Spaceman starts with nothing

Name: Spaceman starts with nothing
Item: Icarus
Rating: 8
Author: Skillet

Skillet·6 min read

Edited Today

Icarus (2021)

Other reviews of Icarus

Token8/10

The Next Prospect?

Icarus takes the open world survival genre and attempts to flip it on its head, making it less about just getting a base up and running, but more contract focused. You see, you aren't on the planet for an unlimited time, but instead are there for a purpose. Get in, complete the prospect, get out - simple... Let me start with the easiest part to critique, the graphics, simply put they are truly gorgeous. Forests are lush with greenery and different types of fauna, the ponds and lakes are invitingly blue and when all hell breaks loose and the world is on fire, you can't help but take a step back and think "beautiful". The only trouble being that there isn't that much else to look at. You can build yourself a base, but the whole point of Icarus is that you are down onto the world, do your contract and then you leave again. So building a stunning looking base is kind of beside the point. A quick functional place will do. The fun of Icarus comes when playing with others, standing and watching our base burn down following a lightning strike with my fellow prospectors was very funny. One was desperately trying to beat the flames out with a whacker while myself and another tried to empty the property of our possessions before there was nothing left. The game is currently in early access, so I am excited to see where this one goes, I will be returning to it every month or so to see what's new and if it can hold my interest. ——— Original ratings: • Visual Design: 10/10 • Sound Design: 7/10 • Gameplay: 7/10 • Longevity: 8/10 • Fun: 8/10

4 years ago

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What is Icarus? -
Well firstly it’s a survival game. It’s not the same as most survival games though as the premise is a little odd. The world of Icarus below your space station has been terraformed but it’s not ready for habitation yet; there are frequent storms and some work needs to be done to pacify the environment before large-scale settlement can be started or something like that.
Anyway, it’s a little odd because despite wearing a space suit and deploying from a space station you arrive with nothing on the planet. You land in a drop pod and step out into the very beautiful landscape and the first thing you must do is make the tools with which to survive… usual Survival Game antics right?
So, you harvest the local fawner and wildlife to make tools and weapons, you build a base and everything you do counts as experience to allow you to level up. When you level up you get a Talent Point and three Blueprint point.

Talents -
This is a personal skill tree which allows you to develop your character to suit your style of play. On recommendation from TheTokenGeek, I put many points into Bow skills and this meant I was able to craft better bows, became more accurate and eventually got the highly effective and not at all cheat-like, auto aim which basically means ‘head-shot’ if you fire it anywhere in the general area of the animal. One friend of mine went all in on pick-axes and he gets to make those cheap and extracts more ore and another went for wood axe bonuses so he doesn’t have to actually collect wood anymore, he auto-picks it up as he chops away.
You stop earning Talent points at level 40 so plan your point spend carefully.

Blueprints -
Blueprints allow you to unlock recipes of items to make. In the early levels you cannot unlock everything you need so playing with an adaptive friend will help but you can Solo it, it just takes a bit more daring do.

Missions / Prospects -
When you start a game, you choose a Prospect, this is the mission and there are many to choose from. They all have a different Mission Time ranging from 6 hours to 30 days. The time listed is real-world time, not in game time and you need to make sure you jump back in your pod and leave the planet before the timer runs out. This is because the premise is that you have to return to rendezvous with the space station as it orbits the planet and if you miss that window your character is lost on the planet presumed dead. If this happens, you lose access to that character until the devs decide to revive everyone as they did at Christmas 2021.
Every time you drop on to the planet you start with nothing, although this is not strictly true as you progress. For a successfully completed mission you earn credits that can be spent in the space station Load out tree. This allows you to bring to the planet a 3D printed item that you have unlocked. I currently take a new Enviro-suit that gives me a Food slot, a Water slot and an Oxide slot (Oxide allows you to breath the air on Icarus, or it filters it in your helmet…). I also take an MXC Knife, Pick axe and Wood Axe. These are great starter tools/weapons but you must make sure you take them with you when you leave, so pop them in the Pod storage when they are replaced on mission or you have to repurchase them.
The game is Session based so you can start a game and have up to seven friends join you, all playing on your session. When you leave, they will all have to leave but anyone can then continue the mission and become the new host and you can then join them. The mission can be progressed by other players when you are offline. Just make sure to leave before the mission timer runs out.

Base Building -
Certainly in the early missions this is optional. You can drop on to the planet, build the basics and go off to do the mission. As the missions get harder or you open up other areas you are going to need a base and a wooden one will not be good enough. Chances are it will get damaged in a storm or even set on fire and while you can research the Fire Whacker for such events, who spends that point early on? You’re going to need a stone base but for that you need iron nails so you’re going to need to find iron. This can be found in caves.

Spelunking -
Caves are where all the Ores you need to progress are found. Some are just big open entrances in the side of cliffs and some are covered in stone and you will need to ‘mine’ your way in. Once in there are dangers inside so it’s not for the feint hearted. Take a couple of cloth torches and drop them to light areas of interest.

So Many Skills -
There are so many things you can do in Icarus. You can learn how to make potions on the herbalist bench, you can learn masonry, learn animal skinning, make a machine bench to gear up, there is so much to keep you occupied. The game play evolves as you level up. At the beginning you start by making stone implements, dying to wolves and bears and then later, you arrive with the knowledge to progress quickly, breaking out shotguns and rifles.

I still prefer the bow, whether it be the trusty long bow, the wonderful Recurve bow or the magnificent Compound bow but there are plenty of offensive options as long as you can find the resources.
If you like survival games, you will probably enjoy Icarus. Like most games it is better with friends but you must work together.

Originally published on 9 January 2022.