There’s something about dystopian settings in stories that we find intriguing. Worlds that have a familiar feeling, but are much more darker and dangerous compared to our own. Video games have a few titles that take place in dystopian worlds. Classics such as BioShock, Half-Life 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 just to name a few, each giving their unique take on the genre. Karma: The Dark World is the latest game to try their hand at a dystopian world. A first-person psychological thriller where an omnipresent corporation called Leviathan Corp oversees East Germany with an iron fist. Whilst Karma does present a lot of rich lore and interesting ideas in its six-hour run time, it conveys them in such a half baked way that will leave you feeling muddled by the time the credits roll.
Gameplay
Karma’s gameplay feels similar to other games in its genre such as Outlast or Soma. Players are put in a first person view with very limited actions besides from sprinting and interacting with certain objects. Despite only having a few mechanics at your disposal, they contribute greatly to Karma’s main aspect of its gameplay; puzzle solving. As you progress through the game, different puzzles will be presented for you to work out. A majority of them range from easy to average difficulty, but every so often you do come across one that poses a significant challenge. The best example of this was a puzzle much later in the game that tested your attention to detail and your ability to listen for patterns. Puzzles like these do take a lot of trial and error, but can be incredibly satisfying once it finally clicks. There is another gameplay mechanic that, albeit introduced quite late into the game, does also continue to provide some extra challenge and test your brain. With this in mind, the game has a nice balance between simple and difficult puzzles that does its job well enough.
That being said some players may find the gameplay extremely limited. There isn’t a lot of room for skill to be obtained and you may just find yourself on one linear path. The greatest example of this is the game’s various chase sections. At various points you will find yourself be pursued by an Eldritch looking monster who will kill as soon as he get close enough. Whilst the music, settings and graphics are all top notch, the gameplay simply amounts to holding sprint and pushing the left stick forward until you reach the next section. The developers never include any unique and interesting ways to tackle the monster, there is no where you can hide or fight back. Later in the game they do attempt to spice things up by introducing traps, however, it is very barebones and just amounts to baiting the monster and then deal some damage. What should have been the most pulse pounding part of the game instead ended up being a disappointingly easy walk in the park.
Story
Karma’s multi-layered story is its biggest selling point and will take up a lot of your time with the game. The story sees you take on the role of Daniel McGovern, a ROAM agent working for an organisation called the Thought Bureau. Daniel is called to investigate a murder that has taken place at an office ran by the shady Leviathan Corp. Under the watchful eye of an AI called MOTHER, Daniel must dive into the memories of people to uncover the truth behind the murder, the company and even himself.
Whilst the premise sounds straightforward enough, the game’s narrative has so many layers to it that it becomes hard to keep track of it all. Instead of telling a story that has a simple beginning, middle and end, Pollard Studio has instead opted to have significant story events vague for the sake of keeping the mystery alive. Dialogue is unclear in order to keep the player constantly wondering what the story is trying to tell them. This kind of storytelling is nothing new in video-games. Titles such as The Outer Wilds, Prey, and any game by Sam Lake and Remedy have used this tactic to immerse players in their worlds. However, whilst those titles lead to satisfying endings where everything ties up nicely, the same cannot be said for Karma. By the time the credits roll, you’ll be left with a lot more questions than answers and feel incredibly dissatisfied with the game’s attempt at a resolution. Not to mention that sometimes when you feel like you have an understanding of the narrative, the game will completely blindside you with something that will put you all the way back at square one. The narrative has a lot of good ideas that it is trying to convey to the player, but it instead comes across as a baffling tale that perplexes you around every corner.
Despite Karma’s narrative shortcomings it does have a few standout moments that find a way to pull you in. Occasionally you may find yourself glued to the screen watching dramatic events unfold and wondering what is going to happen next. This is achieved through the narrative’s two best features: its voice acting and soundtrack. Every voice actor that was involved with the game brings their A game, and it’s through these performances where the characters are allowed to become real. Despite there being a few moments that leant into overacting, every emotion from anguish, to sorrow and despair was all brought to life by the stellar voice cast. The soundtrack is equally a standout. Composed by Geng Li, the soundtrack for Karma is both beautiful and terrifying and has a lot of great tracks. Whether this be a tense, pulse pounding track during the underwhelming monster pursuits, or a slow, gut wrenching piece during one of the game’s more emotional scenes each one stands out. Even though that the narrative is a confusing mess that leaves a lot to be desired, there is still some moments like the soundtrack and voice acting that you can’t help but appreciate.
Technical
Karma is a well-polished game, but that doesn’t mean it’s flawless. Despite a few cases of dialogue overlapping or music suddenly omitting itself in the middle of a scene, there wasn’t any huge technical drawbacks. The only prominent instance I encountered was during the first hour of the game where it prevented me from putting a memo down. This unfortunately soft locked me out of the game and I was forced to restart. Despite this not setting a good precedent for the game right out of the gate, it was the only time this happened and every other technical problem that was encountered was minor at worst.
Conclusion
Karma: The Dark World has a lot of interesting ideas, but it tells them in such a vague way that will leave many dissatisfied. Couple that with limited gameplay sections, cheap horror moments, a story that feels like huge gaps were cut for the sake of building mystery, and it’s hard to not be a little disappointed. However, that being said, Karma does have standout moments sprinkled throughout that elevates the game past its mediocrity. It’s graphically outstanding, the soundtrack is hauntingly beautiful, and even though the game’s story is full of smoke and mirrors it does occasionally provide you with an incredibly well crafted scene or two. Karma won’t be for everyone, but even through its muddier moments there’s a lot to love about this debut game from a developer with a lot of promise.
The Review
Fair
