Where It Fits in the Lore

Who remembers the 2014 Xbox 360 tactical RPG Of Orcs and Men? Probably not many. The Styx games are more widely known, mostly because of the steep discounts and cheep point of entry. Styx: Blades of Greed ties directly into the overlooked tactical title that started it all, serving as a prequel that sets up the Great War between humans and goblins. It also explores the origins of the Black Hand, the mercenary group Styx belonged to in Of Orcs and Men. With its position bridging the older game and the more recent Styx titles, Blades of Greed feels like an ideal jumping-on point for newcomers.

Single-Player Stealth Action-Adventure

Unlike the tactical RPG gameplay from Of Orcs and Men, Styx sticks closely to the stealth-action formula fans expect from the series. This new entry notably drops the co-op mode that divided players in Styx: Shards of Darkness. This time around, the experience is entirely single-player, allowing the developers to laser-focus on tighter level design and more polished stealth mechanics.

Core Hook: Hunting Quartz

As a persecuted goblin (the only one who speaks), Styx now makes his living hunting Quartz, a powerful new energy resource. This time, he’s running the operation himself, commanding a crew aboard a zeppelin. Quartz fuels everything from towering golems to flying airships, and multiple factions are battling to control it. The conflict over Quartz isn’t just a narrative conceit though, it directly feeds into the game’s core systems and progression.

New Quartz Powers

Quartz introduces a brand-new suite of abilities that Styx can wield across his high-flying journey. In fact, fans of Dishonored might feel right at home here. You’ve got powers like Mind Control, which lets Styx briefly possess enemies, and Time Shift, which slows or accelerates time so you can slip through patrol routes. Flux Blast offers a more aggressive option, unleashing a shockwave that knocks enemies off their feet. Quartz abilities form just a half of the game’s upgrade system.

Cloning and Invisibility Return

The other half of Styx’s abilities come from the stealth-minded Amber skills. These include returning fan-favorites like invisibility and cloning, which lean more toward defensive and evasive playstyles compared to the offense-oriented Quartz abilities. Clone Decoy is a tad different compared to previous titles since you cannot directly pilot clones this time. The advantage is their upgradability.

Two-Track Progression

Skills in Blades of Greed aren’t static. The game features a branching, two-track skill tree giving you the option to invest in either Amber stealth abilities or aggressive Quartz powers. Your choices shape how Styx handles encounters. For example, clone-related upgrades allow you to deploy multiple decoys, which can be invaluable for slipping past heavily guarded patrols.

Crafting

Skills aren’t the only trick up Styx’ goblin sleeve; he’s also a cunning trapmaster who knows how to craft. Looting is something goblins are particularly good at and you’ll be doing much of that within the more open-ended environments. Collected materials can be used to craft temporary weapons, potions, and traps on the fly. These range from noise-making whistles and glass bottles to acid used to quickly dispose bodies. Crafting is fast and seamless, aided by automatic loot pickups.

Vertical Environments

Environments aren’t just bigger for the sake of loot though, they also serve to vary up the terrain. The game has a notable vertical element complimenting the stealth/action gameplay. Styx can climb structures and parkour across rooftops with leaps and slides, and performing kills from behind is more satisfying due to the multi-angle sandbox design. There’s some exciting tools that make traversal across the larger world more fun too, as we’ll get into shortly.

More Progression Details

These larger environments support a new platformer-inspired structure, which has me pretty excited. As you progress, you’ll unlock tools that open up new routes and shortcuts. To keep backtracking manageable, fast-travel points are scattered throughout the world in addition to frequent respawn points.

Glider and Grappling Hook

Traversal gets a major upgrade thanks to new tools. Styx can now glide across gaps using a hang glider, reaching new areas and striking enemies from above. A grappling hook allows him to zip instantly to ledges and rooftops, while climbing claws help scale steep, often rugged, walls.

Three Large Districts

Rather than a fully open world, Blades of Greed is divided into three open-ended districts. The Wall is an imposing borderland tower separating humans from the rest of the world and features some of the game’s most vertigo-inducing heights. Turquoise Dawn is a dense jungle homeland of the orcs, while Akenash offers a more fantastical, Tolkien-inspired aesthetic as the elven capital.

Zeppelin Hub

Aside from fast-travel points, you can access regions via Styx’s own personal zeppelin. The zeppelin serves as the mobile hub of the game, housing your delinquent crew of Quartz thieves with Styx at the helm. My favorite aspect of the zeppelin is that it acts as the place of conversation for all the party members. I’m not expecting the Normandy from Mass Effect here, but the zeppelin serves a similar purpose. My hopes weren’t let down when I heard the crew members speak. Your elf companion Djarak is voiced by the same actor who played Balthier in Final Fantasy XII, a fitting casting choice considering they’re both sky pirates in their respective games. Let’s just hope the dialogue writing matches the potential and we get some cool backstories and companion quests for Styx’s crew.

Tone

It’s perhaps worth pointing out that Styx himself is a very chatty goblin. In fact, he talks to himself more than he does to his crewmates throughout the game. Much of the game’s humor is filtered through his monologues and quippy observations. Thankfully, the developers have confirmed that the very repetitive death screens from Shards of Darkness are gone, replaced by contextual ragdoll animations. Numerous words are heard in the short demo alone, so if you’re averse to heavy swearing, steer clear, and if you want something with more of an edge, you’re in the right place.

Length

According to the developers, a casual playthrough clocks in at around 20 hours. Completionists and explorers can expect to spend significantly more time uncovering secrets and side activities scattered throughout the districts.

Price and Editions

For a semi-open-world platformer offering over 20 hours of content, the price is appealing. Styx: Blades of Greed retails for $39.99 on PC and $49.99 on consoles. Still not sure if it’s for you? Well, there’s a 30-minute demo available, and best of all, your progress carries over to the full game. For fans who want early access and extra bonuses, the Quartz Edition costs $10 more and includes 48-hour early access, skins, weapons, and some bonus talent points to spend on your Quartz thievery antics.

The story is quite intriguing considering the theme it touches and will keep you immersed if you’re into that sort of stuff. The striking thing about the game is the graphics. I was awed when I first laid my eyes on it. It really does make a stunning first impression. Its meticulously designed but uneven textures, attention to detail, and the way the characters spring to life in makes this RPG quite something.

Sure, some problems are there. I encountered a bunch of glitches and other bugs, but overall it wasn’t that game breaking. I wish the game was polished enough to achieve a consistent quality throughout but I’ll take what I can get here, but do keep in mind that I’m only saying that due to this game being so refreshing to play.

Arkail and Styx have different personalities, one is a hunk who can smash enemies and go in a bout of rage destroying everything, while the other is a cunning and calculating goblin that attacks from afar, but both have to work in tandem to get through some obstacles, not to mention help each other. The witty writing, especially for Styx is quite humorous.

It’s a game of treachery too, as you know, Orcs will be Orcs, and some of them betray our weird protagonists at every opportunity only to get their skulls bashed in.

The combat system is reminiscent of the old Bioware games in the sense you have to queue up attacks, and both Arkail and Styx have different abilities which you can use to pummel or assassinate your foes. Arkail, as mentioned above, is quite useful in destroying armored foes and basically everything, while Styx is sort of a sneaky type.

One thing that bugs me is the linear level design. I mean, all those great visuals do come at a cost I guess. But the linearity of the game is a hindrance in many ways, especially when playing as Arkail. Imagine the Hulk being constrained to a small corridor. Yeah. Its Scary if you’re stuck in that corridor, too, but not fun at all if you’re just an observer.

One of the best things about this game is the OST. Man, that really pumps you up. I recommend you to give it a listen, because it’s truly something really pleasant and quite charming. The music was composed by Olivier Deriviere of Alone in the Dark fame. I wasn’t too fond of the composer in the first place due to his past work, but his work in this game directly puts him in the legendary tier. It has made me excited to listen to his future works, too.

The gameplay mechanics can sometimes get on your nerves but if you’re an old school gamer, it should be right up your alley. Of Orcs and Men is a 12-15 hour game, which is quite meaty when you consider the asking price, and it’s something that is also quite refreshing to play. A change in perspective playing as an Orc and Goblin really spices up the whole thing.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

Play as an Orc and get involved in the war opposing the Orcs and Goblins on one side to their persecutors, Humankind. GamingBolt is here to help you to fight the good fight! Check out this guide as this will help you to defeat Wizards, fight the assassins and soldiers of the Empire of Men, and oppose the powerful Sisters of Laments. This walkthrough will work for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC versions of the game.

***Please note this walkthrough was not uploaded by GamingBolt.com.

Special thanks to Youtube user AlienRmix for uploading this walkthrough.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions in the comments section below.

Without further delay, lets get started!

It reveals further details regarding the Orcs and their strife, as they send the Bloodjaws on a mission to repay the persecution their race has suffered under for decades. We’re not sure if that’s the best set-up for a buddy comedy between Arkail and Styx, but Of Orcs and Men releases on October 11th in Europe for PS3, PC and XBox 360.

Taking cues from the “Buddy Film” genre, it showcases how unlikely heroes must bound together to overcome communication problems and hilarious moments. It helps bring some much needed respite and comedy to what’s otherwise a crazy violent game, as Arkail and Styx work together to survive despite the difference in their characters and play styles. Check it out above.

About Of Orcs and Men :

Game oerview:

Of Orcs and Men immerses you into a brutal world at war, where the Empire of Men’s oppressive threat looms over the territories of the Orcs and the Goblins. Goblins are systematically persecuted and slaughtered, while Orcs not killed in battle are captured and enslaved. The game first puts you into the role of an elite Orc soldier from the legendary legion of Bloodjaws, a league of warriors deeply involved in the war opposing the Orcs and Goblins on one side to their persecutors, Humankind. As a veteran warrior who has seen the most brutal of battles, you are appointed by the Orc commander to complete a mission that could change the course of the war: kill the one man responsible for all of this bloodshed, the one who has, for years, exhorted the human masses to loath and fight the green-skinned people: the Emperor himself.

Publisher : Focus Home Interactive

Developer : Warner Bros.

Platforms : PC, PS3 and X360

Release Date : Spring 2012

Stay tuned to Gamingbolt.com for more news and updates.

Of Orcs and Men’s OST has been composed by Olivier Deriviere (Alone in the Dark, Obscure) and performed by the Boston Cello Quartet. The game features more than 20 original tracks, and the video takes us through each step of the process, along with the performances of the Quartet.

Of Orcs and Men will be releasing on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC this October.