Perhaps you've seen a movie called Cargo? No, Jason Statham isn't in it. It's a dystopian sci-fi film from Switzerland that was a Netflix mainstay for years, concerning the crew of a space freighter and a potentially dangerous cargo that needed delivering to a distant station. Of course the movie description and thumbnail DVD cover had you believe Cargo was yet another attempt to clone Alien. Thankfully over the course of two hours the film revealed itself to be nothing of the sort and was all the better for being more of an indie thriller in space: a little bit of action here and and some tedium there, that together - thanks to an intelligent premise and some evocative set design - ended up being far more enjoyable than it's on-screen blurb was able to let on. A bit like ICARUS.1 in many ways.
Set across five acts that clock in at around 20 to 30 minutes each, while the length of ICARUS.1 may be comparable with Cargo, the premise is not. Electrolyte's game puts you in the first-person helmet view of space engineer Sam (ably accompanied by AI David, who we never get to see, but can assume isn't just a phantom voice), who's been sent to investigate the titular ICARUS.1, a resource-collecting vessel whose crew has long been declared missing and the ship abandoned for reasons unknown.
First order of things, of course, is to get aboard the Icarus, which is easier said than done given that space engineers rarely enjoy a smooth transition to abandoned mining facilities - just ask Isaac Clarke. Predictably you just about make it, starting off your adventure sifting through the wreckage of your shuttle with a klaxon shrieking in your ear and very little in the way of any instruction on how to proceed, what to look out for or what may be waiting for you around the next corner.
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