Absurd, disturbing and occasionally truly beautiful – Karma: The Dark World review
It’s been a long time since a game has left me as perplexed as Karma: The Dark World – and I mean that in a good way. Its mix of an Orwellian world with ideas that could’ve come from the pens of David Lynch or Hideo Kojima completely captivated me.
Honestly, I don’t want to any more, I can’t any more. I just flicked a light switch and the words «Don’t look back» appear next to it. As I’m your classic scaredy-cat, I took heed and just kept walking. And now I constantly have the feeling something’s chasing me. Alright, before I look into the next dark room, I need a break.
I felt this way quite a bit in Karma: The Dark World. The Chinese team at Pollard Studio knows how to put me under constant stress with sometimes more and sometimes less subtle means. Add to this an eerily beautiful world reminiscent of Orwell’s 1984 here, David Lynch’s Twin Peaks there and Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth on top. The game doesn’t quite come close to these masterpieces, but the walking simulator still has an beautifully sinister appeal.
A totalitarian world à la Orwell
Karma is set in an alternate reality in 1976. I play agent Daniel McGovern, a so-called Nightcrawler. For this job, he spends a lot of time in the heads of other people, immersing himself with a machine. His employer, the Thought Bureau, run by omnipresent corporation Leviathan, aims to track down and punish dissidents and criminals. The game begins with a seemingly routine assignment. I’m sent to investigate the case of Sean Mehndez, an employee of the Winston Research Institute accused of theft. Naturally, the case is anything but routine.
It quickly becomes clear to me that something isn’t right in the world of Karma. Agents invading the minds of others for stealing? Now that’s a blatant invasion of privacy. Through conversations and documents, I learn that even the smallest offences are recorded and used against people in this dark world. And by minor offences I don’t mean theft, but applying make-up during working hours or staining your work clothes.
I realise the world is defined by hierarchical social structures – ID cards with peoples’ social levels are lying around everywhere. Even more obvious are the people loyal to the company. They don’t have heads, but tube screens on their shoulders. I see, this is a totalitarian surveillance state à la 1984. The game manages to convey this subtly, without shoving it in my face. Instead, there are details everywhere that reveal more about the world I’m in. Just how I like it.
Simple gameplay that still offers unforgettable experiences
I steer Daniel through corridors, streets and heads from a first-person perspective, drawing me even deeper into the action. I never know what’s going on behind me, as I’d have to turn around to find out. If I had done so in the scene described earlier, I’d have seen something briefly appear behind me. However, jump scares like these are rather rare. I never know when to expect them, and when it’s just my mind messing with me.
The gameplay itself is typical for a walking simulator – simple. In addition to walking and running, you can interact with defined objects and solve puzzles. Early on, I have to gain access to several desk drawers. They’re secured with four-digit codes, which I usually find quickly by examining the surroundings. Mind you, the exciting thing isn’t the puzzles themselves, but what you learn from them. When I decode Sean’s password, I get to know him better without having met him before.
The developers have also thought about their puzzles quite a bit. Before they become repetitive, they’re replaced by new elements, adding variety to gameplay. In this respect, Karma has some extremely impressive surprises in store. Take the time I have to stamp lots of documents in Sean’s mind. The repetitive work is accompanied by a propaganda film from the Thought Bureau advertising a mind-altering drug. I have to swallow it regularly so that I don’t go mad in this absurd world. Absolute Cinema.
Another time, I control a cube that has to find its place in an environment of lines. The reduced graphic style makes the totalitarian world appear even more barren. Apart from white lines on a black background, there’s nothing. It adds a feeling of powerlessness and great sadness to the harsh world of Karma.
Still, there are also moments of hope and colour. They seem downright cheesy in contrast to everything else. But they don’t last long – what Karma does amazingly is horror.
Both «reality» and the mind worlds are disturbing
Even «reality» in Karma is sheer horror. After exploring the Winston Research Institute, I walk through the streets of the nameless city. Everywhere I go, I see people with tube televisions instead of heads. At one corner they grab a dissident, dragging him to the entrance of the Thought Bureau. Bam. They publicly execute him.
The Bureau itself is a sterile wing of the building. Propaganda posters are everywhere. That, or instructions on proper behaviour. Surveillance cameras are omnipresent. Sitting next to me in the waiting room is a guy who’s obviously at the end of his rope and can no longer distinguish between his reality and the heads he’s immersed in.
Then there’s the interview room. Here, Sean and later on another person sit opposite me behind a pane of glass. I put on a cap and get into their heads to try to solve the Sean Mehndez case.
These mind worlds are disturbing in a different way than «reality». The scenery reminds me of Pan’s Labyrinth or Twin Peaks. In one passage I look into Sean’s apartment. But like the red room in Lynch’s groundbreaking series, it’s shrouded in red curtains. Events become increasingly grotesque and Sean’s private life becomes more and more intertwined with his work. On one occasion, I make my way through a room full of alarm clocks hanging from the ceiling that suddenly ring. In Mehndez’s office, his colleagues are depicted as mannequins whose heads explode. Sometimes they’re hanged, other times they sit frozen in fear on the floor.
When I want to turn back, the doors I’ve just come through are either locked or mannequins are suddenly behind me, blocking my way. The game forces me to keep going – even when I don’t want to. Later, more movement comes into play when I have to flee from a monster. This may be clichéd for a horror game, but the sequences are brilliantly staged with constantly changing rooms. They’re among the most visually impressive things I’ve ever explored.
The whole thing is paired with an atmospheric soundtrack and great acoustic effects that always send a shiver down my spine.
Confusing to the point of no return
The story of Karma: The Dark World is just as disturbing and confusing as the scenery. Here, the developers follow in the footsteps of their role models Lynch and Kojima. Loads of things aren’t explained, and some questions remain unanswered. I’ve deliberately always written «reality» in quotation marks, since the difference between what’s real and what’s only in someone’s mind plays a central role in Karma. I like it, but you should be aware that the story can also leave you in the dark.
What I don’t understand is the character names. The game’s set in a fictional East Germany during the Cold War. So why does the main character have an English name? In other respects, too, the game made by Chinese developers seems more British than German.
Dialogue is also only available in English and Chinese. The actors do a good job in the English version, they’re credible and not too theatrical. My favourite part isn’t Daniel, but Sean’s narrator, who shines.
Karma: The Dark World was provided to me by Wired Productions. I tested the PC version. The game is available for PC and PS5.
In a nutshell
Outstanding horror that leaves me baffled too
If you’re into horror games and like the works of George Orwell, David Lynch or Hideo Kojima, Karma: The Dark World is perfect for you. Its world is disturbing and oppressive. The horror isn’t clumsy with endless jump scares, but subtle and always surprising. It’s not monsters that scare me – even if they do exist – but the human psyche. This is how good horror should be.
On top of that, the world is wonderfully eerie. I’d gladly hang many of its screenshots on my wall. The developers seem to have taken inspiration from their role models and implemented every idea brilliantly. The sound design also makes my blood run cold at times.
Still, I have three small points of criticism. First, there’s the story, which is so confusing that it can become off-putting. Second, I find it strange that the game is set in East Germany, but many of the characters have English names and there’s no German voiceover. Third, the game offers little in terms of gameplay, but this is due to its walking simulator nature.
If you can live with these nags, definitely check out Karma: The Dark World. It’s relatively short anyway, with a play time of eight to ten hours.
Pro
- Wonderfully terrifying scenes
- Subtle horror
- Confusing story…
Contra
- … confusing story
- No German dub for a game set in Germany
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Kevin Hofer
Senior Editor
kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.chFrom big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.
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