Styx: Shards of Darkness Reviews

Styx: Shards of Darkness is ranked in the 51st percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
8.7 / 10.0
Mar 14, 2017

Styx: Shards of Darkness is everything you could expect this game to be and more. It offers hardcore stealth gameplay for those who are interested in it while simultaneously lowering the skill cap for those who just want to finish the game and do not shy away from a messy slaughter or alarm or two. It is hard to resist Styx’s wits and cockiness even in the middle of situation he gets into. If you were waiting for a sign that Styx: Shards of Darkness is an amazing game worthy of your time, consider this to be just it.

Read full review

7 / 10.0
Mar 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 full review

5.5 / 10.0
Mar 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 full review

4 / 5.0
Mar 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 full review

6 / 10.0
Jun 1, 2017

A dark, challenging stealth game undermined by an unimaginative and rambling story littered with crude gags and lazy pop culture references.

Read full review

8 / 10.0
Apr 6, 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 full review

7 / 10
Apr 2, 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.

Review in Persian | Read full review

70 / 100
Apr 2, 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 full review

8 / 10
Mar 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 full review

3 / 5
Mar 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.

Review in Arabic | Read full review

Cubed3
Top Critic
5 / 10
Mar 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 full review

Digitally Downloaded
Ginny W.
Top Critic
Mar 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 - the feeling of nailing a multi-target assassination with some high-octane traps before ziplining away and cackling was indescribable, and made much more meaningful by the fact that a few hours ago I was struggling to find my own ass in the dark.

Read full review

8 / 10
Mar 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 full review

Mar 14, 2017

Styx: Shards of Darkness is an excellent purist stealth game, which is let down by stupid AI.

Read full review

7.5 / 10.0
Jul 11, 2017

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.

Read full review

7.6 / 10.0
Mar 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.

Review in Arabic | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Mar 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.

Review in Russian | Read full review

5.8 / 10.0
Mar 15, 2017

Styx: Shards of Darkness is a promising stealth experience with massive stages and an interesting blend of genres.

Read full review

7.8 / 10.0
Mar 15, 2017

Ultimately, Styx: Shards of Darkness is a great game however, it is a STEALTH game, with no misconceptions of anything else thrown in, that must be understood. Sure, the satirical nature of the world might not get fleshed out quite as much as I'd have liked but the refreshing tone is more than enough as-is. The gameplay is fun and the options provide great replayability to each level. Not to mention, of course, Styx himself, who provides comedy and wit galore. If you're looking for a stealth title that will have you creeping cautiously through vast levels while trying not to laugh your head off, then Styx: Shards of Darkness is definitely the game for you

Read full review

7 / 10.0
Mar 16, 2017

In short, Styx: Shards of Darkness, is a massive improvement, not only upon its predecessor, but also the AA category as a whole. It is a title which offers the variety of gameplay which even some AAA games lack these days, and the inclusion of the co-op mode only further promotes it up the ladder of desirability. However, despite its strong technical and artistic foundation, Styx: Shards of Darkness, is not a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination. And what prevents it from reaching the upper echelons of the grading scale, is the fact that at its core, Styx: Shards of Darkness, is a title which suffers deeply from its mechanical shortcomings, which are so brazen at times, that they take all the joy away from the title

Read full review