Arctic Adventure is a platform game written for MS-DOS

MS-DOS

MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...

, published by Apogee Software

3D Realms

3D Realms is a current video game publisher and former video game developer based in Garland, Texas, United States, established in 1987...

. It is the sequel to Pharaoh's Tomb

Pharaoh's Tomb

Pharaoh's Tomb is a DOS platform game created by George Broussard and published by Apogee Software. The protagonist, Nevada Smith, is an archaeologist and adventurer who is exploring an Egyptian pyramid....

. The protagonist, Nevada Smith, is an archaeologist searching for a Viking

Viking

The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...

 treasure in the Arctic

Arctic

The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

.

Gameplay

The Gameplay has many similarities to its sequel. The difference is that the game starts in an overworld map and the player has to enter each of the 20 levels to play them. The last level is blocked and all the other levels have to be completed in order to access it. Some of the levels are across the icy lakes, requiring the player to obtain a boat from one of the levels to proceed. Some levels are blocked by gates which can be unlocked with keys collected from other levels.

During the levels Nevada Smith has infinite lives. He is armed with a pistol with limited ammo, but can be charged up with various pickups. Sometimes passages are blocked by ice blocks which can broken by using up collectable pickaxes. If the player exits a level via a drainpipe, four random bonus levels can be played for additional points. In the last level, the player wins the game and ends the episode by collecting a map piece quarter.

Release

Arctic Adventure was distributed as shareware

Shareware

The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...

. It consists of four episodes (named Volume 1 to 4), with only the first episode distributed as shareware, and the rest available commercially. Each level consists of a single room, and there are 20 levels in each episode. The game includes a map screen that gives some flexibility into the order in which the levels can be played.

The game was discontinued in 2000 and released as freeware on March 20, 2009.

External links

• [ftp://ftp.3drealms.com/freeware/aa_freew.zip Download the full freeware game]