice not changing in the slightest when experiencing content not yet shown. The new content you do get access to also brings in more surprises to discover, further questioning what is truly going on.

New features in this game include new achievements (that cannot be transferred to the original game), more storyline, more endings, an epilogue and a bucket. If you are interested in seeing for yourself what this game has to offer, check out Steam, Xbox, Ps5 or Switch today. Maybe you can find out what has really happened to Stanley.