La Quimera is a uniquely styled sci-fi FPS. The Latin America setting is something we haven’t seen much of, and the mixing of megalopolis high-rises and jungle landscapes provides a unique playground to fight in. This new FPS comes courtesy of Reburn studios; a recent split from Metro series developers 4A Games. There’s already been a day-long closed beta, so footage is out there for a couple of the missions.
Here are 15 things you need to know about it before you pick it up.
From the Devs of the Metro Series
The studio behind this new FPS has a history developing the Metro series. Just this year, 4A Games (the Metro studio) split into two groups, with one continuing development of the Metro games in their main Malta location and the other working on La Quimera. La Quimera is being developed under the re-branded Reburn studio in Kyiv Ukraine.
Uses the 4A Graphics Engine
Like the aforementioned Metro games, La Quimera utilizes the team’s proprietary 4A graphics engine to good effect. The destructible environments characteristic of 4A’s PhysX engine seem to be absent from the gameplay that we’ve seen, though. At least destructible bottles and elemental effects such as fires burning oiled surfaces are present. La Quimera looks graphically impressive, but time will tell if it really runs as good as previews suggest at release.
3-Player Co-op
One of the most promising features of La Quimera is the 3-player co-op campaign. That’s right, like the glory days of the Halo series, La Quimera’s primary campaign is fully playable with two other players. The catch is that co-op functionality is relegated to online only. It doesn’t seem like Split Fiction is getting another couch co-op contender this year after all.
Story-Driven FPS Similar to Halo
And since the campaign is the catch-all mode of the game, naturally there’s a lot of story focus. Heck, the game’s advertising labels it as a ‘story-driven FPS’ first and foremost. And one look at any promotional material instantly gives off Halo vibes; this is by design. They both have similar sci-fi settings and prominently feature exosuits in a graphically intensive FPS game.
Plot is About Mercenaries in a Dystopian Sci-fi World
But what’s the story about? Well, it’s set in a dystopian future (shocker) within Latin America (okay, that’s more unique). Global infrastructure has been upended by a litany of disasters, both natural and self-inflicted, causing mercenary groups to police the many microstates. In the story missions we’ve seen, there appears to be lots of internal quarreling between factions and an emphasis on government intrigue.
Set in a Sci-fi Latin America
I can’t really think of the last time a game was set in Latin America, so La Quimera provides some unique flavor in that regard. The game has contrasting biomes to vary up the scenery, ranging from wild jungles to a dense megalopolis concrete jungle.
Lots of Mobility
Such an untamed landscape requires mobility, something this game provides plenty of. As a PMC mercenary, your exoskeleton allows for quick movement not unlike that found in Halo games. There’s your usual sprint, but also a quick lateral side step in either direction, vaulting over platforms, and a high jump. We haven’t seen any jetpack ability yet or an upgraded double jump, but here’s hoping we can level up our traversal further in some way.
Customizable Exoskeleton
There’s been a lot of emphasis put on the superhuman exoskeletons in La Quimera, and rightfully so. Exoskeletons are a beloved component of many sci-fi games and players haven’t really experienced such a mechanic in other FPSs lately. In this game, there’s four exoskeleton pieces: head, body, arms, and legs. It’s possible to mix and match these pieces for a range of different stat bonuses fashion purposes. In the armory menu, helmets each have a cool visor animation as you select the head piece. Here’s hoping the HUD changes based on head piece too.
Missions Are Taken as Contracts From a Hub Area
As a mercenary PMC (private military company), you return to the local base of operations after every contract. The gameplay demonstration doesn’t indicate just how explorable the hideout is due to story and character moments railroading the sequence, but it’s likely you can roam around this area. The contracts themselves contain a list of parameters for each mission. These include the client name and order type, which basically indicates the objective. There’s also urgency, which tells you when the mission disappears, level of payment, time of day, and forecast. Each contract has a difficulty you can set before heading out too. Before going on a mission, it’s important to check out the Armory.
Loadouts Can Be Customized From the Armory Menu
Within the Armory, you can name each of your loadouts. Loadouts are comprised of a primary weapon, secondary weapon, all four exoskeleton pieces, an assault device, support device, and grenade type. It’s also here in the Armory where you get a good view of your character and their cosmetic exoskeleton. The special animations for each exoskeleton piece is a nice touch.
All Equipment Can Be Upgraded. And You Get Exp for Everything You Do
Every individual weapon, exoskeleton, and device can be leveled up. This is not such a difficult thing to do considering all the constant experience obtained from every little action done within contract missions. During combat, experience numbers pop up after every well-aimed shot and kill. We don’t know if these numbers can be turned off yet, but we can expect quite a bit of grind to upgrade the best equipment to a high level.
Numerous Devices To Use in Combat
La Quimera isn’t just resting on its shooting laurels; there’s lots of other ways to engage in a firefight besides neat sci-fi guns. The scanner device is particularly interesting as it seems to allow penetration through thin walls and enemy cover (though, this is not yet confirmed). A neon outline is shown around enemies, allowing the player to easily track enemy movement. Camouflage is another device shown, and it acts just like you’d expect, cloaking the player briefly with invisibility. We see some other devices like hacking and drones within the Armory menu, so there’s plenty of ways to engage in the battlefield besides just guns and grenades.
Enemy Types
If you like sci-fi robot enemies, you’re in luck. La Quimera promises to be chalk-full of cool mechanical menaces. Some of the most dynamic moments of the gameplay involves getting jump-scared by wall-climbing spider drones and whizzing flying bots. Some of these robotic enemies seem to behave like insects. What’s more, as the Steam page points out, most robot enemies are resistant to conventional weapons, requiring tools such as hacking or elemental damage to disable them for good. Of course, you’ll be fighting plenty of other humans too; a good variety of them considering the range of factions vying for dominance in the setting.
AI Combat Assistant
I hope you’re fond of AI voice assistants in games because La Quimera features one in a prominent way. The female voiced AI assistant gives intel about combat encounters in real-time. Super low on health? No need to look at the HUD since the assistant will chirp in warning you to heal. What may ruin some of the challenge and immersion is how the combat assistant alerts players about snipers nested just out of sight. It’d be cool if there was an option to toggle this combat assistant on and off for those who want a less hand-holdy experience.
Platforms, Price, and Release Date
As of the date of publishing this video, Reburn hasn’t updated us yet on the console platforms La Quimera is aiming to release on. It currently only has plans for a PC launch. It will release on April 25 date and will be priced at $29.99. Time will tell when we’ll get an update regarding the potential console launch details of La Quimera.
