Master Thief Garrett, Special Agent Sam Fisher, Agent 47, and Solid Snake – that’s a pretty impressive list of stealth specialists. Is there even room for an ill-tempered goblin in there? Despite some noticeable weaknesses, Styx: Master of Shadows still holds up pretty well, even among the greats.
A goblin in search of a heart
Some of you might already know Styx, the nasty goblin, from the 2012 action RPG Of Orcs and Men. Master of Shadows tells the backstory of the fiendish little green-skinned anti-hero. The reason for his bad temper are the severe headaches he gets from thinking about the World-Tree, whose precious heart he would really love to have in his possession. That about sums up the thin storyline, as all the main objectives in the eight missions (up to 16 hours of gameplay) in this pseudo-medieval fantasy world serve the purpose of bringing the unconventional main character to closer to his goal. The story gets bogged down in minor details at first, and doesn’t really pick up until the second half of the game. The main selling point of the game is Styx himself, who is so gloriously nasty, vile, and sarcastic that it’s hard to deny he has a special kind of charm all his own. Much of the plot is revealed in cut scenes, either in in-game graphics or in series of still drawings.
Fun and frustration
Despite its plot weaknesses, Styx: Master of Shadows is an exciting game, which probably has a lot to do with its traditional stealth gameplay. While the goblin is no match for Master Thief Garret of Special Agent Sam Fisher, after learning some skills he starts to catch up to them a bit. Styx gets skill points by completing missions and side missions, or by recovering medallions and well-hidden artifacts in each of the gigantic, labyrinthine levels. You can unlock six skill trees with four skills each in Styx’s hideout between missions, in the categories Stealth, Agility, Cloning, Amber, Equipments, and Assassination. Styx can learn to land without making a sound, or to kill his enemies from under cover, by jumping on them from above, or hanging from the ceiling. Oh, and it’s also good to know that you can unlearn any skill and re-distribute the points.
There are also four basic skills whose use depends on how much Amber you have: Invisibility, Smoke Bomb, Cloning, and Amber Vision. Amber Vision helps Styx identify not just enemies, but also places to interact with objects or climb. You can use the clone, which appears to come from the goblins very bowels, to solve a few simple puzzles the developers have put in there. For example, you might have to activate two levers simultaneously to enter a vault. This is no problem when you have a clone, and he’s also a very useful decoy when you need him. Styx fills his bags not only with treasure, but also useful items and gear. Along with daggers, throwing knives, and various potions, sand proves to be an essential tool in Styx’s inventory – it allows you to extinguish most, though by far not all, sources of light.
Styx’s tattoos serve as clever visibility meter – when they light up and he’s in a crouched position, he’s practically invisible to all guards, cleaning crew, knights, inquisitors, and mutant roaches. Unfortunately, enemy AI at all difficulty levels is only so-so. The D-pad can be used to make noise and distract your enemies. Your adversaries will typically react immediately to any suspicious noise, but they tend to give up quickly if they don’t find the source right away. If you do have to fight, however, this game’s so-called combat system requires excellent timing – you have to parry at just the right moment and then counterattack, but this doesn’t work with all enemy types, and many encounters are more or less synonymous with loading your last saved game, and you can save at any time. The game also features auto-save points, though most of them are a few minutes away from one another. The best thing for Styx to do is usually strangle his enemies undetected from behind.
One of the most fun parts of the game is staging “accidents”. Falling chandeliers or heavy boxes are capable of taking out several enemies at once. Unfortunately, even when this happens, would-be witnesses don’t behave as they should, and often just go about their business without bothering to investigate the crime scene right before their eyes or even call for help. Otherwise, the self-proclaimed “Master of Shadows” plays like many other characters in the genre. He opens doors at the push of a button, after a cursory glance through the keyhole. And thanks to his small stature, the goblins fits easily under tables and other objects, allowing him to hide and ambush his enemies. He can also pickpocket with ease and carry away slain enemies and hide them where no one can find them, or even dissolve their bodies with acid. Floor coverings are also pretty useful, after all, your steps are a lot quieter on carpet than they would be on bare metal. Jumping and climbing sequences require a lot of skill, and you’ve got to be extremely accurate when you land or when you grab onto the next handhold. I can’t even count how many times I died because of the imprecise jumping controls.
A medieval look
The graphics in Styx: Master of Shadows are pretty simple, and the visual highlights tend to remain well hidden. Overall it’s a nice medieval setting, some scenes in broad daylight, others shrouded in the dark of night, others in dark passages where neither moon nor sun shine. It often feels like you’re in a gigantic labyrinth that can’t conceal the fact that it was built by video game developers – environments and objects tend to be too similar, and later in the game there’s even some level recycling. Aside from long load times, another annoyance are the constantly flickering textures and shadows, choppy animation, and not least of all several ugly clipping errors. These often happen when you kill an enemy near an object – bodies will just go right through tables and other furniture.
Also somewhat unimpressive are the gestures and facial expressions of friend and foe alike. The developers could do better, and they prove it with how they did Styx himself. The physics effects are pretty strange, too. When the protagonist collides with various objects, they react in ways – sometimes unintentionally funny – that are hard to comprehend. Unfortunately this little shortcoming can often have effects on gameplay, such as when you barely touch a chair leg and it alerts an enemy unit to your presence. The voiceovers are pretty solid, but sometimes the acting for minor characters is either over-the-top or half-hearted. This is another place where Styx really shines – the voice actor playing him really does a good job of bringing out all his nastiness. The elaborate sound design blends really fits in well – in any event, a stealth specialist should not only be able to see dangers, but hear them too. In this regard, Styx: Master of Shadows isn’t far behind some of the real giants of the genre.
