Focus Home Interactive has just released a new trailer for Styx: Shards of Darkness. The trailer shows off Styx’s skills and tools as he wipes out an entire room full of elves.
“As a nimble Goblin, Styx’s strengths are boosted by a magical Amber flowing through his veins, allowing him a plethora of magical abilities such as amber vision, a short-lived invisibility, and even the possibility to clone himself,” Lead Level Designer Julien Desourteaux explains in a post on the PlayStation Blog. “As well as these, Shards of Darkness introduces crafting, allowing Styx to create tools and gadgets to distract, disable, and kill his foes. If you take a little time to explore each of the large, varied levels, you’ll be able to find new equipment to bolster your arsenal and lead the perfect stealthy attack on unsuspecting Elves, Dwarves, and other enemies in the world.”
Though not including any gameplay, the cinematic trailer is instead an artsy summary of what players can expect in the game, as well as a character study of the protagonist Styx. Set to the tune of Marc Scibilia’s “This Shadow,” the video shows Styx silently skulking in the shadows and planning his every move. The elves have something Styx wants, a magical Quartz, and Styx is willing to kill everyone in the room to get it.
As a small (and unusually smart) goblin, Styx has to rely on his wits and tools, and the trailer showcases this brilliantly. Styx takes out some guards at a distance with an arm-mounted crossbow, turns invisible to sneak past an area with no hiding spots, spawns a clone on top of an elf, and uses that clone as a distraction to drop a chandelier on the guards rushing to kill it. The last remaining elf thinks he can run away but activates Styx’s acid mine and dissolves into nothing.
Throughout the trailer, Styx shows little emotion and is completely focused on his work. The only time he smiles is when he looks at the elves to relish their upcoming slaughter and when he has his hands on the Quartz. He’s a professional assassin; he’s done this kind of work before. However, he still is cocky enough to taunt the few remaining elven guards right before he leaps off a balcony to safety.
For those of you who do not know who Styx is, he first appeared in the game Of Orcs and Men, a relatively well-received fantasy RPG that turned the classic orcs vs. men narrative on its head by making humans the evil aggressors. Styx’s follow-up game, a prequel to Of Orcs and Men, was the stealth game Styx: Master of Shadows.
Styx: Shards of Darkness is scheduled for release on March 14th for the PC, PlayStation 4, and the Xbox One.