The Collection Chamber: ICE & FIRE

Challenge your mind as well as your trigger finger. You have been chosen. You are their final hope. Embark on a journey into a dazzling world of dreamlike suspension. Desolate. Frozen. Equipped with only your Ice and Fire blasters, explore the complex web of mazes while battling alien life forms. Unlock the mystery inside the icy crystals, and bring Asteroid IF-1 back to life!

"CEN's top-ten list of the season's best CD-ROM games"
- Computer Entertainment News

"... a thinking person's Doom."
- USA Today

"An emphasis on strategy... and the rush of cruising through outer space."
- CD-ROM Today

FEATURES
32-bit PC game designed for Windows '95
Fully texture-mapped 3D environments with animated walls, mirrors, and closed-circuit TV's.
Interactive flight over a huge virtual asteroid
Real-time full-motion interactive video
8 progressively comples multi-level mazes
Artificial intelligence engine imbues enemies and allies with sharp wits
Original Digital and MIDI music
Special devices, clues and secret weapons to win in each maze
Use Virtual i-0 head-mounted displays

~ from the back of the box

How simple can an action game be? When faced with basic shooting engine, how would you make it more complex? Seattle-based Zombie LCC (of Spec Ops game) decided to build their whole game around fire and ice, aptly calling it Ice & Fire.

The story, such as it is, has been seen many times before. A team of interplanetary space scientists have been infiltrated by a nasty alien race call the Spherids. To save the space station - and all of the precious research held within - the captain decided to freeze everything, putting everything in cryogenic stasis. Now you have to retrieve it.

For a game released in the fall of 1995, the 2.5D engine is a little simple for its time. The geometry is mostly stuck in to a single elevation with blandly textured walls and little visual panache, but considering this was Zombie's debut game released at the dawn of the Doom clone, they can be excused just a little. It was also developed for early VR headsets in mind too, much like their later game Locus (also on this site). Compatibility with all of this tech is non-existent now but I can't imagine it being an ideal way to play.

Shoot aliens and navigate to each level in the 'Cruiser' sections (left).
One of the level 'Mazes'. I've been shot at so much my temperature has dropped to 'frozen solid' (right).

The gameplay begins with what the manual calls a 'Cruiser' stage. These are pre-rendered on-rails shooters where you have to choose which of path - denoted by a line of green triangles - to go down. You can shoot some alien spacecraft, but only along those lines. The screen is so small, and along the chaotic visual design it's hard to distinguish what to shoot at. It may have been visually impressive for 1995, but this merely acts as a menu of sorts to take you to your destination; one of eight FPS 'Mazes'.

As you explore the different areas of the frozen space station, you'll only ever have two weapons for protection; fire and ice. Ice attacks are used to freeze enemies in their tracks, forming ice crystals where they lie. Fire attacks melt those ice crystals which scatter each level. By holding Ctrl, they will shoot out in a burst of rapid fire, while holding Shift will launch a missile of said weapon type. The aim is to find all of the robot scientists and kill or freeze all of the Spherids. This is done by melting every crystal you come across as each one holds something. Some hold single-use power-ups activated with the Space Bar, others contain ammo. Inside the worst are enemy aliens lying in wait but the ones you really want are host to those worker-droids-like scientists. Not only are these allies necessary to complete the level, but they can also assist you by take on the aliens themselves (if they're on foot) or opening up new areas (if they're on hoverboards).

There are some areas that these personnel cannot open. These colour-coded locked doors require colour-coded keys which are - you guessed it - found randomly in one of those crystals. You can view which areas you likely haven't visited by opening up a handy map, but without detailing the location of important items, where you've been or even your current position, it's not all that useful.

Finding the right-coloured keys will open their corresponding doors (left).
The map is a little useless, but it's better than nothing (right).

Also not useful is the controls. Some keys have multiple functions that screw with each other. For example, holding the Ctrl key means you can shoot off a rapid fire attack, but doing so will also make you strafe should you wish to turn left or right or jump in the low-gravity environment should you move forward. This makes aiming extremely annoying while enemies seem to have perfect aim. Thankfully, those robot allies can distract them but all too often I was hit too many times, dropping my temperature (see the colour grade on the top of the screen) and freezing me to the spot. For a brief time at least.

For a game with so many interesting mechanics, Ice & Fire is still an incredibly simple game. Just melt all the ice, and if you don't like what you find blast it again. This alone can't really be knocked when Wolfenstein 3D or even Doom don't do as much in this regard to shake things up. What they do have this this game doesn't is good controls and memorable level design. While not a total waste of time, I can't say Ice & Fire is a good game.

To download the game, follow the link below. This custom installer exclusive to The Collection Chamber uses the DOSBox-X build of DOSBox running Microsoft Windows 3.1 to get the game working on modern systems. Manual included. Read the ChamberNotes.txt for more detailed information. Tested on Windows 10.

File Size: 602 Mb. Install Size: 697 Mb. Need help? Consult the Collection Chamber FAQ

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