KARMA: The Dark World Review (PS5) – Get What You Deserve

Memory is a funny old thing. One moment, you can recall an event with almost perfect clarity, then all of a sudden, without realising it, the details go fuzzy, the structure doesn’t line up, and we claw at the previous ability we had to remember it. KARMA: The Dark World is a first-person psychological horror game that absorbs itself in the endless possibility of memories. In a world where people can re-live others’ past events, almost nothing is off-limits.

There’s a lot of Inception inspiration prevalent throughout, as is there similar traits to titles like SOMA, with heavy emphasis on theme, storytelling and immersion. Big comparisons to be leant alongside, so the question is whether KARMA: The Dark World can stand tall along side them, or whether its shortcomings come right back around to smack it back down the pecking order. Karma’s a b****, as they say, so let’s find out whether this psychological horror has lived a good life.

And Then You Die…

As any psychological horror worth its salt does, KARMA: The Dark World opens with your character awakening in a strange, experimental building. The streets outside are de-manifesting, there are body horror abominations piling up outside of H. R. Giger’s horrifying bathtubs, and you have no memory of anything whatsoever. You’re inadvertently strapped to a chair, before entering the mind of a 1980s detective named Daniel, who’s investigating the criminal deeds of a deviant Leviathan Corporation employee named Sean.

Almost every aspect of KARMA: The Dark World’s opening is superb. From the terribly hopeless visuals of the opening scenes, to the realistic way your character actually sounds exasperated and devastatingly confused (a weird rarity for protagonists in similar situations), the game drew me in immediately. Things only become more interesting as you inhabit the role of Daniel, who’s the prominent figure for much of the game’s narrative. See, Daniel works as an agent for the Thought Bureau (how subtle), who can intrude into the minds of suspects through alternative 1980s technology.

Split into three chapters, you’ll enter into an Inception-like tale of dystopian corporate oppression, autocratic conspiracy, dominion over free will and various other high brow ideas. All of which is thoroughly compelling, thanks to a well-voiced cast and sublime creative direction of environments. What I liked the most, however, is the delving into the more human aspects – the impact invading someone’s mind can have, the subversive means through which Leviathan openly and implicitly dominate their workers.

If you’ve played similarly themed games in the past, you’ll have come across a lot of these plot beats before. However, the fact that you’re inhabiting three characters at a time, with all of their stories intertwining, is what makes this story so engaging to keep up with. What begins as a simple detective operation soon descends into all sorts of wild machinations, uncovering backstory and even a plot of espionage. There’s a hell of a lot the writers dive head first into in the game, potentially even too much.

The Door Hits You On The Way Out

Indeed, by the end of the game, I must admit my mind would look pretty similar to a bowl of custard left in the microwave for three days. There’s a deluge of seismic events, plot twists, revelations out the wazoo, all of which is contained in interpretive sections which may or may not even be “real”. Personally, I quite enjoy having my brain fried like a good steak, but KARMA: The Dark World does demand the player keep track of a lot of varying threads, which can become rather confusing. Unlike, say SOMA, where one theme is explored with intense focus, the writers incorporate potentially too many plot points for one short adventure.

Part of that is how a couple of threads are tied up relatively quickly, leaving question marks around certain characters and their motivations. In solving the conspiracy arc, there’s just a straight up plot hole as to how it even works. For the most part, I doubt this’ll affect too many people’s enjoyment. Like I said before, even despite the over-ambitious nature of its storytelling leaving some gaps, I was still very much compelled throughout the entire run time.

One of the biggest draws for the story is the world and atmosphere that’s been meticulously crafted, which elevates almost every facet of the experience. Wandering around this alternate history 1980s city is genuinely captivating. Bureau agents have television screens for heads, the brain-invasion technology has that Alien-esque retro aesthetic combined with how the era perceived the future of technology. The Leviathan Corporation is sterile, cold and immensely oppressive. That’s before you even get to the insides of these characters’ minds, where physics bends, eerily beautiful backdrops take center stage, and the dimensions shift before your eyes.

The visual and concept artists quite clearly had a field day devising these nightmare dreamscapes and it shows in almost every chapter. There are so many influences and I simply don’t want to spoil any specific exceptional scenes, but just know that KARMA: The Dark World is an inventive and mind-bending visual spectacle.

Actions Speak Louder

So far, you can rest assured that there’s plenty of visual prowess and solid storytelling to be worth your time. But, this is a video game, so how does it play? If you’re comfortable with “walking simulators” that involve light puzzles, deduction and the occasional chase sequence, you’ll be right at home. Much of KARMA: The Dark World is spent in cutscenes or dialogue. When you’re in control, it’s frequently focused on exploration of environments, taking in the scenes as they play out in front of you.

There are a handful of puzzles, though I’m hesitant to really call them that. One involves memorising a series a words, then picking between two doors to correctly form the sequence. Others involve finding particular objects, then using those to interact with others to clear the way forward. Typical A to B kind of affair. They’re not bad by any means, they’re just unobtrusive, and there’s no real resistance or too much thought required. Unlike the optional Rule Followers collectibles, which will test your cognitive abilities like you’re back in school (with the accompanying feeling of abject incompetence).

When you’re not walking about or solving a puzzle, you may find yourself running from a torment-inducing creature, or using a camera to pop alternate world pustules in the environment or on a boss figure. If you’re not one for intense chase sequences or terrifying horror, fret not, KARMA: The Dark World is fairly forgiving with its checkpoints and linear approach, while the horror focuses more on tension and thematic evil, as opposed to a wealth of jump scares or suffocating terror.

That’s not to say there aren’t some well-worked moments, as there definitely are. Overall though, I found myself going through the motions when playing. The camera sections in particular feel slow and unwieldy. One puzzle also completely stumped me for a good ten minutes when it really shouldn’t have. That degree I worked so hard on for three years didn’t prepare me for clock chimes apparently. While the mechanics are serviceable for the genre it’s in, KARMA: The Dark World is little to write home about when it comes to your engagement with it as a video game.

Dark Side of The Tune

Lastly, I want to give kudos to the soundtrack and music of the game. The score is sublime across the board. From the full vocals theme tracks to the rising ambient selections that accompany the harder hitting moments, KARMA: The Dark World excels when the music kicks in. Not only did they assault my propensity for great game sound, they assaulted my emotions in the evocative sequences. This was one aspect that blew me away, as often psychological or survival horrors rely on excellent sound design and audio, as opposed to full, sweeping soundtracks like you’ll find here. Absolutely superb, and I will be having this one on repeat for a good while.

Which, I think is somewhat emblematic of my entire experience of KARMA: The Dark World. When it’s playing to its strengths (which is often) by focusing on an engrossing world, stellar soundtrack and riveting story, it’s almost impossible not be sucked in by its whirlpool of intrigue and desolate vision of technology, corporate interests and the human condition. When you try to focus on playing it as a video game or a completely cohesive, self-contained title though, it comes unstuck. The cinematic value by far outweighs the actual interaction you have as a player.

For me, that’s okay. I love games like SOMA, Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture or those of similar ilk. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to sit back with a less demanding game and focus on reflecting on the message it’s trying to send. In that, I think KARMA has plenty to say and show, albeit perhaps trying to cash in too many ambitious ideas at once.

KARMA: The Dark World is available now on PlayStation 5 (review platform), Xbox Series X and PC.

Developer: Pollard Studio
Publisher: Wired Production, Gamera Games

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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