Ice Nine is a first-person shooter where you play as a newly-enlisted CIA operative. The game starts at Langley with a series of training missions, including target practice and live exercise with marker pellets instead of real bullets. You'll mark your fellow operatives in a real urban area, but that training ends on a sour note when you learn one of your colleagues could be a mole trying to leak a deadly computer virus called Ice Nine .
The game features a 3D engine similar to Doom or Dark Forces, allowing for simple texture-mapped 3D architecture and variable level height. However, characters are sprite-based and there's no free look. Many objects on levels can be destroyed or damaged. The gameplay is largely run'n'gun, with automatic door openings and goals that involve finding keys or objects and eliminating opposition.
The game includes 18 missions, although some locations are reused throughout. Ice Nine ' arsenal offers a standard FPS set, including a handgun, rocket launcher, and sniper rifle with a zoom feature.