Styx is back in a bigger game with a new engine, but does it improve on the original?
Styx Shards of Darkness is the sequel to the 2014 game Styx Master of Shadows both games are developed by Cyanide Studios.
You play a goblin called Styx. Styx likes to break the 4th wall like Deadpool and this can become annoying after a prolonged session of the game. Goblins in this universe are the underdog, hated by everyone and the humans plan to remove the goblin menace, or Green Plague as they call them from this world by using a special task force called C.A.R.N.A.G.E. However, everyone has their uses and it happens that Styx is a master of stealth and so Styx is hired by the head of C.A.R.N.A.G.E; Helledryn to steal a sceptre from an airship.
Styx Shards of Darkness is a third person stealth adventure that plays like a fantasy version of Hitman including the ability to hide bodies within chests. Being a stealth game the combat is heavily weighted against you and although it is possible to survive a fight, combat should only be used as a last resort. Styx comes into his own when he is poisoning the enemies' food with his vomit or sneaking up behind a guard and silently slitting his throat aka being the proverbial dagger in the dark
The game consists of 9 missions that take approximately 15 hours to complete. Each level is made up of large open environments and it is up to you how you traverse them. Completing objectives within the levels earns Styx experience to level up skills and powers. These include a short period of invisibility or his clone ability, which is used to distract the enemies. All of Styxs powers use Amber, which prevents him from being too overpowered with powers such as Amber Vision, which highlights items of interest using less than the more powerful abilities.
Unlike the original game, this version now has a quick save function by pressing right on the d-pad. This makes the game a lot more forgiving than the original and the level design has been improved with multiple routes though the levels giving the player choice how to approach each situation. The A.I. is hit and miss, when it's good it's fantastic, but this is spoilt when you see the guards glitching out.
The game can be played in a cooperative manner where the second player plays a clone of Styx this can be hard when the objective is not to be seen and results in a mission failure if spotted in certain missions. There is also no save function in Coop which makes it even harder.
Although this game is a vast improvement over the original game there is still room for more improvement such as the A.I and the platform sections need more work Although Styx comes across as annoying his sense of humour provides a beacon of light within the dark world that he inhabits.
All in all this is a worthy purchase providing you overlook some of the rougher edges and you play it like its meant to be played.