La Quimera – Review
La Quimera has been on our wishlist for a while, and we were quite stoked when we finally got our hands on our review copy. We were thrown immediately into the thick of it and quickly fought off more enemies than we could count. We expected quite a lot from this title, which has been developed by Reburn, a Ukrainian studio comprised of talented developers who worked on the Metro series. While what the game offered was fairly entertaining, it felt more like we were playing through a demo rather than a complete game. Note: At the time of writing, we were given La Quimera as a review copy, not a preview copy. The game has now been released as an Early Access product after silently postponing the full release indefinitely.
Story
In La Quimera, you’ll be playing as a nameless recruit of one of the many Private Military Companies (PMCs). In the year 2064, the world has gone to hell, and what’s left of the planet is governed by microstates. These microstates often don’t have a military force of their own, and thus, they hire PMCs to do jobs. Your first assignment is a rescue mission to retrieve an important asset, Helena Mendoza. When you get there, the situation is a bit dodgy, as she demands to retrieve a backpack. Upon finding the backpack, Helena is picked up by another PMC. She instructs you to keep the backpack. You are not allowed to open it, but you are promised a cut of the profit it can potentially make. Of course, your commander opens the backpack right at the exact moment Helena comes to retrieve her stuff. You are then ambushed by other soldiers, who are willing to let you go if you undergo a series of experimental augmentations.
Honestly, we are somewhat scraping the bottom of the barrel here with our story description, as the game is so short that the above already describes nearly half the game. Everything feels rushed, and even the buildup feels off. The ending feels like the conclusion of a prologue or an introduction, rather than the grand finale of a full game. We were left wanting more, as we felt like we barely scratched the surface of what La Quimera wanted to tell its players.
Graphics
Graphically, La Quimera is a fairly good-looking game. The three very distinct areas in which the game takes place are all detailed, have a variety of assets strewn about, and the enemy types are diverse enough to prevent the experience from growing stale. The weapons look rather nifty, and the attack animations are polished. Sadly, there aren’t really any destructible set pieces, but that’s not really uncommon for a FPS such as this. Facial animations of important NPCs leave a lot to be desired, but all things considered, La Quimera has the appearance of a triple-A title.
Sound
The sound design of La Quimera is fairly good, when it comes to the soundtrack and the sound effects. The cinematic soundtrack puts you in the right mood to go on epic missions, and the sound effects pack a proper punch. Weapons have nice audio feedback and heighten the atmosphere of being on a hectic battlefield. The voice acting, however, is among the worst we have heard in recent years. It’s certainly on an equal level with the horrendous English voice acting of Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Gameplay
La Quimera is a straightforward sci-fi FPS that can be played solo or with up to two friends. The game currently only has three missions available, where you’ll have to make it to the end by using your loadout of two weapons and additional gadgets. There is nothing really groundbreaking here, except for a scan function that allows you to shoot through walls, hitting tagged targets. This can only be done with specific weapons. This legal ‘wallhack’ feature is quite amusing, and it allows for more flanking options when you’re playing with a full party. As you progress, you’ll earn money, with which you can buy new weapons, armor, and gadgets. The gear options are very limited, however.
For the most part, we enjoyed what La Quimera had to offer. While reasonably basic, the gunplay was nice, the different weapon types allowed for several tactical approaches to battles, and so on. Sadly, the game was over when it was only just picking up the pace. You can easily beat the three available missions in roughly three hours. We felt that the story was just beginning, and then we were suddenly kicked back to the main menu, as apparently we reached the end. The limited number of items we could unlock could have probably served as a clue, but we were extremely disappointed nonetheless. In its current state, La Quimera feels more like a prologue or demo for the actual game rather than a finished product. We assume that negative feedback before the original release date is also the reason the game has been quietly delayed, with not a single statement from the developer. We hope that more content is added, but we fear for the game’s future.
Conclusion
La Quimera currently feels like a huge missed opportunity. Right when we were getting into the groove, the game surprised us with the fact that it was already over. With a RRP of $29.99, there is just too little content to justify that price tag. Don’t get us wrong, what’s present is enjoyable (except for the godawful voice acting), and it’s even more fun that you can tackle all missions with up to two additional friends, but this is nowhere close to being a finished product. Even so, if this one gets fully released eventually, and it comes with a hefty discount, it can still provide gamers with an entertaining evening.
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