Icarus

When playing solo, Icarus is a largely unforgiving survival experience brimming with both jank and atmosphere. It's not revolutionary, but it's still better than it has any right to be.

This version of ICARUS just isn’t for me. Hopefully things will improve over time for the console port. The game looks great and like it probably has a lot of enjoyable things in it, but the awkward controls, interface, and failure to just naturally feel playable on the console aren’t going to keep me around. ICARUS on PS5 is going to be a Thumb Culture Bronze Award from me.

Icarus is a great survival video game, and it is certainly good on consoles. It delivers a breathtaking view of the world and a challenging survival experience. However, the UI design on consoles is still terrific and confusing initially. Moreover, the progression in Icarus is a bit grindy. If you are a Solo player, then you might not crave it. Icarus is more fun with your friends, so I strongly recommend that you play with your friends to have fun and progress simultaneously.

ICARUS: Console Edition is a good game with a port that still needs room to grow. If you have the patience for its brutal onboarding, a willingness to learn systems through trial and error or external guides, and preferably friends for co-op, you’ll find hundreds of hours of genuinely satisfying alien survival.

As I said about Icarus is a hardcore game, the systems and how they interact with each other is quite deep. This isn’t the easy-going experience of Ark, and with little to no direction given to players, I can see players being turned off. And then there is the terrible UI system; as I said above Icarus had received updates during the review period so hope remains strong that the developers can yet address these issues.

It is a technically impressive game, both in looks and in depth. I really like the text and menu structure, although it is not always easy to use, it looks the part. It is really impressive how much data and gameplay are in here, and it still maintains a high-end looking interface and story. While the performance has its issues and the lack of a pause button or proper text sizing will sting, the loop of dropping in, harvesting, and building through those massive mission trees is addictive. It feels like a proper big-budget survival experience, even with the rough edges. If you can handle the jank and the tiny text, there is a massive alien world here waiting to be conquered.

ICARUS: Console Edition is a compelling survival game wrapped in an unfriendly welcome mat. If you can push through the opaque start, there’s a rewarding, systems-heavy experience underneath, but it really needs a better on-ramp.

Icarus is a solid survival game, especially with friends. The threat of running out of oxygen is a welcome addition to the genre, as many survival games don't take place on a planet that failed terraforming. The lack of some direction may throw off newcomers, as well as some poor UI choices, but genre die-hards will almost find this game cozy at times, given the freedom to go it alone or with three other friends. Icarus shows the genre still has a lot of life in it, provided you can survive the night.

Icarus arrives on consoles and sets the tone straight away: forget about relaxing strolls; this is a survival game from Dean Hall featuring a magnetic yet ruthless gameplay loop, where devastating storms and ferocious predators will keep you constantly on your toes. Planning every move to survive the relentless environmental physics will give you an unrivalled adrenaline rush. However, be prepared to battle against a technical side that’s still a bit shaky: noticeable frame drops, clunky menus and a truly slow early-game farming phase risk melting your wax wings before their time. Despite these flaws and a bestiary that is at times inconsistent, Icarus remains a fascinating hardcore experience, recommended without reservation to veterans of the genre; novices, however, are warned: the fall could be disastrous.

With gorgeous new vistas, fresh new technologies to build, and over two dozen new missions, this expansion pack delivers the alien world we've long been asking for.