Styx: Master of Shadows

If you are looking for a Stealth 'em Up game in the style of Thief (and I enjoyed that game), then this isn't the game for you. You see, Styx Master of Shadows, is 100% pure stealth. In other words, if you get spotted lurking around, you can kiss your gobliny, green ass goodbye. Because you're not some muscle bound warrior who does a little sneaking on the side. Styx is a goblin, a quarter or enemies size and if you don't perform stealth kills and attempt a full on assault, you WILL be cut to pieces.
Battling gangs of bad guys simply isn't an option. Its sneaking all the way for Styx because anything else is suicide. Solid Snake or Agent 47 you are not. You play as a tiny goblin, and you'd do well to remember this. Of course, he isn't completely without tricks to lure the unsuspecting goon to his doom. For instance, Styx can unfasten heavy lighting (remember that classic scene in old British comedy Only Fools and Horses where they loosen the bolts to the wrong chandelier sending it crashing to the floor? Or the old poisoning food ruse? Both of these, along with more cunning tactics, are open to our goblin hero.
Proving you have enough Amber (the games 'skill juice'), you can even clone yourself and get to places inaccessible to Styx himself. Sure the clone has limited skills but he's a handy dude in a hostile city who look upon Styx as more demon than impish thief out to swipe the heart of the World Tree. Trouble is the tree is kept deep in the bowels of the impressive but maze like Tower of Akenash. (You can even hear some of the guards grumble about the complex nature of the Tower which can be comical).
That's another thing about Styx: Master of Shadows. The writing is quite brilliant at times, genuinely funny but it isn't above using swear words so perhaps remember this when playing with younger games. Indeed its the liberal amount of swearing that you need to watch out for when playing with children. In fact its wise to keep little hands away from Styx because foul language aside, you can use violence when reaching a difficult route (make sure you use stealth though because like previously said, going in daggers blazing will only result in hitting the restart button.
Developers Cyanide have had a good stab (pun intended)in making this prequel to the first game, Of Orcs and Men. Sure you'd probably find better looking games on PS3 but as we retroheads are fond of saying, gameplay wins over looks every time. You can create the most stunning looking game ever but if it plays like a dog then what is the point? That being said, its no walk in the park and you'll meet your demise many times. Certain areas can be balls hard and as Styx can be killed with one or two swipes from a sword, players would do well to never get spotted. Ever.
You have an orange tattoo that glows when unseen, and you'd do well to keep an eyes on it. Ignore at thy peril. I paid £15 for Styx: Master of Shadows on PlayStation 4 a few days ago, and as I enjoy a decent challenge which this game provides, ive not been disappointed. In a funny old way, it reminds me of Abe's Oddysee, a game that is a breath of air amongst the shooters and driving games clogging up the shelves.

And for that (in my opinion) the game deserves a 4/5

Sony PlayStation 20

20 years ago, two frikken' decades, Sony launched a home videogames console, the iconic PlayStation. We'd already had some pretty sweet games machines by then from the legendary ZX Spectrum to Nintendos SNES but I think we can say without argument that through clever marketing, it was the Sony PlayStation that made videogames cool. Hell, I even remember nightclubs having PlayStation booths which sounds kinda weird now looking back. But it proves if nothing else, that we gamers had seen nothing like it before. Videogames were now trendy *gasps*
Sure we had the likes of Street Fighter and Sonic the Hedgehog from consoles like Sega Megadrive and the aforementioned SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), and these games systems paved the way for the even greater home arcades waiting in the wings (and let's be honest here, anyone having Wipeout 2097 on PlayStation in 1996 did feel like they had arcade quality games at home). Anyone young enough to have grown up with smartphones and tablets just won't get it. You had to have been there to witness a game like Tekken for the first time. Nowadays a tablet can handle these 90s classics without going into meltdown but in 1997? Games like Tomb Raider, Ridge Racer and Metal Gear Solid were pure gold.
I don't really consider myself a PlayStation fanboy, since ive owned (and still own and play) many other consoles including Sega Dreamcast (a personal favourite), GameCube and original Xbox (my 360 sadly flaked on me). But I must admit that its to Sony's boxes of tricks (I own all four), that I turn to first, so I guess there is a Sony fanboy lurking within me somewhere (wishing for a complete Resident Evil 2 reboot to arrive against all odds. Hey, a guy can dream right)?

So anyway, think ive bubbled on for long enough now. Especially since I have a few new PlayStation 4 titles to be cracking on with, including the aceness that is Styx: Master of Shadows and fighting a guy in a pink suit in the mighty Far Cry 4.
So have a very happy birthday PlayStation, here's looking forward to a few more decades of Sony glory! Its been an awesome ride so far and i'm glad you aeem to be winning the console wars this time around!