Styx: Shards of Darkness

Styx is always the goblin from the long tongue and from the barbell we’ve learned to know before, just as humans and elves will always be disgusting races and dressed in sparkling silver armor, who will soon be hated for the their arrogance. However, since the first minute of playing the sensation is what Cyanide has wanted to achieve this time a real stealth title, one h

undred percent. No uncertainty, no compromise: Styx is a shadow and as such no one will have to unveil his presence. Styx: Shards of Darknessresumes the predecessor’s dynamics by inflicting on a whole range of new powers given to our goblins.First of all, the design of the setting shows a greater verticality than th

e past: the twisted and bucolic environments we visit will extend in height rather than in width, and this will allow us to make the most of the acrobatic abilities of the protagonist , who will often have to climb to long stretches, jumping from one rope to the other, before arriving at your destination.

The basic concept has remained in any way untouched: moving from one roof to another, shutting off any light source that could reveal to the enemy’s eyes, using elements of the scenery to camouflage (benches, wooden tables or shelves) to the end to achieve mission goals.

All that worked in the Master of Shadows was then fully taken up also in this sequel, including unfortunately some of the predecessor’s st

ructural limits: artificial intelligence, for example, clumsy and elementary, is still tending to decline and often a big motive frustration (at any level of difficulty allowed), as well as the close-range combat system, still too imperfect and woody to allow meaningful body-to-body use.

However, this latter feature is not a defect in the strict sense: the little Styx is certainly not a trained soldier or an unresponsive and fearless hero, and his poor ability to put his rug on the carpet will stimulate the wanting to get the most out of sight and ing

enuity, looking for (many) ways to surprise opponents behind. Stealth a hundred percent, it was said a few lines higher. Acting totally in the shadows, in silence and without tracing their passage is a fundamental rule if you want to take home the booty. Bo

ttom that, to be reached, will force us to use secret passages, tunnels of all kinds and hiding trails. Forget the level design linearity or large free roaming locationsStyx: Shards of Darkness are really twisted labyrinths, rich in objects to use for their own benefit. We may poison some of the food that our enemies will find in their streams, or tinker the structure of a skylight so that it will sink it right on the sk

ull of a guard as soon as it goes below.
Variety and decision-making freedom are therefore the two strengths of Shards of Darkness , which alone are able to ward off the boredom effect (ubiquitous in the first chapter after just a handful of hours).Adding to this is the ability to create a grotesque clone of the main character called “Cocoon,” which can trigger distant levers or a

ttract guards at a certain point in the scenario (perhaps just to make a nice ad hoc trap). But not only: our “double” will also serve as a useful telegraph point, if we are forced to flee from a particularly problematic situation (and there will be a lot of it).

But to increase the overall value of the title are also a handful of other winning ideas put up by the Cyanide team. The first is the game interface, cleaned by useless trombones and now much clearer in highlighting enemy shifts, elements of the scenario we can interact with and the general state of our mission, often and willingly centered on the theft o

f certain objects. This is the apology for the new cooperative mode (available only online, of course), which will allow a second player to enter our current session (or we will enter it), helping us in the search for precious material within the level . Of course, in any case,  Styx: Shards of Darkness is and remains above all an adventure to live lon

ely in solitude and co-op is just a (welcome) added value to the experience. As well as the new and unprecedented crafting system, which will allow us to gather enough elements to create from scratch on a workbench placed within the levels, numerous gadgets useful to overcome spiny situations . It goes poisoned darts, spoiled food, small but lethal launching weapons and much more.