Review: KARMA: The Dark World

Developer – POLLARD STUDIO LLC

Publisher – Wired Productions, Gamera Games

Platforms – PS4/PS5 (reviewed), Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Review copy given by publisher

When you work for a corporation that controls the entire country, encountering something odd is the least of your concerns. But when the truth starts becoming murky and mysteries keep producing questions, what do you do? That’s what Daniel McGovern must face when he finds himself in a crazy situation he can’t remember. By revisiting the past, he must do everything he can to figure out how he got into this mess and more importantly, how to get out.

KARMA: The Dark World provides a horror mystery that wraps you up in its environment. Walking through each room sometimes feels like the barrier between reality and illusion is blurred. The horror themes are especially prominent and there’s a few frights in store. The puzzles are difficult and there’s little guidance to assist you. The story also needs significant time to develop. If you stay the course, a good story awaits.

You step into the shoes of Daniel McGovern, a Roam Agent for the Thought Bureau. It’s 1984 in East Germany and the corporation controls almost everything. Daniel is looking into a recent theft of an object. While investigating the thefts, Daniel’s world views undergo a big change as he approaches the truth. As he unravels the mystery, he must figure out what exactly he’s working for and if his whole world was a lie.

Stepping into this alternate history is genuinely unnerving. Most people have TVs in the place of their heads. The Leviathan corporation demands loyalty above all and enforces it. Every note you find shows the extent of the dystopia and how stressful it is. KARMA: The Dark World paints a disturbing picture with its world, making you dread but eternally curious about the horrors that await you.

The game design is fantastic and conveys just how creepy the world is. Buildings look normal but are rarely brightly lit on the inside. Scenery changes are subtle but drastically alter the area once you notice. Even the enemy designs are eerie enough to bring out your instinctual fear. Ramping up the horror and the tension is something the game does well and it stays with you long after you close the game.

While the horror comes on strong, the story takes time to get started. It can be confusing at first since you switch perspectives between individuals and jump across time. You must spend some time before the narrative threads start coming together. This can frustrate you if you were expecting lots of exposition to help you understand the situation. Over time the story eventually builds the world out for you but you must give it time or it won’t work.

The voice acting is somewhat mixed as the voices don’t sound like someone from East Germany is talking in English. However, the voices are considerably better when you go into different languages like Mandarin. Regardless of the language, the emotional gravitas is felt with every word as fear or uncertainty is conveyed. You always know what a character is feeling and this assists the emotional scenes during the story.

The puzzles can be hit-or-miss since you barely get hints or instructions on how you approach them. While the solution can be figured out with time, this often involves some outside-the-box thinking. One example is a puzzle whose solution lies behind figuring out which sounds relate to clock times. This leads to frustration since you sometimes get stuck and only have vague instructions to continue.

KARMA: The Dark World has a good story and challenging puzzles, but the lack of instructions can hold you back. Figuring things out by yourself is part of the appeal though that may cause people to give up. If you are willing to stay and see how the story ends, there’s a good horror experience waiting for you. Just be willing to walk around and experiment a lot before the story threads come together.