Developer: Cyanide Studios
Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
Rrp: £17.99 (Gog.com, Humblebundle and Steam)
Released: 14th March 2017
Available on: Gog.com, Humblebundle and Steam
Played Using: An Xbox 360 Control Pad
Approximate game length: 14 Hours
Goblins get a bad rap, they get accused of all sorts of crimes from destroying property for no what seems like no reason to being a general nuisance… and to be honest, yeah they’ve kind of earned that reputation. Styx is different though, he doesn’t destroy for the sake of it and he certainly has a lot more going on than in his head than what most goblins do. However he’ll quite happily deprive you of your belongings, and if you’re lucky it’ll only be you belongings he takes from you.
Styx Shards of Darkness is the sequel to Styx Master of Shadows. Once again you take on the role of the titular Styx, a wisecracking (occasionally fourth wall breaking) goblin who loves to steal, pilfer and purloin. Its seems that now Styx isn’t the only goblin in the world, in fact there are so many that an entire specialised squad has been created to deal with them. However Styx is still singular among them as he can speak and has his thievery skills.
It must be said that just like with the original game this is not one I can recommend to people who lack patience, the real joy in this game isn’t from murdering your way across a level but instead to traverse it without being seen while still taking what goodies you can.
Just like in the original game the levels are very densely packed and have multiple ways to be traversed. Of course exploration is often rewarded with ingredients that you can use to craft your equipment once you find a crating table. The equipment you create carries over from level to level so this can be a good way of keeping yourself prepared.
Within each of the levels you play through you will find multiple ways to kill your enemies from poison to silent kills. Some of these abilities are unlocked as you play and improve your skills. It is kind of amusing seeing someone die from eating food you spat in, I can only assume Styx hasn’t cleaned his teeth in a while… or ever.
As you play through the levels you’ll also discover optional side missions (usually one per level), completing these will reward you with SP (skill points). It’s with these skill points that you can unlock new abilities. The only place to spend these points is at a skill table, occasionally you’ll find one within a level but if not you can do it once you return to your hideout.
Upon completing a mission you will be given a certain amount of SP, this determined by four factors each of which gives you and ‘insignia’ that can range from gold, silver, bronze to unranked. These insignias are; swiftness, shadow, mercy and thief. Swiftness is earned by completing the mission quickly. Shadow is not raising any alarms (or only having a few). Mercy is earned by not killing any enemies (which I again want to point out that there are no non-lethal takedown options). Lastly is thief which is for finding the thief tokens that are scattered around the levels.
Each of these insignias can be earned as a bronze, silver or gold ranking, each ranking giving a certain amount of bonus SP. If you fail them utterly you get nothing.
The dark is your friend and if you can extinguish a light its generally a good idea. However the guards do notice things like doors being opened and lights going out and will go to reignite them… although that can make for a great distraction.
It should be mentioned that unlike games some stealth games, such as the Dishonored series, there isn’t a ‘non-lethal’ take down option, either you kill them or you avoid them.
There are some things I dislike in this game that I feel are strange omissions in a game such as this. Such as the inability to close doors once they are open, it’s such a simple thing and yet not something that Styx is capable of.
This game does have some minor flaws, occasionally a texture will flicker in and out of existence, occasionally the pathfinding of the NPC’s goes a bit wonky and they walk in place or a literal circle for a moment and the odd voice line from NPCs will sound a bit flat and emotionless. None of these things are game breaking but can pull you out of the game from an immersion stand point.
If you enjoy stealth you could do far worse than to purchase this game. I had a really good time playing it and will likely pick up the next instalment (assuming there is one).
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
The Dishonored Series
The Hitman Series
