Styx: Shards of Darkness

 PC
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 127 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 83 out of 127
  2. Mixed: 30 out of 127
  3. Negative: 14 out of 127

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  1. SuperkenGaming
    Mar 14, 2017
    7
    Styx Shards of Darkness
    More of a Half Step than a Sequel
    Shards of Darkness is the Sequel to Master of Shadows… But with its own self contained story, so you don’t need to play any of the past games to be able to hop right in… This is more of Master of Shadows, but at the same time almost completely different… Theres are 9 missions total here.. but these missions are half the length    Styx Shards of Darkness
    More of a Half Step than a Sequel
    Shards of Darkness is the Sequel to Master of Shadows…
    But with its own self contained story, so you don’t need to play any of the past games to be able to hop right in…
    This is more of Master of Shadows, but at the same time almost completely different…
    Theres are 9 missions total here.. but these missions are half the length of the first game..
    Taking me anywhere from an hr to an hr and a half to complete… the game took me about 12 hours to complete…
    But its much less about mastering the shadows here…
    All of the basic assassinations you had to unlock in the past game are unlocked from the start with a new set of skills to master…
    And while Shards of Darkness Improves in many areas Master of Shadows struggled… It also fails in areas Master of Shadows had down perfect…
    Much like the last game, Shards of Darkness puts you in an open level with a dagger and some potions, and its up to you to make to the different task locations and then make it back to your hide out…
    But things are much more casual and straight forward this time…
    You still have your sand to throw at torches, but they never felt useful here…
    You now also have to gather materials to craft items and potions instead of refill at base..
    Sounds like a good idea… but materials are way to rare here.. really testing your stealth skills..
    Im horrible at stealth, so I found it to be a bit annoying…
    And you can call in a clone, but gone are the clone puzzles and distracting.. and because of that the clone turns into a consumable skill like turning invisable…
    This time however youre able to create or become a perfect clone in an online co op mode…
    As a perfect clone you have all of your skills and items, but you cant pary in combat and you die in one hit… and if either you or your partner dies you can brign the other back to life by sacrificing half of your health….
    And speaking of combat, they somehow managed to make it worse…
    They got rid of the auto locking which is great.. youre free to run which was the thing that held the original games experience down so much… but because of this.. .parrying can be awakward, as youll a lot of the time be too close to parry while the enemy can still damage you…pretty annoying…
    But don’t worry.. besides the first few levels.. pretty much every enemy is invulnerable….
    So youre not gonna be needing those darggers too much…
    The game over all and the levels here at first feel polished and a nice change of pace…
    But by level 3 you realze they all look and feel the same…
    They feel like a broom closet compared to the shoe closet master of shadows was…
    Theyre small and compact and feel copy and paste rather than hand crafted and grand …
    They even went as far as reusing levels for 3 of the final missions.
    A massive disappointment, as the level design was one of my favorite things about this series…
    Its still fun though.. sneaking through vents..
    Dealing with new annoying enemies like dwarves that can smell you.. making hiding useless…
    Plus theyre invulnerable… even worse…
    And some of your favorite annoying enemies making a return like the beatles that spit at you.. thankfully youre able to kill them like regular guards this time…
    And the mission structure has improved greatly… they’ll have you retracing your steps as youre running around to sabotage or assassinate a target…
    it isn’t just getting from point a to b..
    there are even some boss battles in here.. that if youre wondering if theyre as bad as the maste of shadows ends boss..im pleased to say that these 2 boss battles were 2 of the most memorable moments in the game…
    And of coruse the jokes and game rfereences are all over here both in game and at your death screen…
    Which is another improvmement.. load times… they still need work but are miles better than they were…
    Sahrds of Darkness is a mixed bag of emotions.. I love the change in combat, the fact that we have real skills available from the start, improved mission structure, less grindy story,faster load times, better bosses, but the forced do not get detected sections of the game, the lack of materials to actually craft with the crafting system, the amount of invulnerable enemeies, the tiny repetitive maps…
    it stops this game from surpassing the first…
    It felt more of a rush through stealth game than a calculating, pick your targets, take them out one by one, im goblin batman, like I came to love from the original game…
    I was doing more avoiding enemies and the world than I was engaging with it…
    I give Styx: Shards of Darkness
    a 7/10    … Expand
  2. bancandrei
    May 22, 2020
    7
    It is a great stealth game. The problem is I don't very much like stealth games. I hoped this one would change my mind, but it didn't. However, if you like the genre, definitely give this one a try
  3. aralath
    Aug 13, 2018
    7
    Loved the medieval atmosphere. Good game for the stealth genre. I did not complete it though.
  4. Kotofon
    Sep 27, 2020
    7
    В игре Стикс в этот раз окажется в древнем городе тёмных эльфов Карнгар, который считается неприступным. Но Стикс смог проникнуть в город, когда в городе был переполох из-за съезда дипломатов. Однако в самих переговорах в городе не все так просто, так как они ведутся между тёмными эльфами и гномами. У которых есть одно общее — это ненависть к гоблинам.Так же Стиксу удастся побывать вВ игре Стикс в этот раз окажется в древнем городе тёмных эльфов Карнгар, который считается неприступным. Но Стикс смог проникнуть в город, когда в городе был переполох из-за съезда дипломатов. Однако в самих переговорах в городе не все так просто, так как они ведутся между тёмными эльфами и гномами. У которых есть одно общее — это ненависть к гоблинам.Так же Стиксу удастся побывать в различных местах кроме Коррангара: Город воров, Подземные рудники, Деревня охотников и не только.… Expand
  5. Flashback92
    Jan 27, 2019
    7
    It is a good coop stealth game, but at from the 50% champaign progress the game start repeating previous levels. Little bit boring.
    Graphics :good (Not a good graphics, but for the dark stealth game is good)
    Sounds: good
    Music: medium
    Control: medium (you cant throw corpses, and slow climbing)
    Performance: some computer get medium some computer get good. I say Half-Good.
  6. Mehrshad_MB
    Sep 6, 2021
    6
    Styx Shards of Darkness is a pretty good stealth game undoubtedly, but not the best in series in my book. The game had impressive visual and graphics improvements and the design of environment was astonishing in almost every single mission. Gladly the AI got a lot better compared to Styx Master of Shadows.
    The gameplay and mechanics were literally copy and pasted from Styx Master of    Styx Shards of Darkness is a pretty good stealth game undoubtedly, but not the best in series in my book. The game had impressive visual and graphics improvements and the design of environment was astonishing in almost every single mission. Gladly the AI got a lot better compared to Styx Master of Shadows.
    The gameplay and mechanics were literally copy and pasted from Styx Master of Shadow!
    The story was good but just when it started to get better, there was 'credits' and...THE END! I really wasn't expecting the game to end just when it was in its peak.
    Also a minor thing that, the 'death' cutscenes were good idea but not in a game like this where players die hundreds of times and have to hear the same sentences all over again.
    In conclusion, Styx Shards of Darkness is a good stealth game with only little improvements compared to earlier games in series.
    (September 2021)    … Expand
  7. xaviar_nl
    Jul 9, 2023
    7
    If you can get this is in sale, it is fine as a stealth game. However, should you be new to the stealth genre, I'd strongly recommend Dishonered over Styx any time.
  8. Nekellor_Met
    Aug 7, 2020
    7
    Отличная, крайне сложная стелс-игра. Но с серией познакомился именно, из за музыки из этой игры. Работа виолончели и множество необычных инструментов, просто вводят в слуховой экстаз. А финальный босс, хоть и надуман с нуля, но так хорошо поставлен, что эмоции к сухому боссу появляются из неоткуда. Крайне высокая вариативность прохождения.Отличная, крайне сложная стелс-игра. Но с серией познакомился именно, из за музыки из этой игры. Работа виолончели и множество необычных инструментов, просто вводят в слуховой экстаз. А финальный босс, хоть и надуман с нуля, но так хорошо поставлен, что эмоции к сухому боссу появляются из неоткуда. Крайне высокая вариативность прохождения.
  9. realWhiteMan
    Apr 9, 2023
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. My rating is based on my impressions of the game. This is not an objective review. I play quite a big number of titles per year and decided to review them as a peace of art and not as a product.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

94
#94 Most Discussed PC Game of 2017
6
#6 Most Shared PC Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 38 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 38
  3. Negative: 0 out of 38
  1. DarkStation
    May 8, 2017
    70
    Styx: Shards of Darkness' single-minded dedication to being a stealth game is both admirable and potentially a turnoff to players who expect more flexibility in their approach to completing missions. The flexibility is there, though it's entirely represented by the myriad ways the title character moves through the shadows and confounds his enemies. It's refreshing to play a despicable, amoral antihero; but the game's puerile, scattershot humor will not appeal to everyone. Although its mission objectives are a bit repetitive, the balletic act of moving through the world makes Styx: Shards of Darkness overall entertaining.
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  2. CD-Action
    Apr 26, 2017
    65
    Over a dozen hours of spatial environmental puzzles consisting of avoiding patrols and finding paths to objectives. Cyanide failed to push the series forward in any aspect but still managed to deliver a solid stealth game. [05/2017, p.68]
  3. PLAY! Zine
    Apr 26, 2017
    70
    Full freedom and innovative level design, but sloppy controls and sometimes stupid enemy AI will ruin your experience from time to time.
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