If there’s one word that arguably best sums up the Styx series, it’s underrated. Immersive sims like Dishonored, Prey and Deus Ex tend to hog all the spotlight, leaving the Styx series quietly doing its thing in the shadows.
Mind you, perhaps that’s not altogether a bad thing, because while new games in the Dishonored, Prey and Deus Ex series are nowhere to be seen, Styx developer Cyanide Studio has been hard at work on a brand new sequel titled Blades of Greed, which is (hopefully) launching later this year.
Styx Blades of Greed feels like a giant leap forward for the series, adding new powers and larger environments, not to mention vastly improved visuals thanks to the use of Unreal Engine 5. That’s on top of the same stealthy action and dark humour that fans have grown to love, but in a world that’s said to be 2.5 times the size as its predecessor.
The fourth wall-breaking protagonist is on the hunt for a mysterious material known as Quartz, which in turn will grant him powerful new abilities that will aid his slippery exploits.
This includes a new grapple hook-style item that can be used to bound from building to building, as well as a glider that lets Styx gently float from kill to kill.
While you don’t have access to the aforementioned items from the very beginning, the game’s greater sense of verticality is on display from the start of the adventure, including an early mission in which Styx attempts to rescue a drunken Dwarf captain from a building surrounded by guards.
While you can stealthily make your way from the base of the building to the very top, quietly dispatching and distracting guards along the way, players can also climb to the top of surrounding structures and attempt rescue from above.
Whether you use cranes to rain down destruction on groups of enemies, or silently sneak through windows and corridors, there’s a very good chance you’ll have a completely different experience to that of your friends.
However, it’s not until later in the game when things really open up and the possibilities begin to feel endless.
In addition to the aforementioned grappling hook and glider, Styx will obtain powers that among other things will let him dissolve enemies in pools of acid, create clones and even control enemies.
In fact, I was pleasantly surprised by how many creative ways there are to overcome obstacles and reach your goal. It’s borderline overwhelming.
Even a simple clone has multiple uses. For example, you can use a clone to draw an enemy away from its post and create a new path, or to fool the chasing pack into calling off the search after you’ve been spotted. While that’s all pretty standard stuff, you can even use a clone to poison an enemy’s food, or to hide in a wardrobe and dispatch guards when they walk by.
Similar to the very best the genre has to offer, if something seems like it should be possible in your head, chances are it is in the game.
Solutions are often as simple or as complicated as you want them to be. Indeed, you might spend ages scoping out an area, planning your route and setting traps, only to realise that you can take control of a guard and make him complete your objective for you. It’s incredibly satisfying when you come up with a plan and have the tools to execute it to perfection.
While the exact complexity of the game remains to be seen, the early signs are extremely positive for Styx Blades of Greed, which could be one of this year’s most pleasant surprises.
The sheer number of items and abilities means that there’s a very real possibility that the Styx series could finally get its due and start to be spoken about in the same breath as Dishonored and Deus Ex.