Styx: Shards of Darkness

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Total Reviews: 62

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Critics Recommend

Critic Reviews: 62

Critics Consensus

# Reviews: 62

A summary of the critical opinion for this game will be provided after release or a minimum of 15 reviews have been aggregated.

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Critic Reviews for Styx: Shards of Darkness

Reviews

High Score - 83/100

Low Score - 35/100

Nic Rowen (Destructoid)

7/10

“And really, pleasant surprises are what we’re talking about with Styx: Shards of Darkness. Don’t let the reduced price tag or the fact that Styx’s previous titles aren’t exactly household names fool you. Once you get past the slightly budget look of the UI and occasional control jank, there is a solid core of a pretty damn good stealth game here. Give him a chance, and Styx might just steal your heart (only to pawn it at a fraction of its value, the little bastard).”

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Adam Peribáñez (Areajugones)

7.5/10

“Shards of Darkness is a fine sequel to the unexpected and great Master of Shadows. It’s more ambitious, but this results in some other aspects not feeling as polished as they should.”

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Chris White (God is a Geek)

7/10

“A decent stealth experience, but the AI tends to sour the experience, as does the occasional camera angle issue.”

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**Read all 62 critic reviews on the desktop version of VSG.

Read the Reviews (62 total)

Outlet	Author	Score	Date	Quote	Read
3DNews	Денис Щенников	8 / 10	03-17-2017	Cyanide continues to build its own dark fantasy world, step by step. And Shards of Darkness is a step in a right direction. Story is richer, gameplay is better than in its predecessor. And we only hope developers will stay on track for a few games more.	Read review
ACG	Jeremy Penter	Recommended	03-14-2017	Video Review	Read review
Areajugones	Adam Peribáñez	7.5 / 10	03-16-2017	Shards of Darkness is a fine sequel to the unexpected and great Master of Shadows. It's more ambitious, but this results in some other aspects not feeling as polished as they should.	Read review
BaziCenter	محمد کیانی	7 / 10	04-02-2017	Styx's good story, interesting world, great stealth mechanics, lots of humor, and engaging atmosphere overcomes its poor AI, moderate visuals, unbalanced controls and repetitive levels. If you are a stealth fan, you'll enjoy Styx: Shards of Darkness.	Read review
CGMagazine	Alex Avard	6.5 / 10	04-10-2017	Amid an overcrowded season full of newly launched triple-A titles, Shards of Darkness, at its very best, works as an inconsistent but serviceable stealth experience.	Read review
COGconnected	Ramin Ostad	60 / 100	03-14-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness never progresses beyond being a moderately functional game with low-fantasy aspirations.	Read review
Critical Hit	Zoe Hawkins	7.5 / 10	03-14-2017	While not the best stealth game, Styx: Shards of Darkness offers some fun, unique gameplay. It might be filled with mixed messages, but there's still a number of hours' worth of sneaky, fun, stabbing action.	Read review
Cubed3	Thom Compton	5 / 10	03-14-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness sometimes feels like it's the purposely edgy teenager who doesn't want you to like it. It's, by all means, a game any stealth fan should try, but it's not going to grab and keep you coming back for more. Instead, it feels like wading through mud, and the payoff you're receiving is too small to really gloat about. There's potential here, but behind buggy AI, clumsy controls and a lead character who is more annoying than likable, it all feels for naught.	Read review
Destructoid	Nic Rowen	7 / 10	03-14-2017	And really, pleasant surprises are what we're talking about with Styx: Shards of Darkness. Don't let the reduced price tag or the fact that Styx's previous titles aren't exactly household names fool you. Once you get past the slightly budget look of the UI and occasional control jank, there is a solid core of a pretty damn good stealth game here. Give him a chance, and Styx might just steal your heart (only to pawn it at a fraction of its value, the little bastard).	Read review
Digital Chumps	Steven McGehee	8.3 / 10	03-21-2017	Depending on what you're looking for in your next third person stealth game, Styx may fit the bill. It gets a lot right and is a noticeable improvement from the first game, which itself was pretty good to begin with. It may not carry the history or prestige of some of stealth's bigger franchises, but if you like the genre at all, Cyanide Studios' latest effort deserves your attention.	Read review
Digitally Downloaded	Ginny W.	4 / 5 stars	03-14-2017	This is a game that you need to sink more than just a handful of hours into in order to really appreciate but in my opinion, the reward is well worth it	Read review
Everyeye.it	Daniele D'Orefice	7.7 / 10	03-14-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness improves the level design of its prequel, and gives the protagonist several ways to complete the missions.	Read review
Expansive	Ray Willmott	7.5 / 10	03-14-2017	Styx is a mostly enjoyable ride from start to finish	Read review
Game Revolution	jamalr	4 / 5 stars	03-13-2017	It's safe to say Styx: Shards of Darkness is nothing short of a spectacular stealth game that brings the genre back to its roots and I can't wait to see where it goes from here.	Read review
Game Volt	Moustafa Gad	7.6 / 10	03-30-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness One of the few titles that provided stealth in a great form, all the elements were designed to serve the player in his adventure away from action and direct clashes as much as possible, but on other hand you feel the limited budget the game have or it's safe more to say it didn't have much time in development especially at second half of the game, which represents weak story and limited graphical level.	Read review
Gameblog	Camille Allard	7 / 10	03-16-2017	Styx Shards of Darkness is a good evolution of Styx's Universe, and it offers a lot of improvements. Better graphics, better gameplay mechanics... and always this sneaky and funny goblin! A good stealth experience, that still suffers some technical and AI issues.	Read review
GameGrin	Marcello Perricone	8 / 10	04-06-2017	A surprisingly old-school and well-crafted stealth game, Styx: Shards of Darkness is a welcome sneaky outlet in a world so often focused on open combat.	Read review
GameMAG	xtr	7 / 10	03-14-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness is an interesting development of the ideas of the original game with an amusing humour and a charismatic main character that suffers from many errors, deficiencies and other problems that will be partly fixed with updates. But this is unlikely change our opinion about the game. I put a rating based on atmosphere, diversity and stealth, but you really have to love the genre to get pleasure from this game.	Read review
Gameplanet	Chris Brown	6 / 10	03-16-2017	A mechanically strong stealth title with some of the most eye-rollingly awful dialogue I have ever been subjected to. Styx as a character is obnoxious, unlikable, and immersion breaking, but he does wield some of the most impressive and well-designed infiltration abilities in the genre. I just wish he would shut the hell up.	Read review
GamePro	Manuel Fritsch	78 / 100	03-14-2017	Enormous adventure playground with small blemishes for adventurous Stealth-Fans.	Read review
GameSkinny	Pierre Fouquet	8 / 10	03-14-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness is an excellent purist stealth game, which is let down by stupid AI.	Read review
GameSpew	Aaron Potter	8 / 10	03-14-2017	What it may lack in narrative development, Styx: Shards of Darkness more than makes up for in its near-faultless gameplay that stands out as a prime example of stealth design done right.	Read review
GameSpot	Michael Higham	6 / 10	03-14-2017	Many of the pieces that make up Styx feel dated, but they still come together to make a competent stealth-action experience.	Read review
GameWatcher	Joseph Bradford	8 / 10	03-15-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness is an incredibly fun game	Read review
GameZone	Daniel R. Miller	7 / 10	03-14-2017	Despite its frustrations, Styx’s stealth mechanics and Deus Ex-ian level design will continue to drive you forward in a game that is longer than you’d think.	Read review
Gaming Nexus	Rob Larkin	7.4 / 10	03-27-2017	A stealth game that sticks to its core values and offers some excellent level design, Styx: Shards of Darkness is a solid sequel. It is not without some presentation issues and could really benefit from some better controls on the more delicate maneuvers. If you can get past the crassness of the main character there is much to like.	Read review
GamingBolt	Shubhankar Parijat	6 / 10	03-20-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness is a solid, enjoyable game, but a number of flaws hold it back from being anything more.	Read review
GearNuke	Muhammad Ali Bari	7.5 / 10	03-27-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness improves upon its predecessor in nearly every way, but still leaves room for a deeper, more thought-out stealth experience.	Read review
Generación Xbox	Hector Nieto Carretero	7.3 / 10	03-23-2017	Cyanide Studios returns after three years with Shards of Darkness to offer us a new adventure of Styx. A game with a weak plot and full of light and dark sides, where the absence of light will accompany us throughout the adventure along with fantastic game mechanics and a good cooperative mode although with some flaws.	Read review
God is a Geek	Chris White	7 / 10	03-14-2017	A decent stealth experience, but the AI tends to sour the experience, as does the occasional camera angle issue.	Read review
Hardcore Gamer	Chris Shive	4 / 5 stars	03-14-2017	A wisecracking goblin assassin may seem like an odd choice for a protagonist, but the titular character of Styx: Shards of Darkness is enjoyable to control.	Read review
IGN	Leif Johnson	7.8 / 10	03-15-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness greatly resembles the earlier Styx: Master of Shadows from 2014, but Cyanide improved the gameplay this time around with the inclusion of craftable weapons, the lack of a lock-on in combat, and expanded abilities. It presents an interesting world to explore but wastes its potential by recycling environments from early missions late in the game. Co-op mode is fun, too, but only selectively as some stealth-only missions seem far more manageable on one's own.	Read review
IGN Italy	Francesco Destri	7.7 / 10	03-15-2017	A stealth game in the true sense of the word you should keep an eye on, even if the enemies AI is still not that great.	Read review
IGN Spain	David Soriano	7.2 / 10	03-16-2017	Despite being so similar compared to Master of Shadows in terms of gameplay, Shards of Darkness improves in visuals and level desing, but still has deficiencies in terms of AI and narrative.	Read review
Impulsegamer	Chris O'Connor	4 / 5 stars	03-26-2017	What's worse than dying in a game... dying and being heckled for doing so.	Read review
JVL	L_sK	8 / 10	03-14-2017	Despite some flaws still present from its predecessor, Styx : Shards of Darkness is a solid sequel. Even if it doesn't reinvent the wheel, and borrows its mechanics to the biggest stealth games or adventurous ones like Assassin�s Creed, this opus does things well. With its high dosed difficulty that will encourage the player to be discreet and explore the verticality of the great level design, this entry will fulfill players from the outset.	Read review
New Game Network	David Will	70 / 100	04-02-2017	It’s not going to win any hearts and minds any time soon, but as an open-ended stealth experience, Styx: Shards of Darkness more or less does its job without major stumbles. Less of the lip, though, please.	Read review
Paste Magazine	Terence Wiggins	3.5 / 10	03-27-2017	If you want to play an “old school” stealth game, you have many options that aren’t the price of a new game. If you want crude humor, there are far better options in games and other media to enjoy. If you want to get berated by an ugly creature who thinks he’s better than you, well, Twitter is free.	Read review
PC Gamer	Jon Morcom	79 / 100	03-14-2017	A mean-spirited character leads a big-hearted game; you’re unlikely to dwell on its lore but its features combine well to create a satisfying stealth experience.	Read review
PlayStation LifeStyle	Martin Patiño	7.5 / 10	03-14-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness improves on its predecessor significantly without having to steer away from its core attributes. Everything from its visuals and dialogue to its gameplay and story have been upgraded and polished to an impressive sheen. It’s still far from being perfect and its style of stealth and combat might not be for everyone, but it’s definitely a challenging and enjoyable experience that sometimes forces you to think hard first before acting. The foundation that Of Orcs and Men built set the perfect stage for both Master of Shadows and Shards of Darkness and it can only get better and more interesting from here.	Read review
PlayStation Universe	John-Paul Jones	7.5 / 10	03-14-2017	Overwhelming in size and overflowing with freedom with which to tackle its sprawling campaign, Styx: Shards of Darkness is an unapologetically pure stealth title that might struggle to expand its hardcore appeal beyond the die-hard fans of the genre.	Read review
PowerUp!	Leo Stevenson	8 / 10	03-26-2017	It may not have quite the level of polish of a AAA title, but it’s more than worth your time.	Read review
Push Square	Liam Croft	7 / 10	03-14-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness is an enormous improvement over its predecessor. The gameplay has seen a large amount of refinement to the point where it's actually a fun game to play, and Styx himself steals the show with his charismatic performance. It's not without its own set of returning and new defects, but Styx's second adventure is something we can confidently recommend. This is everything the first game should have been.	Read review
Rock, Paper, Shotgun	Alec Meer	Not Recommended	03-14-2017	Clearly, a lot of money and skill has gone into making Shards Of Darkness, which only makes the fact that you have to battle past this woeful characterisation to get to the strong stealth meat below all the more tragic.	Read review
Saudi Gamer	مصطفى جاد	6 / 10	03-25-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness offers an excellent and varied style of gameplay with massive and beautiful fantasy world, but suffers from repetitive level design and awful jokes and commentary, in addition to weak indoor graphics that lack detail.	Read review
Sirus Gaming	Carlo Cutanda	7 / 10	03-15-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness improves from Master of Shadows on many fronts and introduced a lot of new features that adds more depth to the franchise. But the failure to completely address control issues from the previous game prevents me from enjoying the game to its fullest.	Read review
SomHráč.sk	Martin Kubeš	70 / 100	03-15-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness is a pleasant stealth game. Just be aware that it's not a AAA title. It looks fine on the surface, but some mechanics are a bit too old-fashioned. However, if you like stealth games or the previous Styx game, you'll not make a mistake picking this title.	Read review
SpazioGames	Marcello Paolillo	8 / 10	03-14-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness is a little big sequel of the first chapter, Master of Shadows. Gameplay, graphics, atmosphere: all is in the right place.	Read review
Stevivor	Steve Wright	7.5 / 10	03-14-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness is an evolution of the franchise, and an improvement over a game stealth enthusiasts will greatly enjoy.	Read review
TechRaptor	Alex Santa Maria	5.5 / 10	03-14-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness will provide stealth fans with a brief thrill, but wading through levels multiple times and dealing with poor attempts at variety will grate at even the most jaded of players by the time the campaign is through.	Read review
The Digital Fix	Simon Riley	6 / 10	06-01-2017	A dark, challenging stealth game undermined by an unimaginative and rambling story littered with crude gags and lazy pop culture references.	Read review
The Games Machine	Ivan Conte	8 / 10	03-13-2017	Shards of Darkness could have been an amazing stealth game, thanks to a witty and cynical main character, a wonderful level design and a lot of skills and perks. Unfortunately, the experience is partially ruined by a sub-par AI and some flaws in the control system.	Read review
TheSixthAxis	Stefan L	6 / 10	03-14-2017	Shards of Darkness could have been a big step forward for the series, giving you a more rounded set of gameplay possibilities, alongside the better looking environments and other areas. Alas it’s not as big an improvement as I’d hoped and is let down by bugs and inconsistencies. It’s a stealth game with one foot stuck in the past, and that remains both a blessing and a curse.	Read review
TheXboxHub	Carlos Santuana	3.5 / 5 stars	03-28-2017	Styx may not be the most anticipated stealth adventure of the year, but it’s definitely one you should be checking out If you’re a fan of the genre. Gameplay can unfortunately start to feel repetitive after a string of deaths, but those happy to take their time will find an adventure to enjoy.	Read review
TrueAchievements	Cindy Minguez	4 / 5 stars	03-30-2017	All in all, Styx: Shards of Darkness is a game you won't want to miss.	Read review
Twinfinite	Huzaifah Durrani	4 / 5 stars	03-21-2017	Styx: Shards Of Darkness is a unique beast. In a time where every game seems to be committed to diversifying their gameplay as much as possible, and appealing to as wide an audience as possible, Styx: Shards Of Darkness is unconventionally pure in its approach.	Read review
Use a Potion	Daryl Leach	7.6 / 10	03-14-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness puts its own unique spin on the stealth genre by giving us an unconventional hero that’s not only incredibly powerful, but very crude too. What’s most important though is that it’s fun to play throughout, offering an adventure that constantly entertains and offers plenty of things for the player to do.	Read review
Video Chums	A.J. Maciejewski	5.8 / 10	03-15-2017	Styx: Shards of Darkness is a promising stealth experience with massive stages and an interesting blend of genres.	Read review
Wccftech	Rosh Kelly	6.8 / 10	03-14-2017	By no means a perfect game, Styx: Shards of Darkness is still an improvement on the first. As the series continues to progress we can hope to see some better storytelling, world building and crisper graphics and sound, but for now at least we have an enjoyable experience with some interesting ideas to experiment with	Read review
Windows Central	Lauren Relph	4 / 5 stars	03-20-2017	In some ways, Styx: Shards of Darkness felt as Stockholm-Syndrome-inducingly difficult as Dark Souls, with the frequent deaths, taunts, and preference for evasion over confrontation. But that made me like it even more.	Read review

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Game Info

Game Description / Storyline:

Embark upon a stealthy adventure with new enemies, new environments, and a plethora of new mechanics aimed at refining the abilities and movement of Styx; grappling around corners, climbing ropes, and using his trusty knife as a zip-wire. Shards of Darkness aims to offer unparalleled freedom of movement, along with refined stealth and assassination mechanics, expanding and improving on the strengths of Styx: Master of Shadows

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Styx: Shards of Darkness

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Critic Reviews for Styx: Shards of Darkness

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