Prisoner of Ice, judging by the screenshot above, has not aged well. The pert buttocks of lead character Lieutenant Ryan have aged beautifully though.

The Lovecraftian point and click horror of Prisoner of Ice is now available via GOG, as is Infogrames stablemate Shadow of the Comet. I loved these games back in the day and will be replaying them as soon as possible.

The games can be bought in a bundle (although there’s no discount – £3.99 each or £7.98 for the two) and if you’re going to play both, it makes sense to tackle Comet first. There’s no necessary knowledge to carry over between the two but Comet is earlier in the chronology.

Comet also comes with a weird cursor key control scheme, rather than actual pointing and clicking, although the CD-ROM version (included here) allows for conventional mouse control. The CD-ROM version (and GOG’s download, which has both floppy and CD versions) also includes the Lovecraft Museum, an interactive collection of all things Cthulhu Mythos.

For those not in the know, here’s the setting for Comet:

The year is 1910. Bathed in pale Spring sunlight, the small fishing port of Illsmouth is a sleepy New England town where time seems to stand still. Appearances can be very deceiving, however …. Beneath the peaceful tranquility of this small village, a horrifying truth lingers. Why are the townspeople of Illsmouth struck by such shattering terror? Why are they drawn to the ancient ritual grounds after so many years? What has released this curse from its deep sleep to play havoc upon the souls of innocent people? You’ll take on the role of John T. Carter, a brilliant young astronomer, piecing together the puzzling history of the village and its cryptic inhabitants. Incredibly realistic action and supernatural chaos intertwine to draw players deep into the puzzling mysteries within the Shadow of the Comet.

Apart from the fact that The Shadow Over Illsmouth sounds so terribly wrong, Comet is a decent retelling of several Lovecraft stories mashed together. I found Prisoner of Ice creepier when I first played. I won’t quote a lengthy synopsis, I’ll summarise: Nazis are recovering creatures frozen in ice, which is a terrible idea.

Any fond memories to share?