Although there are times when the stealth gameplay is a blast, the mediocre controls and cliche-filled writing don’t provide the best first impression.
Cyanide Studio and Focus Home Interactive’s latest stealth adventure game, “Styx: Master of Shadows,†has a lot going for it. Thanks to a cool protagonist and some nifty gameplay devices, you’ll fight past some of the snags, but after a few hours of gameplay, it’s fair the game is ultimately stuck in its own darkness.
Simply put, “Styx: Master of Shadows†would have been an unbelievable PlayStation 2 or Xbox game and a damn good PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 title. It’s got a distinct personality and is the type of game that can be frustrating at times, but is also addicting. In spite of that, from our initial play time, the visuals don’t hold up on the PlayStation 4 and the often incompetent A.I. dampen a game that, at times, is immensely fun.
The in-game visuals are solid, even if enemy character models lack the polish you’d expect from a next-generation console. Even watching Styx’s arm blending into a wall he’s leaning against, or a dead body falling through a gate, could be forgiven. It’s the cut-scenes that kill the game’s visual appeal. Although they look solid for the most part, they fall to pieces during character dialogue. It’s so bad that it becomes increasingly difficult to not skip through, even with the consequence of missing out on the intriguing and sometimes nior-feeling story.
Continue Reading This Article From Review Fix Editor-In-Chief Patrick Hickey Jr. at Examiner.com
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports.
Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders.
His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023.
Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief.
Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale.
Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.
Although there are times when the stealth gameplay is a blast, the mediocre controls and cliche-filled writing don’t provide the best first impression.
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