‘Icarus’ Review (PC)
If you know your Greek mythology Icarus flew too close to the sun and died. Now a new game with the same name has been released, and is more than likely to become the next big game for survival fans. The question has to be though right now is it flying up to the sun to be doomed like it’s namesake?
The new game that has released for the PC, Icarus is a PvE survival game that supports up to eight players working together, or of course as a solo game. The basic concept is that terraforming on a planet has gone wrong, and players can only survive on the planet for a certain amount of time. If the players stay longer then you are doomed to stay down on the planet and die.
It is fair to say with Valheim being released at the start of the year and now Icarus closing off the year, survival games may have just stolen 2021. There are many bugs in Icarus and it is a power hungry game, but if you have a powerful PC with a nice graphics card this is one beautiful game.
For those with a less powerful computer though, you don’t get left out. I’ll admit my computer isn’t the most powerful, but with the graphics turned down low Icarus plays well, and I was able to get addicted to the hell that is Icarus. Why do I call it hell? Icarus is most definitely a hardcore survival game that expects a lot out of the players. Right now, this also includes the players tolerance for bugs. This will be something that is fixed in time though.
What Icarus provides though is a game that allows for grinding of missions to build up XP, pays the player with a currency that allows them to buy items that make things a little easier and most importantly it provides a game where levelling up actually feels like it makes an improvement for the player, and that doesn’t include just giving them more things to use for building and fighting with.
As well as building tools and weapons, there is also skill trees that can be improved on with a point system, so the feeling of progress is constant. The wolves and bears that were kicking the players ass soon become easier, only to be replaced by harder creatures in other biomes, and the annoying feeling of getting your ass kicked returns. The important thing though is that Icarus is fun, and it stays fun.
So is Icarus worth it right now in the state it is in? The simple answer to that is that yes it is. Yes, there are bugs but the most important thing is for fans of survival games there is plenty of fun to be had and a huge challenge to get over. Hopefully improvements will continue to be made to the game and the future will only get better, because I know I for one will continue to come back to this one to get my survival fix. It’s fair to say too that as Icarus comes at the end of the year, it will be a game to get people through Christmas when they need that escape from the festive cheer.
****½ 4.5/5
Icarus is available on PC now.
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