Clearly inspired by retro first-person shooters of the late 90s and early 2000s, specifically Half Life, Kvark is a new, old game purposely designed with quality, lower-res visuals and janky polygons. It looks like an old game and, for the most part, plays like an old game for better and worse. It doesn’t do anything that has not been done before, and gets repetitive over time, but that doesn’t mean there are not a few hours of mindless fun to be had.

One of Kvark’s biggest flaws comes from the lack of narrative. You basically just play as some dude in an underground bunker and forced to find the exit while hazmat wearing enemies charge at you. Since the enemies are wearing nuclear-related gear, it is assumed radiation is causing some problems. The only real aspect of a plot comes from tediously reading the occasional notepad randomly placed throughout the environment.

The purposely designed lower poly count looks like it is be played on a system that was designed between a PS1 and a PS2. Its visual design fits the half horror, half comical vibe of the ridiculous shoot first gameplay. So it looks okay but unfortunately the close corridors make every room and overall area feel the same. Eventually, more open spaces become available but by that time, players might have already moved on from boredom. You can only shoot the same hazmat suits and pain-in-the-behind flying drones within the same bunker environment before needed to take a break. Stages can take 20+ minutes too, especially if you want to look for secrets, and checkpoints can be several minutes back depending. The lack of a detailed mapping system doesn’t exactly work in the player’s favor either.

Eventually perks can be unlocked but these take time. This is really the only modern gameplay element implemented into this old school game design. Hunting for ammo after each encounter also gets tedious by the end of the second stage. For the most part, gameplay is little more than walking into a room, maybe kill a few mindlessly charging enemies with a gun or melee attack, source the room for ammo or maybe a secret, then repeat as you enter the next room. On occasion, a puzzle will need to be solved, like holding a button to move a bridge, but this by no means is an action puzzle game. This is a shooty shooty action game where you need to make most of your bullets count. Enemies are also very accurate so be prepared if playing on the higher difficulties. 

Kvark doesn’t really do anything over the top, but it also doesn’t really do too much wrong. The 90s FPS aesthetic is appreciated and the setting as a lot of potential, but the gameplay grows stale once the novelty wears off. Fans of Half Life, Duke Nukem, and classic Doom will get the most out of this whereas younger players might not understand the targeted inspiration.

SCORE: 7.5/10

Don’t Forget About: Mortisomem

Also Play: Duke Nukem 3D: 20^th Anniversary World Tour

Wait For It: the Marathon revival

By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com

X/Twitter: @ZackGaz

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