Platform: Playstation 2

Genre: Action/Shooter

Publisher: BAM! Entertainment

Developer: Torus Games

ETA: September 2003

Related Links:

Review: Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance (Playstation 2)
Review: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (Playstation 2)

Review: Splinter Cell (Playstation 2)

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Ice Nine

Spy games relying on stealth have become popular with the movie releases of The Bourne Identity and The Recruit. So far none of the games has managed to surpass Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. It combined stealth elements with action to keep you on the edge of your seat. It dominated as much as the original game on the Playstation. Ice Nine, which is the latest in the string of spy games, will try to end Metal Gear’s supremacy.

Ice Nine is loosely based on The Recruit. You are a covert CIA officer who is who is given the mission to stop the Ice Nine virus at your CIA training facility. The Ice Nine virus is unique because it can travel through normal power lines and thus can easily target and destroy powerplants. This could cripple a country reliant on electricity. Your missions are handed down to you by a higher-ranking CIA officer. Throughout your missions you’ll stumble on a conspiracy that will lead you to the most trusted and high-ranking CIA members.

The game has multiple endings depending on the path you take. Although many decisions can effect which ending you get the main one is whether or not you are loyal and work only for the CIA or become a double agent for the Chinese terrorist organization, the Zu. The very people you’re investigating for the CIA could be working for the organization you secretly work for too. At times like these, the well-known CIA tenet comes to mind. Nothing is what it seems. Your path may also affect how well a mission goes or if your objective becomes impossible to achieve. In that case your Mission briefing will get updated during the mission.  

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Ice Nine will be a first person game and the character will have many high tech gadgets like the James Bond games. You will also have weapons that do not promote stealth like rocket launchers and remote mines. The player will don many enemy uniforms from neutralized threats to mingle with the enemy and extract important information.

Features

• Multiple endings/mission objectives based on the players’ decisions made in the game.

  • 2 Distinct paths for replayability.  Play through as committed CIA operative or a traitor focused on self-gain

• Unique ‘undercover time’ system.  The player will need to mingle with the enemy through the disguise system, and gain necessary information to complete his mission

• 12 Levels that each have a distinct look and feel.

• More than 15 different enemies with varied behavior, appearance, dialogue, and personality. 

  • After the enemy is neutralized the player will be to take their clothing and operate in disguise.

• 20 unique weapons/gadgets. – including PDA that gives player information and can also be used as “taser” gun.

• Believable A.I.: enemies hide, run away when out of ammo, call for reinforcements, pick up grenades and try to throw them back and talk to each other in battle.

• Realistic Physics Model: rubble tumbles to the ground when walls are blown away, chairs explode, tables buckle, plus kinetic energy redistribution: objects on tables move when the player bumps the table, paintings shake on walls when the player bumps into them.

• Your constant companion, fellow CIA Agent Hannah Stone, will help you carry out mission objectives and can be instructed to thwart enemies as needed.  

Ice Nine will not be released for a couple of months but it just might be worth waitng for because of one strong feature it has: Replayabilty. Most games are boring after you blow through it once but with such diverse paths in Ice Nine, there is no chance of it happening. Ice Nine is slated for a September release.

-Stefan Shetty

July 9. 2003