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0 ICARUS: Console Edition is now available on Xbox X|S and PlayStation 5. The console port of the popular PC survival game, originally developed by RocketWerkz, has been in development by Grip Studios. Though the PC version has been around since December of 2021, this version just became available at the end of March this year. It contains all the crafting, survival, and challenges that the game is well known for.
Perhaps ICARUS is too close to the sun on Console…
It’s nice when developers keep multiple platforms in mind during early game design. This generally makes for a better consistency, but of course there are always some games that play better on console than their computer counterparts. Knowing how long ICARUS has been around on PC, I was curious to check how it translates over to the PS5. Are there any cross-platform ports that you enjoy too? I can only think of a handful that I really enjoy. Let’s check out this one below.
Gameplay
ICARUS: Console Edition is the console port for Xbox and PS5 of the popular PC survival game. You take on the role of prospector upon a planet where eating rocks helps you breathe. No joke. Explore the world in a variety of different modes, taking your character progression between them. Experience the core survival experience in Open World, while getting more creative in Outposts where there is less risk and reward. Or if you prefer a more objective-driven challenge, take up missions of an extraordinary variety and difficulty.
I’ll be up front and honest. I really, really want to love ICARUS: Console Edition. However, it was immediately clear just how much of a challenge Grip Studios were given when taking on the port to console. The default controls are just clunky and awkward, both within the menus and in the game. Most games I can fairly easily pick up a controller with but this one just felt wrong. It took a lot of fine tuning to get things even remotely to a point where I was semi-comfortable. But at that point I had already reached my point of frustration and no longer had a desire to keep playing the game. The menus themselves also have way too much going on in them to smoothly navigate. I was constantly wishing I had a keyboard and mouse to use in them.
ICARUS is also brutally set on making sure you know it is a survival game. So this didn’t help when I was struggling with controls to slowly waste away until I fell unconscious. Yes I know it’s a survival game but c’mon man give me a chance! I did find it was somewhat my own fault for starting out thinking I could just play Open World and be ok. I wasn’t really impressed when trying to do a training mission. It required a score of 180 points from shooting targets in a course and I could barely make 50 for a solid two hours. Not to mention that within the course, wildlife is still roaming around causing you to inadvertently be pulled to aiming at them and away from what you’re actually trying to shoot. Also during said training mission that same wildlife can, and will, come up and kill you while trying to complete that course.
Graphics & Audio
For my console I was on PlayStation 5. There were two things visually that immediately stood out to me with ICARUS: Console Edition. First, that the UI is outrageously tiny and there is no way whatsoever that I can find to scale it. I’m getting old, man, I need to be able to see things larger than the text meant for high resolution on smaller screens. Second, I couldn’t seem to find a gradient level that I was happy with. Things get so dark it is hard to see anything as soon as nightfall hits. On the opposite end, everything is just a wash. When washing things out, this includes the text on the screen that I already can’t read as it is.
I will give ICARUS points for being a game with high visual fidelity though. The environments are full of detail that immerses you in the game. Even the environmental systems engage you in ways that other survival games don’t. My favorite example of this was when trying to complete a mission and it starts raining/storming. The wind picks up strongly enough that a nearby tree actually snaps and falls over! A tip of the hat to the audio quality here as well, as it was the wood snapping noises that brought the falling tree nearby to my attention. It wouldn’t be surprising if I had died, had it fallen on me. Other subtle audio cues like passing or aggressive wildlife help you keep things in check too.
Longevity
There’s a lot of depth to ICARUS on the console. Currently, it does not go quite as deep as the PC version for expanded content, but a lot of the core material is there. They’ve also added additional content packs to purchase if you like. Regardless, it’s another survival game with the ability to play as open world or focused as you choose. Longevity is really what you make of it at the end of the day.
Final Thoughts
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.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
If you enjoy this review, be sure to check out my other reviews here.
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