One game that’s quickly become one of my favorites is a pseudo-action game called ICEY, available on PlayStation, Steam, Android and iOS. I call it pseudo-, because although it’s cleverly disguised as such, the action is not what the game is truly about – at least, if you want it that way.
ICEY’s a classic 2D side-scrolling type game, combining a thrilling soundtrack with excellent graphics and gameplay mechanics, which is incredibly immersive once you get the moves down. There are two levels of difficulty that caters to both those who prefer immersion in the storyline and the avid combat fan, and there’s a monetary system rewarding the slaying of the futuristic creatures, allowing for some upgrades without taking over the precedence of the game. There are a variety of uniquely designed boss battles, but interestingly, the game lets you skip some of them if you play your cards right – a testament to the prevailing theme of discontinuity with preset rules.
The game is eponymously named after the main character, who’s introduced with a defined purpose, guided along to her ultimate destination by the voice of a narrator. You control Icey, slaying hindrances along your way, and exploring the obscure identity of the “Yellow King” – a reference to the famous play by Robert W. Chambers. The full narrative is gradually pieced together by scarce, cryptic messages found. I find the most fascinating aspect to be the huge variety of choices available in the game, some of which “break” the game – even surpassing the fourth wall, it occasionally feels as if the narrator is in a headlock with the physical player, rather than the controlled character; in this sense, ICEY surpasses conventional games, by challenging the authority of the predestined goals of always permeating the plot and gameplay.
This game is most rewarding if you play it independently, without the assistance of online help (as, I’m sure, many enlist) to discover its secrets, because in this way, the unpredictability of the consequences to your actions is taken to the max. The presupposed ending to the game is straightforward enough to reach, but it’s a real challenge to collect all the achievements, given sparingly in return for beating bosses or – more significantly – breaking the rules.
In essence, ICEY is a classical action title that incorporates some very unique quirks – or maybe it’s just a quirky game that has little bits of action woven in. The choice is yours.
Images: Screenshots taken from ICEY for Android
Disclaimer: I don’t own any rights to the photos in this article, which belong to Fantablade Network and X.D. Network Inc. Please support the original release.
