RELIABLE NARRATOR

Buckets of new features come to THE STANLEY PARABLE: ULTRA DELUXE

- Christopher Livingston

I’ve never given much thought to the ‘skip dialogue’ button in a videogame, but after playing The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe I can’t stop thinking about it. The button is just one of several new features explored in the “expanded reimagining” of 2013’s The Stanley Parable, which once again turns the act of playing a game into a hilarious, surprising and thoughtful examination of games and game development, players and player choice, and yes, even simple buttons.

But what even is Ultra Deluxe? It’s not just a remaster, though the original game has been faithfully rebuilt in Unity. You can play through it once again as office worker Stanley, who realizes he’s the only one in the building and sets out to discover why while a gentle storybook-style narration guides him through the empty corridors and rooms. Once again, the simple act of disobeying the narrator and making your own choices leads to numerous branching paths, a range of reactions from the narrator, multiple endings and the pure joy of doing something unexpected and discovering the game fully expected you to do it.

But at some point while replaying the new version of the old The Stanley Parable, the new content begins to intrude. It’s not a subtle introduction—a door labeled New Content appears in the familiar office corridor you’ve walked down a dozen times already. Step through it, and a bunch of new features are trotted out to you. Like a bucket that Stanley can pick up and carry around with him.

BUCKETS OF FUN