Intravenous Reviews

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actual peak

Scratched my stealth action itch just right. 10/10

A great game. Great stealth mechanics, great enemy AI, and great gameplay in general. Definitely worth playing.

This is a challenging and well-executed stealth/action game. Count about 8-10 hours to beat it for the first time while unlocking every weapon. Good potential for replay value since most levels can be approached with very different strategies and many achievements reward multiple playthroughs. One reason why you might not want to buy this game : The whole campaign is available as a DLC for the sequel Intravenous 2, which is a better game. Consider getting that instead.

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.

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.