The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe

Management doesn't like self-referential things. It just reminds them they're a simple strapline-based comedy construct of Christopher Livingston.

- Christopher Livingston

SPECS

Minimum

OS: 64-bit

CPU: Intel Core i3 2GHz

Memory: 4GB

HDD: 5GB

GPU: Nvidia GeForce 450, 1GB Vram

You’ll never have given much thought to the “skip dialogue” button in a videogame, but after playing The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe you won’t stop thinking about it. The button (it’s a physical button in the game world, so you have to be standing in a specific place to use it) is just one of several new features you can take for a spin in the “expanded reimagining” of 2013’s The Stanley Parable. Once again, stepping into Stanley’s shoes turns the act of playing a game into a hilarious, surprising and at times deeply thoughtful examination of games and game development, players and player choice, and yes, even the consequences of pushing a button.

Let’s get this out of the way early: It feels like a trap to review The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, considering that part of this expanded version takes place in a museum of memories, where the narrator reads aloud from several reviews of the original game. Not just professional reviews from Destructoid and GameSpot, framed and hanging on walls and lit by candlelight (our sister title