Karma: The Dark World Review – What Are Memories?

While many confuse the horror genre to be one full of just cheap thrills and jump scares, historically, the genre has been used to ask some rather thought-provoking questions. In film we got to see this with movies like Hereditary that had subtext about a host of different topics ranging from the concept of “inherited sin” to “identity”, and even in video games, we’ve seen the genre tackle some hard subject matter. Look no further than the seminal Silent Hill 2 or its more recent remake for an example. Karma: The Dark World is an interesting release where we get to see a smaller studio take a stab at some rather interesting and thought provoking questions through its story and gameplay.

One of the first such questions Karma: The Dark World brings up is about the nature of memories. In the game, you take on the role of Roam Agent Daniel McGovern, working for the Leviathan Corporation as a peacekeeper of sorts. As a Roam Agent, you are tasked with investigating various small-scale crimes that might threaten the hegemony and power of the Leviathan Corporation. To do so, you will be exploring various crime scenes to find clues, and occasionally, your investigations might even end up taking into peoples’ minds and memories.

"I noticed just how much inspiration Karma: The Dark World takes from David Lynch’s classic TV show Twin Peaks"

The idea of being able to explore the minds of people is where the game is able to flex its horror muscles. While the “real-world” parts of Karma: The Dark World tend to be generally creepy, with a sense of dread constantly weighing you down, the minds of the various people you get to explore are where most of the game’s horror aspects intensify, becoming tense and oftentimes frightening. The parts of the game where you get to explore the minds of your suspects are often the most interesting, both visually and thematically.

The first time I jumped into the memories of a suspect was around the time I noticed just how much inspiration Karma: The Dark World takes from David Lynch’s classic TV show Twin Peaks. While the game doesn’t have the campiness of the seminal show, it does feature similar surreal imagery, including a room draped in red where we get to experience some of our suspect’s deepest regrets.

The story in Karma: The Dark World is told in a non-linear fashion. The game kicks things off by having the player wake up with no idea of who or where they are. After a short bout of exploration, we meet another person who, in a series of events, straps us into a chair and throws us into the depths of our own mind. From this point on, the game makes the protagonist’s role and objectives quite clear: solve crimes and, in the process, maybe even figure out the nature of the Leviathan Corporation.

You will constantly be hopping between different time frames as you get further into the story, and will ultimately have to figure out the actual order of events yourself. The game does provide plenty of hints in its story through environmental clues, however. Subtlety also feels like it was not the priority when it came to the story of Karma: The Dark World. The allusions to classic dystopian fiction like 1984 is ever-present, especially considering the role the Leviathan Corporation plays in the everyday lives of the game’s citizens.

Speaking of which, the Leviathan Corporation definitely sits right up there with the most nefarious antagonistic forces in gaming. Alongside running its dictatorship to fuel further profits, hints of how the company tends to treat regular citizens can often feel downright horrifying. An early example of this pops up when you find a letter where a person was punished for picking up something they shouldn’t have, ultimately being forced to live out the rest of their life as a pipe cleaner, while also losing what is referred to as “social credit”.

"Subtlety also feels like it was not the priority when it came to the story of Karma: The Dark World."

At its most basic level, the core gameplay revolves around slowly and methodically exploring crime scenes in order to find the way forward. Obstacles often take the form of puzzles that can range quite a bit in difficulty, from just needing to find a hidden vent, to figuring out the combination to a lock from environmental clues. A lot of the core gameplay structure feels like it was taken right out of a classic Resident Evil game, and unfortunately, things never really get much more complicated than that.

There isn’t really any combat in Karma: The Dark World, and the most you’ll end up running when facing down a horrifying creature as you traverse a suspect’s mind, and sometimes even hiding. Ultimately, the full extent of the gameplay falls under what the studio itself likes to refer to as a “cinematic interactive story.” Now, don’t get me wrong; this is far from a walking-sim where you just get to passively experience a story happening around you. You get a lot more agency in this game, and absorbing every drop of environmental storytelling along with the main story being presented is incredibly important to enjoying the game.

When it comes to atmosphere, Karma: The Dark World has absolutely nailed it. Visuals are a big part of this, and the environments are often downright gorgeous. This is especially true for the creepy parts of the game that have you enter peoples’ minds. Even in the “real world”, the dreariness of the world and the oppressive nature of the Leviathan Corporation’s iron fist on society feels ever-present. The audio is downright fantastic too; most of the music you get to hear tends to be diegetic – with the sound probably coming out from a record player nearby. There are a few musical stings used to heighten the tension here and there, but most of the time, you mostly end up with just the environmental sounds and your own thoughts to keep you company.

"When it comes to atmosphere, Karma: The Dark World has absolutely nailed it."

The only downside with the visuals is that the character models aren’t quite as polished as the rest of the game tends to feel. This even ends up being a detractor to the atmosphere when the ambient lighting can’t quite cover up for the models. Most of the time, however, this tends to be a non-issue, since just about every other aspect of the visuals tends to make up for the relatively poor character models, be it through the expert use of lighting and volumetric fog effects, or even just a heavy dose of surrealism thanks to the distorted perspectives you often get to see through.

Karma: The Dark World is ultimately an interesting experience. It’s the rare horror game where, while you’re not killing things and counting bullets by the buckets, you’re also not focused entirely on hiding. Rather, investigation is the most important thing here, and the puzzle design, even if somewhat simplistic at times, goes a long way in reinforcing this idea. Pair that with some deliciously-thick atmosphere courtesy of excellent visuals and audio, as well as an intriguing story that’s being told in a compelling way, and you get a horror experience that is well worth your time.

This game was reviewed on PC.