Subj : I murdered my way up a vertical city and snooped through environm To : All From : TechnologyDaily Date : Mon Sep 15 2025 15:15:09 I murdered my way up a vertical city and snooped through environments in search of shiny quartz crystals in Styx: Blades of Greed, and I cant wait to get my sneak on again Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2025 14:00:00 +0000 Description: Styx: Blades of Greed might have been one of the most underrated games of Gamescom 2025. FULL STORY ====================================================================== Among a host of game and hardware previews at Gamescom 2025, I was quietly keen to see Styx: Blades of Greed . The first two games in the stealth action series passed me by at a distance, but now, with the franchise set to grace the current generation of consoles, I was eager to see what the series is going to serve up next. In short, its something stealthily delicious and seems very much in-keeping with the core of the series - but also has some fresh new ingredients sprinkled in for good measure. From the games setting to Styxs abilities, and from his expansive set of tools to the ways you can utilize light and shadow, theres some real fun to be had here, and its well and truly piqued my curiosity ahead of its release later this year. (Image credit: Nacon) Stealthy does it Its no secret that stealth, sneaking, and distraction are at the core of the Styx series, and thats no different in Blades of Greed . I enjoyed trying outa range of stealthy moves, as well as engaging with some fun tools in my journey up a vertical city, on a mission to pilfer some shiny quartz stone - for reasons. Generally, Styxs sneaky movement feels pretty fluid, and sneaking by a squadron of patrolling goons is great every time. Equally though, investigating each nook and cranny for items is rewarding, and picking off guards one by one - as is my preferred approach - is still incredibly satisfying. (Image credit: Nacon) Stringing together moves through doorways, over balconies, or out of windows, all while avoiding the sight of your enemies, didnt get old at all in my time with the game. And when you do get spotted or run into trouble, there are loads of abilities to choose from. You always have a variety of sneaky tools at your disposal, such as clones, darts, Styxs invisibility mode, and a good old-fashioned throw of sand to the face. A particular favorite of mine was using environmental traps - like sabotaging cranes or chandeliers and causing them to fall onto unwitting guards. However, when things really go wrong and you have to face off with guards, you do get a stark reminder that Styx really is a sneaker, not a fighter - he's rather vulnerable, and you can quickly find yourself on the end of something pointy, to your demise. (Image credit: Nacon) The only way is up Putting all that into practice in Blades of Greeds world is a blast. The game offers a veritable playground for sneaking, climbing, murdering, and bamboozling enemies to get to locations. One of the key reasons for this is that there is excellent verticality to the city. It was particularly excellent to explore and use all the spaces it had to offer to get the jump on foes or speed through locations unscathed. Plus, it makes for some excellent opportunities to accidentally-on-purpose push guards off ledges at great heights. Even if you dont rely on the verticality, there are always multiple routes around locations to each objective - every time I thought I had no options, I looked a little closer and there was a hatch to open here or a bottle to throw there. The glider that Styx has opens up some more traversal options, too, and feels pretty good to use. Throw in some solid (though not spectacular) voice work and plenty of Styxs plain talking humor, along with an intriguing but simple plot, and the wheels are greased from a narrative perspective, too. While not a blockbuster, it looks like a welcome return to the fore for Styx and his sneaky, murderous adventures, and Im eager to see more when the game releases later this year on PS5 , Xbox Series X and Series S , and PC. You might also like... I played Pokmon Legends Z-A at Gamescom 2025, and its semi-real-time battle system is giving vintage Final Fantasy Onimusha: Way of the Sword channels what made the PS2 originals so great, while adding brutally cinematic flair to its combat Turok: Origins nails the series prehistoric sci-fi setting, but youll definitely want a couple of friends to get the most out of it ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/gaming/styx-blades-of-greed-gamescom-2025-preview --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100) .