KVARK – Half-Life-esque Shootings in an Irony-Filled Soviet Dystopia

kvark banner

Developer: Perun Creative
Released: 3rd October 2024
Price: €19,50

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, (PS4/5, Switch, Xbox Series X|S TBA)
Available on: Steam
Engine: Unreal Engine

Pros

  • Excellent setting: it finds the right balance between dark tones and an ironic, parodical take on Soviet-esque totalitarianism.
  • Well-balanced challenge level, with gameplay that punishes reckless approaches but doesn’t feel unfair at any point.
  • The large number of secrets, Easter eggs, and hidden areas make exploration compelling and rewarding.
  • All weapons are well-diversified and satisfying to use, each catered to different situations, with strengths and weaknesses.

Cons

  • Enemy AI’s aggression levels are on the low side, and their archetypal variety is overall limited. They start feeling repetitive not after long.
  • Boss fights are generally underwhelming, and don’t evolve enough to prove as challenging or epic as they should be.
  • The weight and impact behind gunshots or explosions are terribly underwhelming. This makes combat less engaging and less realistic.

Bugs & Issues

  • The on-screen crosshair can’t be toggled, in case you’d prefer using ADS-only for immersion purposes.

Machine Specs

  • i9 13980HX
  • 64GB RAM DDR5
  • RTX 4090
  • NvME SSD
  • 3840×2160

Content & Replay Value

It took me around 10 hours to complete KVARK on the Hard difficulty, taking extra time to explore each level thoroughly. All content is linear, I don’t see a reason to replay once finished.

Is It Worth Buying?

Yes. The price of 19,50€ is fair for this amount of content and quality. If you’re a fan of old-school shooters, Half-Life in particular, and of dystopian settings, this is a good choice.

Verdict

KVARK delivers a solid FPS experience. However, it could’ve been more ambitious in its gameplay design and variety, which ultimately prove adequate, but are never truly great.

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A whole magazine of AK-47 is the solution to a lot of problems.

KVARK – In-Depth Analysis

Writing & Worldbuilding

KVARK starts off with a minimalist premise. You wake up in an underground cell; it’s clear from the start that something went terribly wrong—the facility is in shambles, blood and debris strewn around. “I don’t know where I am, I don’t know who I am, I only know that I must kill” has to be the prime thought of the nameless protagonist, as they begin their journey through the sprawling Soviet-era complex.

The main iconographic inspirations of KVARK are the environs and grayscales of ongoing and post-USSR countries; sharp edges, minimal decor, and rooms forsaking form in the sake of function are ubiquitous. It’s not specified where the game takes place, but a good guess would be Yugoslavia, or anyway a fictional country similar to it—not by chance, as its own inspiration, Half-Life, is set in a similar part of the world. Aside from a few areas, most levels are cramped, bleak and claustrophobic, all dotted with the visual consequences of whatever terror has been unleashed. At this, KVARK succeeds brilliantly: it delivers an art style that works out well despite its low-poly visuals which, however, fit this specific setting, and are balanced out by modern light effects. It’s a shame that combat, enjoyable as it may be, suffers from an excessive stiffness, with most weapons and explosions simply not delivering the weight they should; shooting a man point-blank with a shotgun, and seeing him not moving an inch backwards, is just disappointing.

The only source of lore is the scattered notes and recordings of conversations scattered throughout each level, other than posters and introductory, animated sequences in between each chapter. There’s no dialogue at any point, nor any interaction between you and any character. This minimal approach to exposition puts mostly in the hands of the player, the task of understanding the finer details of what happened, and piecing the puzzle together—even if the main concept is simple, other finer implications aren’t. It’s a serviceable story with good writing quality, adequate for what it wants to accomplish.

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The vast subterranean caves will have far worse than half-drunk security guards lurking inside.

Exploration & Secrets

You’ll always explore solely on foot, with the option to run if need be, and sometimes using elevators or other machines to traverse impervious or dangerous areas. There’s no map, nor you’ll need one, given that the layouts of KVARK are straightforward and not complex enough to warrant directional aid. Each level has a great quantity of side areas, secrets and hidden areas that often hold supplies, upgrade currency, weapons or even secret lore files and unique encounters, although the latter are far scarcer than the former. In true old-school style, most secrets lie behind jumping puzzles, hidden breakable objects and remote crevices. Your handy infinite flashlight will be a vital asset in both seeing enemies and not being killed by the numerous environmental dangers of blacked-out areas, caves and destroyed parts of the facility. The exploration component is enjoyable and immersive enough thanks to its worldbuilding.

Combat System & Bosses

Fights play out in a relatively slow-paced FPS fashion. This isn’t one of those circle-strafing, bullet-dodging maverick shooters; instead, KVARK’s approach to combat is much more methodical. Especially in the early game, you’ll have to make every bullet count or resort to your wrench as a last effort to fight the next enemy if you’re completely out. Later on, the ammo economy becomes far too generous, but enemies will still hit like a truck; with your armor depleted, only a few shots will slay you, the same as your foes—unless they’re 9-foot-tall mutants, that is.

Using environmental elements like exploding barrels is key to saving ammo and dealing damage to numerous foes at once, while employing the right weapon for the task is also important: for instance, the pistol is humble but good for weaker enemies, while the bigger guns are for when things get tough. Your foes range from security guards to mutants and robots, and while all of them are different in some way, they don’t have a wide variety of behaviors and archetypes. Generally, they’ll all charge at you without much thought, and become very inaccurate at longer ranges, to the point where kiting them over long distances becomes a viable tactic. They’re all dangerous and seeing your health plummet from full to zero in the blink of an eye is a reality of harder difficulties, but that will rarely happen if you aren’t reckless. Bosses are average. Nothing special. Usually, they have exposed weak spots to hit and a defined attack pattern that may evolve to become faster as they lose health. They don’t prove particularly challenging, save for the final one which is tough but only because it spams normal enemies all the time.

Character Progression

Anethium, a mysterious substance developed by the same facility you’re escaping from, will progressively grant you points to spend in the Perk Tree, which bestows passive skills like damage resistance, more health, or a variety of chance-based effects when killing enemies, like healing yourself. Anethium syringes are found around levels, but of course, the bulk of it is in side areas and behind secrets. The perk system provides some progression and is nice to have, however, none of the perks are ever a game-changer, and if you’re thorough, there’ll be enough Anethium to get most of them.

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Off the beaten path lie many secrets and little scenes that open up to indirect narration elements.

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