Prisoner of Ice

USA release 1995

Developed by: Infogrames Europe SA

Published by: I-MOTION Interactive

This ISO installs a DOSBox(0.74-3)/D-Fend Reloaded(1.4.4) based copy of Prisoner of Ice

tested on Windows 7, Windows 10, and Windows 11

you will find the original Disc in a folder named VirtualCD (Image.iso)

should you want to do your own install

Necessary Equipment:

 • 100% compatable IBM PC AT, 486 DX 33 minimum.

 • Hard Disk (with 50KB free per saved game. 20 saved games = ~ 1 MB.).

 • Mouse (Microsoft compatible).

 • CD-ROM drive (double speed minimum recommended).

 • Sound Card: Sound Blaster or 100% compatible.

 • MSCDEX version 2.21 or higher (comes with DOS 6.0 and above).

To run the SVGA version:

 • 8 MB RAM minimum.

 • 640x480 SVGA graphic mode, 256 colors (VESA compatible).

To run the VGA version:

 • 4 MB RAM minimum

 • 320x200 VGA resolution, 256 colors (MCGA mode).

Optional equipment:

 • Microsoft WINDOWS version 3.1 or higher.

Prisoner of Ice (also Call of Cthulhu: Prisoner of Ice) is an adventure game developed and released by Infogrames Multimedia for IBM PC compatibles and Macintosh in 1995 in America and Europe. It is based on H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, particularly At the Mountains of Madness, and is a follow-up to Infogrames' earlier Shadow of the Comet.

Plot

Prisoner of Ice begins during the run-up to World War II, primarily around Antarctica. The main character is a young U.S. intelligence officer, Lt. Ryan, who has been assigned to a British submarine, HMS Victoria, for a special mission. As the game begins, the submarine is fleeing the Antarctic after rescuing a Norwegian who has recently escaped from a secret German base in the Antarctic (it is later revealed that the base is built atop the Ancient Ruins mentioned in At the Mountains of Madness). Along with the Norwegian, the sub has picked up two mysterious cargo crates stolen from the Nazis.

Late in the game, in Argentina, Ryan meets John Parker, the central character from Shadow of the Comet, and reveals the links between the two games. Narackamous, the main antagonist of Shadow of the Comet, also returns.

Gameplay

The game involves solving puzzles through a point and click user interface. The player can examine any item and, depending on the item, either pick it up, use another item on it, or operate it in some way.

Some puzzles, if not completed within a short span of time (always less than a minute), will result in a game over. To ensure that the player does not get stuck by saving their game at a point from which they cannot possibly complete a puzzle in time, the game autosaves onto a separate save file at the beginning of each timed puzzle.

Release

The game was released for PC DOS, PC Windows and Macintosh computer platforms in America (where it was published by I Motion) and Europe in 1995. It was released as Call of Cthulhu: Prisoner of Ice in PAL territories.

Three French-language comic books were published as tie-ins to the game: La Geôle de Pandore (Pandora's Jail), Le Glaive du Crépuscule (The Dagger in the Dusk) and La Cité des Abîmes (The City of the Depths).

Reception

According to the French newspaper Les Échos, Prisoner of Ice was commercially successful. Its sales surpassed 30,000 units in the United States alone during its first day of release.