''Icey'' is a 2D side-scrolling hack-and-slash video game developed by FantaBlade Network and published by X.D. Network. It was released for

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

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and

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

in November 2016, for Android in October 2017, and

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in May 2018. The game involves a female

cyborg A cyborg (, a portmanteau of ''cybernetics, cybernetic'' and ''organism'') is a being with both Organic matter, organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...

. The game received positive reviews from critics, who commended it as a good video game in its own right, elevated by its unusual meta-commentary.

Plot

The game revolves around Icey, a female cyborg who is on a mission to kill the evil Judas, who has supposedly destroyed the world, for unclear reasons. She fights against various small and large robotic enemies. However, if the player strays outside the directions given to them by the narrator, he becomes frustrated and even angry. At this point the game devolves into a meta-commentary on game development, with the game's developer even talking directly to the player.

Gameplay

The game plays as a 2D hack-and-slash game. The player uses a single weapon, but can perform quick combos with their sword. There is no block, but rather a dash that allows the player to become invulnerable - the player can also refill their shields by killing stunned enemies with a special kill move.

Development

The game initially contained Chinese voice-overs with English subtitles, but English and Japanese-language voice-overs were later added.

Reception

''ICEY'' received an aggregate score of 84/100 for its Windows version on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. Sawovsky of ''PLAY! Zine'' rated the game 8/10, calling the gameplay "excellent" and the meta-story "amusing", but criticizing its short length. Mateusz Zdanowicz of ''

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...

'' Poland rated the game 9/10 and gave it the Eurogamer Recommended award, calling the game "addictive" and its story "intriguing". Richard Atkinson of ''

Nintendo Life Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British digital media company based in London. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and ot ...

'' rated the game 8/10, saying that while the game is short, exploring is enjoyable and the storytelling delivery "ingenious", but criticized its "simplistic" approach to battles.

Sales

The game sold over 2 million copies by August 2018.

References

{{Reflist Side-scrolling video games Hack and slash games Metafictional_video_games 2016 video games Android (operating system) games Video games developed in China Single-player video games Windows games IOS games PlayStation 4 games Nintendo Switch games Video games about cyborgs Video games about robots Video games featuring female protagonists Video games with commentaries X.D. Network games