Intravenous

Intravenous

Intravenous is a stealth-based shooter with a top-down view, and I love it because when stealth goes out the window, you can still pull the situation back.

Gameplay-wise, the game is very, very good. Stealth, while not mandatory, is HEAVILY recommended because the combat is absolutely brutal. Generally, the stealth will consist of you trying your damned best to avoid guards, while the combat will be spamming many claymores at your back. The game heavily rewards exploration of the maps with stuff such as gun supplies and vent shafts that can be used to cheat a level. The gameplay loop is very fun, but on the highest difficulty, the game suffers a bit due to removal of gunplay. On the highest difficulty, since everything dies in one shot, low ROF guns become a joke, while high ROF guns become ““meta””.

Real player with 18.6 hrs in game


Read More: Best Difficult Stealth Games.


A masterpiece of the genre, a twist of early ’00s Splinter Cell style stealth, with a Hotline Miami-esque top down view. Shadow is your only safety when death is but a bullet away.

Punishingly difficult in stealth or full blown combat, your most lethal tools get you killed just as quick as they will your enemies, a poorly timed suppressed gunshot can bring a swarm down upon you, or frags and claymores blast shrapnel far beyond what you expect. Empty magazines, cans, and bottles make great distractions, and a Chaos Theory inspired OCP device lets you knock out lights and cameras. Dancing around your enemies in the dark is difficult, but one slip and the hunt is on, they don’t let up. The AI is smart enough to avoid a trap, opting to take cover and taunt you out.

Real player with 17.1 hrs in game

Intravenous on Steam

Wanna Survive

Wanna Survive

simple but good strategy game, I’ve enjoyed it a lot in my first hours.

After a while sadly, the game started to show its flaws. The second part of the game ramps up the difficulty so much that the game ended up not being fun anymore. It becomes more about exploiting the enemy AI and retrying. You are surrounded by a ton of enemies and you have to proceed by trial and error (played the game in original mode, which is hard mode).

Sure the game gives you the possibility to go back by one turn by paying in-game currency, but redoing the same turn over and over because you don’t want to lose any characters is not fun.

Real player with 11.5 hrs in game


Read More: Best Difficult Turn-Based Tactics Games.


The game is a neat little hidden gem. With the gradual introduction as the stages go on of new characters with abilities, there is always something new to learn in order to make the dynamic of the group work better in fights. Wanna Survive has a very steep difficulty curve, in which things seem to go from 0 to 100 very fast. This isn’t neccesarily a bad thing upon reflection, but it definitely left me frustrated to begin with- however, one can’t say that the game is boring because it is too easy. I’ve played through to the end once, and though I won’t be replaying immediately to check off the last few achievements I can see myself picking it up once more for a second playthrough in the near future, which would take the amount of time I got out of this game to roughly 10-11 hours once all done.

Real player with 7.4 hrs in game

Wanna Survive on Steam

Project: Cow

Project: Cow

Different and fun.

Real player with 2.7 hrs in game


Read More: Best Difficult Stealth Games.


Project: Cow on Steam

Destroy the Demon Army - Modified

Destroy the Demon Army - Modified

Simple. I like it. Looking forward to updates and more content. : )

Edit: Not as simple as I thought. This will keep me busy. I want to keep the 5 stars lol

Good game. Great potential.

Real player with 13.8 hrs in game

Destroy the Demon Army - Modified on Steam

Sweet Hero

Sweet Hero

Control a coconut little kiss and slash your sweet enemies.

Think before move!

Sweet hero is a challenging grid-based movement game.

Every enemy have your own pattern, use this in your favor. Some stages are difficult but you respawn fastly. Think of a strategy to win.

Features

  • 70 handcrafted stages.

  • 4 worlds with different enemies on each.

  • Relaxing soundtrack and satisfying sound effects.

  • Fast paced combat

  • Candy themed cute pixel art

Sweet Hero on Steam

Beyond Enemy Lines

Beyond Enemy Lines

I’m a fan of Project I.G.I. and already liked this game very much when it just came out, because of the similarities in the core gameplay, and I missed this feeling a lot. BEL fullfilled my expectations and is still getting better with every update.

Going completely stealth is hard to master. In case of failing to stay undetected - which you should try as long as you can - you really need to aim precisely, otherwise you’re a dead man if you have no cover nearby. This should be a tough walkthrough challenge for Centerstrain01, who knows his videos ;)

Real player with 30.4 hrs in game

Word Tactical is recently thrown around a lot and it usually refers to games like Operation Flashpoint, Armed Assault, Ghost Recon, Swat etc. Despite their history, many tactical shooters have being changed over the years and they are going further and further from their origins with each new entry.

Among the good old games there was a small first person shooter developed by Innerloop studios called Project IGI.

IGI series was not very popular and was killed after the release of a second game, IGI 2 Covert Strike. Despite that the series is unfairly underrated, both games are very enjoyable to play even today.

Real player with 16.1 hrs in game

Beyond Enemy Lines on Steam

Save the Planet

Save the Planet

I think this game was made in first class of university

Real player with 0.8 hrs in game

Save the Planet on Steam

Blacklist Brigade

Blacklist Brigade

Pretty fun little game. Honestly has more to it than I thought, with weapon and character upgrades, 6 different soldiers who each have thier own couple passive abilities to help the team. Has quite a few gun options(Though there are never enough guns!). Combat, while not to overly difficult, has just enough challenge to where you cant totally yolo everything, unless you just dont care about being downed over and over. Its quite forgiving, with the rather quick and unlimited revives. I also like the amount of UI options.

Real player with 25.2 hrs in game

My friends and I are huge fans of coop tactical shooters. We got this game because we thought it might scratch that itch and we were not disappointed. Lots of tactical movement and teamwork. Tense firefights that are sometimes quite chaotic. Enough gear and class choices to ensure a team of four can specialize, and also a skill system. Easy to get into and play, and next thing you know you’ve spent a couple hours. In a nutshell: fun.

The game is currently in early access, so be aware it isnt in a completed state (though still very playable). Maps are limited for now, but being added to. The developer is active in the forums and extremely responsive to feedback, which is nice. This is a small title that deserves support.

Real player with 18.3 hrs in game

Blacklist Brigade on Steam

Crown Uncrown: 1D Tactics

Crown Uncrown: 1D Tactics

Win a run and your party gets Crowned, becoming the BOSSFIGHT for your next run while keeping all its items!

Crown Uncrown is an approachable turn-based tactics roguelike with minimal complexity and lots of unique items which interact in interesting ways.

Defeat enemies in a series of highly tactical and positional combat to seize the Crowns.

Each run is short and unique—perfect for sneaking in a run or two even when you’re busy!

  • Adapt on the fly by tossing an item to an ally!

  • (Sometimes it’s also useful to just lob a bomb toward your enemies.)

  • Enemies are equipped randomly from the same item pool as you, and their loot is a great source for equipping your party.

  • Beware though, enemies grow stronger too as you unlock more powerful items!

  • Because the enemy AI adapts dynamically to its random items, it often makes surprising moves!

Features

  • 1-dimensional battlefields

  • Cute 1-bit pixel art

  • 100+ unique items

  • Unlimited undos if you’ve made a mistake

  • No character classes or stats (Everything is item-based!)

  • Alternate color palettes

Crown Uncrown: 1D Tactics on Steam

SPYHACK: Episode 1

SPYHACK: Episode 1

Ok I have been waiting on this game and wow. I’m very happy with it and the colors are awesome!! Its a fun good game for sure.

Real player with 4.0 hrs in game

My Experience

On the surface, Spyhack checks a lot of my boxes: it’s a stealth game with a sci-fi wrapping that gives you good information on what enemies are able to see. It includes some conceptually neat hacking sections, such as using a robot that glides around on a track gassing your enemies, some turrets whose programming can be changed to target the opposition, and an RC car that can EMP enemy equipment.

I really wanted to like Spyhack - I could tell that it was made with heart, and there’s some part of me that is always rooting for these small indie studios. I found the broken English of my handler charming, and couldn’t hold back a smile when after entering an enemy facility my protagonist exclaimed, “I thought they only manufactured jellybean vitamins for kids!”

Real player with 2.8 hrs in game

SPYHACK: Episode 1 on Steam