Icarus Prospector Edition

Icarus is a PvE survival game with Mission-based and persistent Open World modes for up to eight co-op players. As a prospector, you drop from an orbital station onto Icarus, an Earth-like terraformed planet, to explore, gather resources, craft and hunt while seeking your fortune. You can play alone, with up to eight Steam friends or on dedicated servers.

The world of Icarus

Icarus was meant to become a second Earth, but terraforming failed, turning the atmosphere toxic and ending humanity’s hopes of colonizing the planet. Xeno-engineers salvaged what they could, released modified embryos and halted the process. The discovery that exotic matter caused the failure renewed interest in the planet: exotics are immensely valuable, have triggered a gold rush and fuel political tensions on Earth.

Prospectors take contracts from factions to extract exotics and conduct research. Those who survive return to orbit as veterans, exchange exotics for advanced technology and take on more challenging drops; those left behind are lost forever.

Survive and prepare

The planet’s toxic atmosphere, savage wildlife, apex predators, destructive storms and forest fires all threaten your survival. You need to plan ahead to find oxygen, hunt for food and stock supplies for journeys into the wilderness.

You can hunt creatures native to Icarus or bring animals from Earth, earn their trust and develop their skills. Tame mounts to cross the terrain or protect you, breed animals to pass on favorable traits, and equip and train companions using their own talent trees. You can also establish farms to supply and sustain your operations.

Technology and talents

The game has three separate tech trees: planetary technology, player talents and the orbital workshop. Planetary technology spans four tiers, from hand-crafted tools to advanced composites and electronics, and includes more than eight building materials. You can specialize your character with over 100 talents for activities such as exploration, building, farming, hunting, taming and combat.

At the orbital workshop, you exchange exotic matter for advanced technology and items with unique properties that may give you an advantage on a future drop.

Game modes

Icarus offers three ways to play:

• Open World: Survive the elements and apex predators in a persistent world. You can complete narrative quests here as “Operations.”
• Missions: Take on timed tasks for the power brokers overseeing the planet, mining exotics and earning Ren. You begin with nothing, build a base from scratch and must escape in time. Missions let you play the quest content separately rather than linking it together as Operations in Open World.
• Outposts: Build and explore in safe regions with regenerating resources.

The narrative quest content is the same in Missions and Open World, where it appears as Operations. You can experience it either way.