{"id":454550,"date":"2024-01-25T10:23:19","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T16:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/?p=454550"},"modified":"2024-01-25T10:23:26","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T16:23:26","slug":"intravenous-2-mercenarism-is-the-stealth-game-youve-been-waiting-for-and-its-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/intravenous-2-mercenarism-is-the-stealth-game-youve-been-waiting-for-and-its-free\/","title":{"rendered":"Intravenous 2: Mercenarism is the stealth game you&#8217;ve been waiting for (and it&#8217;s free)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Depending on who you ask, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/destructoids-award-for-best-indie-game-of-2023\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">indie games are the bread-and-butter of modern gaming<\/a>, and there&#8217;s certainly merit in that statement, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/morbidcore-indie-games-personal-diary-outside-of-mainstream\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">they serve niches that AAAs simply do not<\/a>. Take stealth gaming, for example, which received something truly exciting just a few days back: <em>Intravenous 2: Mercenarism<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those of us who have been eagerly anticipating when on earth might Ubisoft finally announce a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/splinter-cell-remake-director-leaving-ubisoft-toronto-news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new <em>Splinter Cell<\/em> game<\/a> may have missed the memo about <em><a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/1486630\/Intravenous\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Intravenous<\/a><\/em> and its upcoming sequel, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/2608270\/Intravenous_2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Intravenous 2<\/a><\/em>. The mostly unknown stealth shooter from the developer HypeTrain Digital enjoys solid reviews, but it&#8217;s the 2024 sequel that&#8217;s really interesting here, mainly because it&#8217;s got a top-tier demo you could start playing right this instant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Intravenous-2-Mercenarism-Steam-Pic3.jpg?w=640&#038;resize=640%2C360\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-454558\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Image via HypeTrain Digital<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-what-is-intravenous-2-mercenarism\">What is Intravenous 2: Mercenarism?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/2651330\/Intravenous_2_Mercenarism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Intravenous 2: Mercenarism<\/a><\/em> is, in essence, a fairly comprehensive demo for the full-fledged sequel. More importantly, however, it is a more-or-less standalone experience that ties the two narratives together. Players get to interact with <em>Intravenous 2<\/em>&#8216;s gameplay systems throughout four separate missions, each of which is surprisingly interactive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The core gameplay loop is, as the screenshots may betray, all-in on stealth. All <em>Intravenous<\/em> games allow players to fine-tune their characters&#8217; movement as they could in the old <em>Splinter Cell<\/em> games, and the bird&#8217;s eye perspective is reminiscent of the classic <em>Metal Gear<\/em> and <em>Metal Gear Solid<\/em> titles. All the other stealth game tropes are present and accounted for, too. You can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Destroy lights and manage your sound profile<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Move bodies around and hide them in crates\/closets<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Play non-lethally<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pick locks<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Throw bottles and other assorted garbage to distract enemies<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Navigate levels and complete objectives in a free-form, open-ended fashion<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s a very impressive piece of kit, truly. <em>Intravenous<\/em> games can also be played as regular tactical shooters, though fairly hardcore ones, at that. They give you access to a whole arsenal of weapons both suppressed and not, each with their own respective statistics to keep track of. For example, there&#8217;s a huge difference in the sound profile of a .22 LR veterinary pistol going off, and a 10MM Glock punching through the glass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Intravenous 2<\/em>, specifically, introduces remarkably in-depth gear and weapon modifications and the whole thing is present and accounted for in the <em>Mercenarism<\/em> demo. The demo which, in case I haven&#8217;t been clear enough yet, any stealth game fan ought to try out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Intravenous-2-Mercenarism-Steam-Pic2.jpg?w=640&#038;resize=640%2C360\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-454557\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Image via HypeTrain Digital<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-intravenous-2-proper-is-coming-in-2024-but-check-out-intravenous-too\">Intravenous 2 proper is coming in 2024, but check out Intravenous, too<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The full version of <em>Intravenous 2<\/em> is due to launch sometime in 2024, with the full release window announcement still pending. Those who fall in love with the <em>Mercenarism<\/em> demo should make use of the first game&#8217;s current discount, however, as it is now <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/1486630\/Intravenous\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">available at a whopping 60% off<\/a>. The deal is available until February 2, so there&#8217;s still some time to make the call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Granted, it&#8217;s not like <em>Intravenous<\/em> is an AAA game with an AAA price-point: at full price, it&#8217;ll only set you back $20.00 or your regional equivalent. For stealth game fans, it&#8217;s a lovely deal indeed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Snake Fisher coming right at ya.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":872,"featured_media":454556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"article_type":"","ub_ctt_via":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[19109,478],"internal-label":[],"invoiceable_action":[23726],"article_type":[23116],"coauthors":[{"id":872,"display_name":"Filip Galekovic","user_nicename":"filip-galekovic"}],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Intravenous-2-Mercenarism-Steam-Pic1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675","author_info":{"display_name":"Filip Galekovic","author_link":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/author\/filip-galekovic\/"},"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Intravenous-2-Mercenarism-Steam-Pic1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454550"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/872"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454550"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":454602,"href":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454550\/revisions\/454602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454550"},{"taxonomy":"internal-label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-label?post=454550"},{"taxonomy":"invoiceable_action","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/invoiceable_action?post=454550"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=454550"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.destructoid.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=454550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}