The 1995 Infogrames offering Prisoner of Ice is based on the works of classical novelist H.G. Lovecraft, specifically Cthulhu Mythos: At the Mountains of Madness. It is from this novel that Prisoner of Ice gleans its secondary title: Call of the Cthulhu: Prisoner of Ice. It is basically a sequel to Shadow of the Comet, and the link between them is revealed late in the game. While it is not necessary to have read the novel or to be a Lovecraft fan, it certainly helps to make sense of the plot.
Prisoner of Ice takes place in the 1940 Antarctic and centres on the life of Lieutenant Ryan, a young officer in the United States Navy. He has been stationed aboard a British submarine, the H.M.S. Victoria to complete a special mission into Antarctic waters. In the midst of this rescue mission, the Victoria pulls two mysterious crates from the sea. A vicious monster is part of that cargo, and it kills the captain…kicking off the beginning of the tale. The basic plot line follows Lovecraft’s tale fairly closely, which makes it a bit far-fetched, but still worthwhile from a literary point of view.
From there, the game becomes a puzzle adventure. There are objects on each screen, such as levers or blocks of
ice that the gamer has to interact with. The buttons on the mouse allow you to either use an item or examine it. Unfortunately, you can do nothing else with them, making the puzzles somewhat easy to complete. The entire game can be completed in a single setting if you have the patience and the time to finish. The game does offer a choice of endings, once the plot advances along significantly, but there is little difference between them. Still, the options at the end do add to the replayability of this game.
Overall, Prisoner of Ice is not a bad little game. The graphics, especially in the cut scenes, are not bad for its time and the sound is good. The music is nice and appropriate for the setting and nature of the game. There are authentic, though garbled, accents from the many foreign people Lieutenant Ryan will meet. The plot is enough to keep most gamers going when the ease of the puzzles becomes a detractor. The game also has an auto-save feature, which comes in handy on the few times you will unexpectedly lose a life.
