Developer: Latest Past, Perun Creative
Publisher: Perun Creative
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
KVARK – Review
It’s been a while since we dug up a game from our backlog, hasn’t it? This time, we’re going back to October of last year, when Latest Past and Perun Creative brought us KVARK. The game aims to claim its place in the so-called Soviet-core niche that has seen increased popularity in recent times, with titles like Hrot and Chernobylite. So what have we been missing out on over the past five-ish months? Let’s descend into KVARK.
Story
Much of KVARK’s narrative world-building is derived from the setting rather than through the game explicitly explaining what is going on. Set in Czechoslovakia, during the Soviet Period, the game takes place in the KVARK underground mining facility. Players take on the role of a nameless, state-employed worker whose day is off to a bad start. Alarms are blaring as people in hazmat suits are attacking the facility for an unknown reason. Your only option for survival is to fight your way out! As you make your way through the KVARK facility, things do become more clear: you’re actually an undercover agent, who is investigating illicit experiments with uranium and atomic energy being carried out in secret. Things have gone south, however, and the creatures that are the result of these experiments have broken loose.
Graphics
As far as visuals are concerned, KVARK is a bit of an odd game. On one hand, it tries to go for a very gritty and realistic look, with bleak colors and eerie lighting. Look closer, however, and you’ll see that the game simultaneously relies on quasi-voxel-style cartoon graphics. If this is an attempt to make the game resemble the classics it attempts to pay homage to, then it isn’t entirely successful. We would have preferred it had KVARK either pushed for full-on realism or completely embraced its other aesthetics instead, offering Duke Nukem-style pixel visuals. Adding to this, the game is over-reliant on motion blurs, perhaps to mask any frame rate issues. The end result comes across as smudged and difficult to read at a glance.
Sound
To enhance the unsettling atmosphere of the underground facility, KVARK uses a minimalistic soundscape. Audible dialogue, coming from radios and through rudimentary cutscenes disguised as instructional videos, is in Czech, which adds to the immersion. The game makes great use of spatial depth when it comes to ambient sound effects, as there are always more creatures lurking where you can’t see them. The music is subtle and understated, tying everything together neatly.
Gameplay
Harkening back to the glory days of 90s video games, KVARK is an old-school boomer shooter in the style of the original Half-Life and Chasm: The Rift. Taking control of your loyal state-mandated KVARK worker, you’ll need to shoot your way across a variety of different maze-like levels, solving environmental puzzles and discovering secrets along the way. You’ll unlock new perks as you progress through the game too, which allow you to tip the scales to your advantage. It’s a formula that has worked countless times over the past few decades, which is both a blessing and a curse. KVARK has a lot of stone-cold classics it can draw inspiration from, but it also needs to put in the effort to stand out from those same inspirations. It’s in the latter, unfortunately, that KVARK admittedly comes up short.
The two biggest issues come in the form of game balance and weapon arsenal. KVARK is characterized by severe difficulty spikes, to the point of feeling unfair at times, even if you’re aware of what’s coming. Boomer shooters tend to rely on trial and error quite a bit, forcing players to replay levels over and over again, knowing when and where enemies will appear and preparing accordingly. In theory, this is also the case with KVARK but some enemies will simply overwhelm you, even if you know they are coming beforehand. Not only do they soak up damage, but they’ll also take you out very easily. Now, usually, this is something that ties into the boomer shooter core gameplay loop. You’ll typically be able to find a hidden powerful weapon somewhere in the level before such an encounter happens, with only a limited number of bullets. It’s part of the appeal. However, KVARK’s range of weapons is not only severely limited, but there is also not a lot of difference between the weapons you’re using. It’s difficult to get into a boomer shooter if it isn’t offering the signature power trip that these kinds of games offer in the first place.
It would probably help if KVARK offered a decent save system, but instead, you’re limited to a handful of predetermined save points. This means that if you run into a particularly tricky section, you’ll find yourself having to replay vast parts of the same level over and over again, especially if there’s a boss waiting at the end. Despite the difficulty and the need to replay certain sections if you run into a difficulty spike, KVARK isn’t a very long game. The game comprises fourteen levels, and will take around six to eight hours to complete. At €19.50, KVARK doesn’t exactly break the bank, and if it had been properly balanced or had at least included a better variety of weapons, we’d say that it offered good value for its price. However, given just how mediocre everything is, we have difficulty outright recommending KVARK when so many other, better boomer shooters are available at that price point. If you’ve exhausted those options and are in the mood for something new, KVARK may be just the ticket, but even then, this is a game you won’t remember having played in six months.
Conclusion
We wouldn’t go as far as to call KVARK a bad game, as it isn’t one. However, what it is, is very, very mediocre. It doesn’t try to construct an identity that would set itself apart from the titles it takes inspiration from. The game’s insistence on difficulty spikes, combined with an archaic save system, make for a boomer shooter that removes some of the more fun hallmark elements of the genre. KVARK is one of those titles that is okay to give a go once you’ve exhausted the other options, but this isn’t a title that should be anyone’s first choice.
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