Intravenous

Someone really wanted to "fix" everything that was "unrealistic" in stealth games and this is the result. Guards are not stupid, suspicious activity is actually suspicious, silence is not silent and invisibility doesn't make you invisible. It's up to you whether that's a good or bad thing.

It's not a simple "huh who's there" and "must've been the wind" crap.
Game gets real aggressive once the enemy gets alerted, and it never leaves.
Also punishes players who try to camp.
Different to hotline maimi but you can feel it when going loud. (And changing the difficulty)
After finishing it. Would buy Intravenous 2.

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.

After squeezing my ass and teeth tight, I have played through the rest of campaign where I left over for months and it was as hell worth it. This game is an excellent example of hardcore tactical experience with quite a story to tell!

Amazing indie project. Feels like playing a John Wick movie with a dark 80s/90s action vibe. You can sneak through the whole game without killing anyone, or go loud and wipe out every enemy. Both styles feel great, and the game lets you choose how to play.

I really enjoyed the game and believed it to be a work of art. However, as the dev said, this game is not what it could be, due to money and time constrains, and so he strongly encourages people to buy the second game wich is much better and is more fun. The Dev also remade the first game as a dlc in the second game, improving almost everything about it. I say buy INTRAVENOUS 2 and support the amazing dev that created such a great game.

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.