Iceniken
2001
A good action game with simple combat system, a varied roster of enemies and bosses as well as a nice looking island to explore. I didn't like the secret missions and their sometimes really terrible objectives. The fact that missions can't be replayed individually does also not help in motivating myself to get an S rank in every mission. This game is definetly recommended as an introduction for DMC in general.
2021
I give my opinion from the perspective of a splinter cell fan, and due to the game advertising itself as "a love letter to early splinter cell games" I will base my opinion on this statement.
Intravenous is a game about a guy named Steve seeking revenge for his brother who was killed by junkies. The story and visuals of the game are ultimately very simple, and I will therefore talk only about the gameplay.
In the sandbox-like levels, you are able to either play the game as a top-down shooter or sneak past the enemies. You get a lot of tools to use for both play styles like different guns, two non-lethal ranged weapons, grenades and flash bangs, claymores, throwing knives and a device to disable lights and cameras for a short time. Your character can pick locks, climb over small walls and through windows, lay down to hide behind smaller objects, carry bodies and choke people from behind. You have a visibility meter and can hide in shadows, as well as a sound meter to track the noise of your footsteps.
Having played through the game in stealth mode only on the true difficulty setting, I see the stealth mechanics as solid. However, the levels became boring after a while because every level works the same way. You go from your starting point to location X on the map and then return to the starting point or go to another map with a finish point somewhere. There are levels where you have to kill/knock out a bunch of enemies to beat it, but that's all the variety you get. I think location setting and more complex mission structure are very important for stealth games, and this also is what made splinter cell and the other major stealth games so great. If I mention shalebridge cradle or traditions of the trade, most players of these games may immediately recognize the levels and their structure.
In Conclusion: A very well-made stealth game from only one developer, but the sandbox level design without meaningful locations felt boring after a while. For its price on steam, the game is still recommendable to people interested in it.
Intravenous is a game about a guy named Steve seeking revenge for his brother who was killed by junkies. The story and visuals of the game are ultimately very simple, and I will therefore talk only about the gameplay.
In the sandbox-like levels, you are able to either play the game as a top-down shooter or sneak past the enemies. You get a lot of tools to use for both play styles like different guns, two non-lethal ranged weapons, grenades and flash bangs, claymores, throwing knives and a device to disable lights and cameras for a short time. Your character can pick locks, climb over small walls and through windows, lay down to hide behind smaller objects, carry bodies and choke people from behind. You have a visibility meter and can hide in shadows, as well as a sound meter to track the noise of your footsteps.
Having played through the game in stealth mode only on the true difficulty setting, I see the stealth mechanics as solid. However, the levels became boring after a while because every level works the same way. You go from your starting point to location X on the map and then return to the starting point or go to another map with a finish point somewhere. There are levels where you have to kill/knock out a bunch of enemies to beat it, but that's all the variety you get. I think location setting and more complex mission structure are very important for stealth games, and this also is what made splinter cell and the other major stealth games so great. If I mention shalebridge cradle or traditions of the trade, most players of these games may immediately recognize the levels and their structure.
In Conclusion: A very well-made stealth game from only one developer, but the sandbox level design without meaningful locations felt boring after a while. For its price on steam, the game is still recommendable to people interested in it.