In many stealth games, from Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell to Hitman, you are the danger in the shadows. Being spotted in the Batman Arkham series can lead to a fast death, but your enemies are still more afraid of you than you are of them. Intravenous 2 makes stealth feel not like an advantage, but a necessity. You aren’t slipping through the darkness to strike the fear of god into your foes, but because you’ll be killed in a flash if you don’t. Ruthless and intense, it gets my heart pounding in ways that few games manage. Now, for its one-year anniversary, developer Explosive Squat has delivered a free update and mini-expansion, and you can even grab it at a discount.
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