Starting life as a Half-Life 2 mod before becoming a fully-realised, fully-developed PC title of its own, The Stanley Parable belongs to that most disputed of sub-genres in art and critical theory: post-modernism. It's a term people use all the time despite, like the proverbial Wallace Shawn in The Princess Bride, not knowing what it means. Still, most people can agree that post-modernism to some degree involves reflecting, and possibly commenting on, what came before it (ie modernism). In game terms, modernism is the mainstream title we've been playing since the Atari 2600 hit the shelves. If you want a clearer focus, The Stanley Parable critiques first-person-shooters whilst acting like one. The entire game is about the illusion of choice and free will, both in video games and the wider world. The player wanders an abandoned office, accompanied by an omniscient narrator. You can either follow the directions of the narrator he says you go through the left door, so you do or diverge. Making you question your agency in games and, by extension, real life? That's some powerful stuff.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
