Styx Master of Shadows - Review

I first saw Styx at E3 this year and while I only saw a little of it, It tempted me with promise of a stealth game that I could own, so with my curiosity peaked I entered into the world.

The story of Styx is played out through an interrogation, Styx was captured and as he recounts his adventures, that is where we get to take control. As you progress through the story, Styx encounters humans who help him with tasks, such as creating a home base, or location plans to the tower itself. For the rest of the inhabitants, they see Styx as a monster, something to be destroyed because Styx is the very first Goblin.

But why is Styx here, well he is after the heart of the World-Tree, which just happens to be enclosed in the tower of Akenash. The Tower is where the game takes place and it is massive, with high ceilings and even larger open voids of nothing. While Styx has to navigate around the guards and workers you also need to keep Styx from falling prey to the Tower.

Styx is pretty adept at moving around and when crouched makes very little noise, in fact I don’t recall a time when I was not crouching. Styx can also take down enemies if they have not seen him, but as the guards roam around, you can’t leave your kills around. So you can take advantage of the giant voids, cupboards, dark corners and such to hide the bodies, but of course you can be spotted while moving them, so each decision is fraught with a little danger. As the name suggests Styx is a master of the shadows and when you are in shadow, the amber scar on Styx’s arm glows, which is a nice indicator that you are hidden. But with the world full of people working away, there are not many dark spaces, so you need to make your own. Taking out torches gives Styx a nice little boost of shadows to play with, which helps you get around.

Of course Styx is not alone ever, at any point you can create a clone that you can send out to do some of the more dangerous tasks, while you remain behind, but should your clone be found he cannot fight and will be taken down. Of course, while he can’t find head on, just as Styx can, he can poison the food and water of the guards to help dwindle their numbers. Styx also has the ability to turn invisible for a short amount of time and while it is useful it does consume Amber, the substance that the World-Tree creates and it is not found in plentiful amounts so you need to be cautious of using it.

Styx as a character is actually well defined, he has a goal, a simple one sure, but still challenging and will say just about anything that comes to mind. The other characters in the game are not as well defind, Orzan is Styx’s closet human ally and he is pretty bland to engage with. The guards around the world as well are pretty much interchangeable, with spotty AI they sometimes will notice things with minimal effort, other times you can sneak right behind them and they don’t notice at all. Of course should you bump into objects they will come to investigate.  If you should be spotted by a guard, you can always attempt to run away, find a hiding space and wait them out or you could engage in combat. Styx is quite capable of taking down enemies from the shadows but in an open fight he is not a match for anyone, so it is something you want to avoid.

Presentation of Styx and his world is actually really nice, the art style is amazing with the entire tower of Akenash feeling ancient and lived in. The guards will have idle chatter about random items, but if you hang around long enough in a single area you will hear them repeat it multiple times. While the design of the guards’ uniforms looks pretty nice, the actual build of the guards is not that crash hot, in fact Styx appears to be the most well designed character in all aspects here. On the sound front, Styx again steals the show, his gravelly voice is well suited for the character and other voices are standard, with much else to say there. About 5 hours into the game, one of the levels developed a stuttering in the sound, which would not go away. Once I moved onto the next area it was gone, but it is very annoying hearing something like that when you are trying to concentrate.

Styx Master of Shadows is a pretty amazing stealth game, it offers up a more open world for stealth gamers than has been done before, but lacklustre AI and weird combat choices hold it back from being truly special. That said, you want to tackle a challenge and stealth is your game, then Styx is the name of that game.

The Score

7.5

Review code provided by Focus Home Interactive

The Pros

+One of the best stealth games around right now

+Controlling Styx in the world is a blast

The Cons

-The games open combat style, doesn't really connect

-An interesting art style that doesn't stand out from anything else