Blue Ice is strange, confusing and utterly unique. It is difficult to say whether the game is good or bad - it is utterly experimental and appears to have achieved what it set out to do, not that anyone can really tell what that was. Is it entertaining? Yes, I think you'll find the game entertaining if you play it with an open mind and are willing to let go of your preconceived notions of what an adventure game 'is' or 'should be'.
The protagonist of the game is the royal Prince Edward. He is next in a line of kings of the land of Icia, and he has a lot riding on his shoulders - the royal family is and always has been fastidious about rules, traditions and customs, something poor Prince Edward is expected to continue. There's the typical antagonist who is trying to persuade the young and trusting prince to go 'experience' Icia for himself, and implies that he should 'forget' the rules imposed on him by his predecessors.
Blue Ice may not be so much a game as an experiment in artistic direction - the 'game' part can actually be quite boring, owing largely to the numerous bugs and difficulty of inventory use (which is also
quite buggy). The puzzles are for the most part sensible, although because of the 'unique' style of graphics featured throughout the game, it can be difficult to work out what parts of the scene you can manipulate. This often results in blind clicking all around the scene to see if something responds or not. This isn't all bad - it was often delightful to have something unexpected and interesting happens when clicking on some odd-but-static looking part of the scenery.
The music in the game is beautiful, it features both classical and modern pieces and is often used expertly to set the mood of a scene. You can't actually speak to any of the characters in the land of Icia, but you can read their thoughts, which is often confusing and interesting at the same time.
Blue Ice is a very deep game, from the very beginning you get the sense that all is not as it seems, as you often see strange, out of places things in the scenes such as strange images and numbers. Toward the end of the game it will all come together and you will be presented with quite a brain teaser!
All in all, it was an interesting game that I did enjoy, if not for the actual 'gaming' part, but for the uniqueness and rich artistic, audiovisual experience that was created. I recommend this game simply because there truly is nothing else out there like it and it provides a totally unique gaming experience that shouldn't be missed.
