Styx: Blades of Greed

Nine years in the making, Cyanide has expanded Styx's scope in all the right ways without sacrificing its steadfast focus on stealth.

Styx: Blades of Greed takes this dark fantasy stealther open world further with fantastic results, slotting together complex bases to create dense settings for sneaking that neatly expand in complexity as you progress. Some tech problems and guard simplicity can irritate, but the huge array of creative problem solving, from decoy clones to fireplace scuttling, makes this a world worth getting lost in.

With its satisfying sneaking and intricate, highly replayable levels, Styx: Blades of Greed is comfortably the best proper, old-fashioned stealth game of the last decade. Unfortunately, a wealth of bugs and technical issues on PC, not to mention the often cheap-feeling voice acting and cutscenes, reduce its appeal for those that aren’t genre die-hards.

Styx: Blades of Greed isn't quite as well cut out as a fine piece of quartz, but it's easily the best stealth game in years - and so utterly compelling you'll be desperate to get back to it when you have to do boring un-murdery things like, I dunno, going to the shops, or feeding the cat.

Generally speaking, Styx: Blades of Greed’s move to a more open world is a good choice and plays to the title character’s strengths. Intricate level design and challenging stealth are matched by Styx’s new and returning toys. Apart from some technical misfires and my personal gripes with a few mechanics, Styx: Blades of Greed is not quite an open-armed introduction to the loveable green guy, but it should absolutely please fans of the series.

Cyanide's Styx series may not be a household name for stealth games, but it still managed to carve out a niche for itself thanks to its solid gameplay and personable protagonist, a rogue goblin called Styx who's never afraid to voice his mind. No one would probably call Styx: Master of Shadows and Styx: Shards of Darkness the most accomplished of games, but, at the same time, no one would deny how both games have plenty of heart.

Styx: Blades of Greed is a set of very good stealth mechanics and well designed levels wrapped in a fairly uninteresting and occasionally baffling narrative.

Styx, the Master of Stealth, is back, and in his latest adventure he has more freedom than ever as he hunts down valuable Quartz. The openness of the levels is perhaps the highlight of Styx: Blades of Greed, though the new tools and skills available to Styx are also welcome. It's just a shame there are no maps to help with your navigation, and the combat remains something that will frustrate.

Styx: Blades of Greed delivers smart stealth design and expanded levels that reward patience, but rough edges and limited accessibility hold it back from greatness.

The newly vertiginous sandbox levels prove an excellent canvas for sneaking and stealing, in a welcome new entry in what feels increasingly like the spiritual successor to Thief: The Dark Project.

Styx: Blades of Greed has its quirks, yes, but it's all presented so well that the experience comes together in ways that make you feel like a blade in the dark that can pull off even the most complex infiltrations without your enemies being able to catch you. All you need to do is brave out the initial batch of missions that are rather stingy with upgrades. It takes a while for this one to truly show off its improvements but when it does, it's an absolute treat.

Styx: Blades of Greed is a must-play for stealth enthusiasts. It's not some incredible game that's going to blow you away on every level, but it is a title that knows what it wants to do and does it well. The story is serviceable, and the problems aren't so bad that they detract from the fun parts of the game. If you've played the originals in the series, then you'll have an excellent time. If you're new to the genre as a whole, you'll still find yourself having a lot of fun with the gameplay. With the mix of classic game design and some new age evolution, Styx is back and better than ever bef...