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Welcome to the dark world

I love games that drops under “weird” category. Without even starting to play KARMA: The Dark World I knew it being something I would probably like. Made by Chinese developer Pollard Studio and published by Wired Productions. Is KARMA: The Dark World a good game?

Plot

KARMA: The Dark World is a first-person psychological thriller set in a dystopian world controlled by the Leviathan Corporation. It’s 1984 in East Germany, and nothing is as it appears. The plot was, as the game itself, very interesting and rich but also being odd at the same time. What I try to tell you is that the whole plot was rather confusing with some aspects. The main character is Daniel, as he wakes up in an odd place where they seemingly farm humans for some greater good. Soon he is send back to the memories and reliving past. The plot tried to be very clever and deep—and it was at some points—but I think it just ended up being little bit confusing.

Gameplay, controls, audio and visuals

The gameplay is played from first-person perspective, as this game is also under an “atmospheric adventure” category this was a good decision from developer’s part. It was really immersive to experience the world this way. What player has to do in KARMA: The Dark World was to live the memories of suspects and do puzzles such as finding keys and passwords scattered in notebooks and in environments. The gameplay was rather simple but it didn’t reduce my overall experience. There are some boss battles and chase sequenses which were kinda scary and freaky.

Controlling the character was easy and what players can expect is more mixture of walking-simulator to investigations of scenes.

KARMA: The Dark World is fully voice acted and it wasn’t the only thing done right; the audio, music and sound effects in the game was also top notch. The best experience is with headphones.

Visually the game looked next generation-ish. Beautiful, detailed and as the theme is “psychological thriller set in a dystopian world” players can expect some weird things from the enviroment and set pieces. The whole atsomphere in KARMA: The Dark World is very oppressive and somewhat anxiety-inducing. The game uses Unreal Engine 5 that is the newest craze in the gaming world, bringing the most nicest graphics.

Get out of my head

KARMA: The Dark World was about 5-6 hours long and it was a OK experience. All the weirdness I had to witness, the story that was rather dark and unsettling with dystopian environment and good voice acting. But still I think the game tried to be something extra deep, but ending up being little confusing. In the end it explained lots of things in the story, but still I was like “what the hell I just played?”.

KARMA: The Dark World is now available on PS5 (reviewed using PS5 Pro) and Windows, and Xbox Series X|S (on later day).

(Review copy kindly provided by the publisher)

SCORE:

3/5

“KARMA: The Dark World is a first-person psychological thriller set in a dystopian world”

RELEASE DATE: March 27, 2025
GENRE: Thriller / Psychological Horror / Atmospheric Adventure
DEVELOPER: Pollard Studio
PUBLISHER: Wired Productions
PLATFORMS: PS5 (reviewed using PS5 Pro)
Xbox Series X|S
Windows

 

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