REVIEW – It’s good to be stealthy! This style can be a bit intensive: you kinda feel afraid about that one guard, he might spot you, only to get involved in a swordfight. Defending to not die, finding that opening to finally have a chance to attack… hmm. I think I might have seen this style somewhere else, I wonder where?

I have a feeling that Styx: Master of Shadows was trying to follow the steps of two, bigger games in the genre. This was something that I felt after one and a half hour into the game. These two games would be Arkane Studios’ 2012 Fall product Dishonored and the 2014 reboot of Thief by Eidos Montreal. Both games took the „to not be spot is golden” thought seriously, in fact, the former game rewarded the player with the good ending, if not much blood was shed.

It’s true that not much can be expected by S:MoS as by the previously mentioned two games, but Cyanide’s game has completed the bare minimum to say the least.

Prelude

If you thought of Of Orcs And Men after reading the name of the developers, then your guess is correct: this game is exactly the prequel to that one! In S:MoS, you take control of the first ever goblin called Styx. His plan is to get into the Tower of Akenash, where the World Tree is – its heart is what our hero (?) seeks. Basically, the plot’s beginning is nothing special, especially if we add the usual clichéd factor of „oh my god, the hero doesn’t remember anything”.

Dynamic

Despite being over two hundred years old, Styx has quite a few tricks up his sleeve. He can jump enormously high, even while on the wall. (Although I do have to add the fact that this move is a bit problematic in my opinion – sometimes I managed to fall down, which made some noise, alerting guards, effectively killing me in the process…) Peeking through keyholes, unlocking doors, throwing sand at torches – speaking of torches, it’s a wise thing to light them out because darkness is helping us survive! -, moving without a noise, throwing knives at enemies, you name it.

How about making a (controllable, no less!) clone of us that can help us do stuff, or escape? Does it sound complex? Trust me, it’s not. Some tricks require amber, which is basically the MP of this game. Don’t waste it on invisibility, it might run out a bit too fast, like on the middle of a corridor. So make sure you use it wisely, and get better and better skills before missions. They will help your survive drastically, and let’s face it, it’s not a good thing to restart checkpoints multiple times, right?

Fighting and killing

How? Well, there’s two options that you can take, when it comes to killing someone from behind: you either deliver a quick kill that is quite noisy, or take your time and do it silently. You must take a risk: you either get the attention of the other guards nearby due to your thrust of death, which will require hiding yourself and the dead body of the guard… or, you can take a look around to help your decision. It’s necessary to time things right, especially on the Hard and the Goblin difficulties.

And let’s admit it: you won’t be able to survive several guards attacking you at once. Sure, you won’t die from two hits, but you won’t get regenerating HP and health vials found at every five steps either. You will seriously have to learn the parrying: time the defense and wait for the attack. (No comment about the insects: blind, but with good hearing will make them spot us almost immediately. Elfs for the win.)

Just don’t fight…

While the good old Unreal Engine 3 is responsible for the graphics, which is okay this time around, the audio is different. It sounds quite British this time around, making it enjoyable next to the good music, which follows the happenings in the game. Not bad, unlike the combat system… so make sure to avoid most battles, and only jump at enemies when it’s absolutely necessary and there’s no other solution. This tears the gameplay down, which in my opinion, feels like a Dishonored light. The possibility of improving, our abilities, hell, even the world kinda reminds me of that game.

However, the AI should have received a bit more love. Why did this happen, when there was a guard about five metres away from a burning torch, under which I was standing, and not having been spotted? Ehh.. let’s just say that it’s only worth a try when it’s cheaper, because in this genre, Thief kicks its ass, and remember, that game is out for the PS4 as well…

-V-

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Editor: Focus Home Interactive
Developer: Cyanide
Genres: sneaking, action, adventure
Publication: 2014 Október

 

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