Intravenous Reviews

I like

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YES! SHUSH BANG!

Stealth Hotline Miami.

Intravenous 1 - a game that, one could argue, is now completely redundant to buy and play since the Remastered version of the exact same game exists as DLC for Intravenous 2: Collateral. Said Remastered version has all the new weapons and tools from the sequel, as well as many QOL changes that make the experience objectively better. So is there any reason to play what is an objectively inferior version of the adventures of developers self-insert and Kurt Cobain? Well, for starters the game has a pretty limited weapon selection and, unlike the sequel, it has no option for attachments whatsoever. Hell, it doesn't even have an in-game shop where you can purchase your equipment - everything is either for free or must be found first. As for suppressed weapons, there are only 3 options and all of them are semi-automatic secondaries, no full-auto. Also, unlike the sequel, you don't get an extra ammo pouch with stronger armor nor can you affect enemy flashlights and radios with any EMP tools. You get no extra saves if you pick up an enemy modded weapon either. On the flipside, there will be no suspicion if there's a lack of missing patrols. So the first game is neither easier nor more difficult - it's as hard as you want it to be. I did 3 runs - a Masochist 100% Kills, a True Difficulty with MK23+Knife only and a Hippie Boxer (AKA true Masochism difficulty) and almost every run was fun. I REALLY would not recommend the latter. It's nice to hear how the original OST sounded like and compare to Xtrullor's VIP versions in the Remaster and, while there are noticeable improvements in the Remaster, the original OST still holds up and is a joy to listen to while you mercilessly gun down crackheads and thugs. There are a couple of bugs I found that don't exist in the sequel, like how enemies tend to phase through doors whenever they close them or how the EMP gun will very rarely just not work for some reason. The Masochism difficulty isn't really that hard, though I'd recommend it only when you learn the map layouts due to the single save rule. It essentially just turns the game into an open-level Hotline Miami where everyone has guns. I'd say going loud is pretty viable as everyone here dies in a single shot, so getting full-auto primary and secondary is a must. Kevlar and plate help since it lets you tank two shots instead of the standard one before the armour breaks. To answer the question from the beginning, I would say this: Play this if you really, REALLY liked Intravenous 2 and you either want to make a comparison between the first and the remaster and/or you want an another way to support the developer. No offense to the dev, but the asking price of the first game is just a wee bit high, especially since the Remastered DLC for the sequel costs half the price, but ultimately it's up to you if you want to purchase this now or wait for a sale. At the end of the day, I had a lot of fun playing through this little historical gem and personally got my money's worth. And with the sequel getting its final update, I have to say - I genuinely look forward to spy's future projects.

Short game but very good, similar to Hotline Miami top down stealthy shooter.

Feels like playing as John WIck but in 2D [spoiler]You lost a loved one and took a revenge to a whole gang, not realizing that you're just a pawn and being betrayed by your only friend who helped you throughout your journey to seek vengeance.[/spoiler] if you love playing Hotline Miami, or Top-Down Shooter or Stealth in General, Intravenous gives you all the experience mentioned. The game lets you decide what to do or what to use, where even stealth is optional and be like Jacket from HM. Considering that the game was made by a single person, 'spy'. I'll say the game is magnificent the way as it is and I'm planning to continue the sequel. May this review catch the eyes of gamers who will buy this game to support the dev and make new more content for the sequel.

This has become one of my favorite games. I get lost in it and haven't been infatuated with a game like I have for this in a long time. This got a remake with the sequel and I loved 2 so much I had to get this version, like looking through a photo album to see how far its come. I see the love and how much has stayed the same, and gained a respect for the improvements made and details attended before i was even here. I could glaze this game for a while but its LOUD or stealth, top down, John wick type action, I fall into achievement hunting for the game like im jonesing for another hit. I would recommend this game and even more so the sequel. Its rare to see a game go this right, and its landed a firm place in my top 10 all time favs

A hybrid of Hotline Miami and Splinter Cell... I [b]really[/b] wanted to like it. This is just an all-time example of "less than the sum of its parts." The developer is focused on individual systems and their 'coolness,' and not how they fit together into an engaging experience. You see all kinds of markers of a 'simulated' experience - equipment effects your noise level, movement, speed, etc. You have sound, light/shadow, speed, hiding bodies, turning lights out, leaving blood or not, closing doors or not, going prone behind partial cover to stay hidden. Enemies are smart, often keep each other in view, call for back up, etc. But in practice, either the total opposition is 'thin' enough that you just move through undetected without a lot of effort, or the enemy-count is high enough that you need to tediously eliminate large groups. Neither feels particularly good. Games like Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory or Metal Gear Solid V both give the player an amazing toolkit with superb moment-to-moment gameplay and tactical thinking. Heck, Metal Gear 2 on the MSX computer (1990) is a better 2D stealth experience than Intravenous. If you 'go loud,' it's a much worse version of Hotline Miami where enemies swarm you and have way more firepower. Tiny mistakes feel unrecoverable. Systems in search of a game.

Contains spoilers. Short but fun. Definitely took inspiration from Hotline Miami but tried to expand on it. I will say though, I don't like being given 2 guns right at the start. What made Hotline Miami's gameplay stand out was that you had to make lots of split second decisions, dropping weapons, throwing weapons, deciding what weapon to go after your current one was empty, making a mental note of where it's dropped, etc. I like that you're able to build more stealthy builds rather than going guns blazing all the time, but personally it takes that level of complexity away from the formula the game bases it's mechanics on. Wished explosives were toned down as well, they're op as hell. Especially the motion mine, that thing has a gigantic range. Story is barebones, just there to give the missions some flavour text. The 'big reveal' was cliche and not surprising whatsoever. Also why doesn't Accomplice just ambush Steve with his hitmen, after he takes out the second rival gang? Why go no contact, make him suspicious and attack him at his house? Characters are non-descript, you have good guys and the main character. That's really it. The constant hero worship in this game is irritating. A lot of enemy dialogue that isn't the combat barks are just fellating the main character, "Oh he's such a badass! He killed all our guys!" ad infintum. If you want to make the player feel like a badass, you should let your gameplay do that. And that is something this game does really well, though usually I don't enjoy constant shooting galleries. This is more to do with how the game is designed, the enemy won't just mindlessly run into your crosshair. If they see you're set up holding a chokepoint, they'll surround your position and taunt you. It rewards good planning if you're going loud and punishes messing up stealth. Whichever way you choose, you have to carefully choose what angle to attack from, making sure not to expose yourself to multiple at once, keeping an eye on where the entrances are, how many enemies are positioned where - it's great. I do wish the game would've leaned more into the tactical aspect though, do things like make the mags carry individual ammo instead of the usual return to ammo pile behaviour games usually have. Though I can see the thought process behind not adding features like this into a game based off of Hotline Miami.

Soundtrack is really good, story isn't anything crazy and is pretty straight-forward but I don't really mind that. Good variety of weapons to mess around with along with many different ways to clear levels and progress forward. Very difficult and incredibly unfair, feels like you're getting your nuts stomped on 90% of the time. I'm into that though so thumbs up.