Kvark (PC)

Geoffrey Wright | October 18, 2024 | Review | No Comments

The wave of boomer shooters looking to imitate the classics of yesteryear continues, but every now & again something catches the eye by offering a little difference. HROT was one with its bleak Quake styled blast through Soviet Czechoslovakia, but now we have Kvark; which wants to bring us back to that former state for another fight to save it? Lets take a look

Kvark opens as you awake in a prison cell. This cell happens to be within an underground research facility in Czechoslovakia, which upon breaking free from the cell, you realise is likely on the verge of collapsing due to the bodies & rubble strewn about. With no information, aside from incoherent tannoy announcements, you must make your way to the surface while piecing together the events of Kvark preceding the awakening in the cell.

If there was one area of the game I kinda wished there was more of, it would be lore. There’s all manner of posters, letters, dairies, documents etc that offer a glimpse into the happenings of the facility but unfortunately they’re quite spaced out. There’s likely plenty of dodgy research going on at Kvark which could have been discussed more to heighten tension during exploration. Exploration should net 10+ hours on this one at least, so there plenty of time to soak everything in and its linear nature means you shouldn’t miss much.

While going for that typical retro shooter aesthetic, it doesn’t quite do it in a typical fashion. It kinda looks like PS1/2/3 all mashed together, with pixelated textures adorning low poly models and a dash of more modern effects and post processing. It can look a little goofy sometimes, some weapons look more detailed than others and aspects like reflections in glass or bright spots when light reflects on blood etc look weird, but it overall it looks good and manages to produce a suitably bleak atmosphere from its presentation.

Audio helps with this as its relatively sparse, early chapters have constant tannoy announcements to break the quiet, there’s not much of a booming BGM etc otherwise so everything holds together well. Performance too is generally great, 4K/120 was doable on my system (R7 5800X3D/32GB/RTX 3090) with high settings but there was still the occasional hiccup here & there. You could also use the TSR option to upscale from a lower resolution to iron out performance grievances.

One look at Kvark will have you no doubt rubbing your mitts together at the possibility of another boomer shooter along the lines of HROT, but this one takes an interestingly different path to most shooters. There’s no attempt to really emulate the likes of Quake or Doom here, instead the game feels more along the lines of the original Half Life. Skirmishes are generally smaller with progress more methodical, there’s puzzles and switches to seek out to open the way on your journey. The shooting still feels good, weapons feel different and balanced in a way you’ll use them all, but its really the obstacles and the atmosphere in general that keeps pulling you along for ‘one more mission’.

Enemies start off swinging batons, before guns and drones enter the fray, later some things that are best kept locked up start to cross your path too. It takes a few levels for the skirmishes to pick up, tho as noted before, there’s no room filled with waves of enemies to dispatch kinda encounters, it’s generally smaller facing up against squads. Luckily there’s a skill tree of sorts for when things get tough, allowing you to boost stats and damage using points gleaned from this weird green substance in syringes. While linear, it does offer another reason to explore, but that can sometimes be risky if you are unprepared on this one.

Kvark may be another boomer-shooter, but it does at least go in a different direction for an overall package that surprises. Instead of a blast-a-thon, pace is a little relaxed with the game ramping up tension & atmosphere to keep you engaged. In a way it has more in common with Half Life than most retro shooters back then, and becomes something that’s difficult to put down once started – even with the drip fed lore. Certainly worth a gander if looking for a shooter with a different vibe.