Styx: Shards of Darkness

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 66 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 41 out of 66
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 66
  3. Negative: 13 out of 66
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  1. sychu
    Mar 16, 2017
    9
    Bigger and more detailed levels, better controls and better graphics. At the same time I was playing original Master of Shadows and I can tell that developers put a lot of effort to make this game better and they did. Plus I have never seen such a fluent gameplay in any stealth game. Why 9 not 10? There are still some minor issues, such as controls and enemies blocking on the walls and each other.
  2. Letiste-Gaming
    Mar 23, 2017
    7
    Desgraciadamente esta secuela parece más una expansión del título anterior que un juego nuevo.

    ¿Es eso algo malo? Pues ni si ni no, a los fans de la primera les gustará esta entretenida aunque poco innovadora segunda parte. En cambio si la primera no te dijo nada no tienes ningún motivo para probar este juego, ya que es muy continuista. Aun con todo lo malo (su olvidable historia    Desgraciadamente esta secuela parece más una expansión del título anterior que un juego nuevo.

    ¿Es eso algo malo? Pues ni si ni no, a los fans de la primera les gustará esta entretenida aunque poco innovadora segunda parte.

    En cambio si la primera no te dijo nada no tienes ningún motivo para probar este juego, ya que es muy continuista.

    Aun con todo lo malo (su olvidable historia y su pésima inteligencia artificial), tenemos un juego muy divertido y exigente, que exige paciencia y pensar muy bien nuestros movimientos. Con un gran diseño de escenarios que gustará a los amantes del sigilo o del mundo de de "Of orcs and men".    … Expand
  3. 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
  4. dmpdesign
    Oct 21, 2017
    2
    You have to be kidding me, these high reviews are ridiculous. This game is complete crap in my opinion and I am a fan and avid player of stealth games. Here is a list of what I absolutely HATED about this game:

    1. The camera is jittery and choppy, they put no smoothing as you look around the stage, leads to choppy gameplay and just feels very very cheap. 2. Way too many enemies, some    You have to be kidding me, these high reviews are ridiculous. This game is complete crap in my opinion and I am a fan and avid player of stealth games. Here is a list of what I absolutely HATED about this game:

    1. The camera is jittery and choppy, they put no smoothing as you look around the stage, leads to choppy gameplay and just feels very very cheap.
    2. Way too many enemies, some areas are just littered with guards (upwards 10 at once is not uncommon) so if you are detected (which its quire nearly impossible not to be) you have a crap ton of guards coming after you with no way to defend against it.
    3. Guards are waaaaaaaaaay to aware of your presence. Even on the easiest level they will easily detect you. This game needs a quick reload option with the ability to quick save because you will literally be restarting hundreds of times per level during the later parts of the game.
    4. The game is about stealth, yet many of the 'stealth' moves don't work. For example if you put out a torch at a distance with sand (one of the main moves in the game) and the guard sees the torch went out its an automatic failure for mission objectives that require you to remain undetected. I have never played a stealth game where noticing a torch is out counts as a detection.
    5. Opening but not being able to close doors. This is astonishingly stupid and frustrating...if you are going to build in AI that detects a door is open that shouldn't be, then allow the player to close the door behind them. WHAT KIND OF PROGRAMMING IS THIS?
    6. Automatic hits from enemies. So again I point at poor programming (as a game developer I feel I have a fairly keen sense of when a team either sucks or is lazy with their programming) for another major annoyance. If you aggro a guard, and trust me you will, their attacks cannot miss. There is no physical hit box detection between their blade/arrows and your character model, they merely put a radius around the enemy when they strike that counts as a giant hitbox and if you're standing in it, you get hit. In other words if I am behind and enemy who swings forward at thin air, if I am within maybe 5 feet on any side of him it will hit me. Ditto the arrows, you will see the graphic go buzzing by your head but it automatically hit you for damage well before the arrow even gets close to you. Complete crap.
    7. The AI is obnoxious, i have no idea what these other reviewers are talking about with stupid AI. I can't sneak 5 feet without 10 people being notified and instantly finding my position no matter where they were when I made the sound. Hide in a barrel or under a table you say? Oh that would be cool except they check inside every darn time and pull you out of the barrel and cause massive damage.

    This game sucks, don't buy it. I only gave it a 2 because the graphics are nice. (Music sucks too btw)    … Expand
  5. KayVen17
    May 6, 2017
    6
    Deutsche Review - Kritik

    Der folgende Test ist in 5 Kategorien zusammengefasst. Diese 5 Kartegorien ergeben die Gesamtpunktzahl von 0 - 100 Punkten. Um einen passenden Userscore zu geben wird auf oder abgerundet. Bei 84 Punkten ergibt das einen User Score von 8. Bei 86 einen von Userscore von 9. Falls eine 85 kommt entscheide ich ob ich es eher positiv oder negativ nehme. Regeln    Deutsche Review - Kritik

    Der folgende Test ist in 5 Kategorien zusammengefasst. Diese 5 Kartegorien ergeben die Gesamtpunktzahl von 0 - 100 Punkten. Um einen passenden Userscore zu geben wird auf oder abgerundet. Bei 84 Punkten ergibt das einen User Score von 8. Bei 86 einen von Userscore von 9. Falls eine 85 kommt entscheide ich ob ich es eher positiv oder negativ nehme. Regeln verstanden?
    Dann sind hier meine Punkte.

    Mein persönlicher Score = 58/100
    Mein User Score = 6/10    … Expand
  6. Berrlett
    Aug 21, 2017
    7
    Really great stealth, at times you feel it’s only about gamer skills of hiding and not making noise. The story is quite intriguing in its own right but nothing really special, graphics are not the best, however, you’ll overcome this so much you’re busy hiding while infiltrating an infested with enemy terrains, eavesdrop on conversations and surprising an enemy with a dagger from behindReally great stealth, at times you feel it’s only about gamer skills of hiding and not making noise. The story is quite intriguing in its own right but nothing really special, graphics are not the best, however, you’ll overcome this so much you’re busy hiding while infiltrating an infested with enemy terrains, eavesdrop on conversations and surprising an enemy with a dagger from behind just make sure you don’t get spotted. Loved Styx upgrades and powers and the skill management. Over all a good game that is very good for its price value.… Expand
  7. seelenpfluecker
    Dec 10, 2022
    4
    Abgesehen davon, daß es lustig ist und schön aussieht, ist das Spiel leider auch auf dem einfachsten Grad beim Boss in Level 4 Frust pur.
    Ich mag Schleichspiele eigentlich, aber das hier ist wirklich nur für Hardcore-Fans. Es ist unfair ohne Ende.
    Türen lassen sich nicht schließen, wenn man sie zuvor geöffnet hat. Wenn man Fackeln löscht, aus der Ferne (!), wird man entdeckt und jemand    Abgesehen davon, daß es lustig ist und schön aussieht, ist das Spiel leider auch auf dem einfachsten Grad beim Boss in Level 4 Frust pur.
    Ich mag Schleichspiele eigentlich, aber das hier ist wirklich nur für Hardcore-Fans. Es ist unfair ohne Ende.
    Türen lassen sich nicht schließen, wenn man sie zuvor geöffnet hat. Wenn man Fackeln löscht, aus der Ferne (!), wird man entdeckt und jemand entzündet sie erneut. Mit Sand werfen, kostet dann aber Ressourcen.
    Die Steuerung ist nicht akkurat, die Kamera oft katastrophal.
    Selbst auf dem leichtesten Schwierigkeitsgrad bin ich bis Level 4 an die 100x gestorben!
    Beim Bosskampf in Level 4 (bis dahin hat man erst 30% des Spiels hinter sich) kann man trotz des hohen Schwierigkeitsgrades und der Unfairness NICHT zwischenspeichern!
    Es rennen viel, viel, viel zu viele Feinde rum.
    Das macht echt keinen Spaß mehr irgendwann und ist nur sehr leidensfähige Menschen gedacht, die sonst keinen Frust haben im Leben.    … Expand
  8. destinyfan1
    May 13, 2017
    6
    a great game that is getting hold back with frustration

    positive + great graphics + hardcore and realistic stealth + interesting stuff like you can make a clone of yourself + co-op is fun negative - dumb AI - controls are pretty frustrating - to much avoiding of enemies is just not fun conclusion I am not a stealth game fan and this game was pretty fun but the avoiding of    a great game that is getting hold back with frustration

    positive
    + great graphics
    + hardcore and realistic stealth
    + interesting stuff like you can make a clone of yourself
    + co-op is fun
    negative
    - dumb AI
    - controls are pretty frustrating
    - to much avoiding of enemies is just not fun
    conclusion
    I am not a stealth game fan and this game was pretty fun but the avoiding of enemies and the frustration stab the game in the back like an assassin
    Recommended for stealth game fans but nothing more    … Expand
  9. danield80
    Nov 18, 2021
    8
    The level design in Styx: Shards of Darkness is awesome. The levels are big and have a lot of paths and entrances for you to choose from. Especially the vertical size of the maps is surprising. The game provides multiple options how to complete objectives. There are many ways to solve tasks either with your equipment or environment. As for the missions themselves, they show variety. TheThe level design in Styx: Shards of Darkness is awesome. The levels are big and have a lot of paths and entrances for you to choose from. Especially the vertical size of the maps is surprising. The game provides multiple options how to complete objectives. There are many ways to solve tasks either with your equipment or environment. As for the missions themselves, they show variety. The game mainly focuses on stealth but there are parts that include bossfights, platforming and puzzles (though the stealth element is still prevalent there). Crafting and skill system are done well.

    Negatives are clunky jumping, short-cycled AI and dull story.

    Since Styx: Shards of Darkness is one of the less forgiving stealth games it's not a very popular genre among the consume.    … Expand
  10. MARXENZOLOPES
    May 27, 2020
    4
    i am a fan of stealth games but this game is an example of how not to do a stealth game
  11. A1ucard
    Jun 17, 2020
    9
    Даже учитывая мелкие баги игры, из за которых приходилось начинать миссию сначала, всеже эта игра достойна чтобы ее купить и пройти! В наше время все шаблонно и стандартно, тут же интересный герой с оригинальным миром и возможностями. Особенно поразила атмосфера, ставлю художникам и дизайнерам игры высший бал, молодцы, надеюсь будет продолжение.Даже учитывая мелкие баги игры, из за которых приходилось начинать миссию сначала, всеже эта игра достойна чтобы ее купить и пройти! В наше время все шаблонно и стандартно, тут же интересный герой с оригинальным миром и возможностями. Особенно поразила атмосфера, ставлю художникам и дизайнерам игры высший бал, молодцы, надеюсь будет продолжение.

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 31 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 31
  3. Negative: 0 out of 31
  1. Worth Playing
    Jul 11, 2017
    75
    In the end, Styx: Shards of Darkness is a solid stealth title. The lack of real combat puts your ability to go undetected to the test, and the breadth of each level means that your solutions to each problem are wide open, giving you some flexibility to your approach. While your abilities are fun to use, it would've been nice to see them make a difference, especially since the game reuses some environments instead of going for new ones. Shards of Darkness is an improvement over the first game, and it's worth checking out if you're a stealth fan.
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  2. Playstation Official Magazine Australia
    Jul 7, 2017
    70
    It can be a little frustrating, but thankfully these flaws are not so insurmountable that Shards of Darkness stops being a diverting and fun misadventure [June 2017, p81]
  3. games(TM)
    Jun 14, 2017
    60
    A dated yet enjoyable stealth affair. [Issue#186, p.78]
See all critic reviews »