Horror has always been a fantastic genre. From experimental indie horror to cherished franchises, horror seems to be a genre that just keeps on giving, with new studios trying their hand at creating the next big terrifying experience. Pollard Studio is one of those developers who are hoping that their new game, Karma: The Dark World, continues to push the genre forward. I managed to get my hands on the demo for Karma recently, and after playing for a good, solid hour it left me feeling both intrigued and skeptical.
Story
Karma: The Dark World is a first-person, cinematic, psychological horror game set in a dystopian world that is surveyed by the sketchy company Leviathan Corp. You play as a Roam Agent called Daniel McGovern who starts to dig too deep into Leviathan’s practices. The further Daniel goes, the more he begins to question everything he knows, including his own identity.
The demo will give you just enough in it’s short run time to peak your interest. At the start you’ll find yourself in what appears to be a pretty standard hospital room, however, things quickly transition into a nightmare. A mechanism with injectors buried deep into your arm, the world outside glitching, and a lab filled with failed grotesque experiments. The setting offers just the right amount to captivate you with it’s macabre atmosphere leaving you asking all sorts of questions. How did we get here? Where is here? Who am I?
That being said, if you were to ask me what Karma exactly is about, I would definitely struggle to provide you with an answer. The demo doesn’t give you an incline for what kind of story to expect in the full game. Whilst the settings are gorgeous and the lore is intriguing, I felt as if I was just simply going from room to room with no defining reason for why I was here in the first place. Characters you meet along the way don’t alleviate this confusion and would rather speak in riddles. I have no doubt that all of the question I had will be answered in the full release, and the demo does enough to invest you in it’s world and setting.
Gameplay
Most horror games fall into one of two categories — Combat or Fleeing. Games like Resident Evil or Silent Hill allow the player to fight back against enemies with a variety of weapons at their disposal, whilst games like Outlast and Amensia restrict the player and only gives you the option to run and hide. The developers for Karma have opted for the latter of the two.
Whilst it is undoubtedly going to turn some people off, and is definitely a controversial design choice, it has been proven to work in the past. However, there is usually a tool or mechanic that players can use to give them at least some form of control. The Karma demo unfortunately doesn’t have anything like this to offer and will just have you holding shift down to run. There may only one enemy you encounter, but there’s no creative way to evade it turning a potentially fun encounter into something bland.
In addition to that, a lot of the time I felt as if the demo was very on the rails. You will find yourself going from one place to the next, solving a very basic puzzle, and moving onto another room where you do exactly the same thing. There was no freedom to go back and explore, or items that you can only use in a had to use in a previous location. It unfortunately felt like one straight static line. I do hope there is some more interesting mechanics and freedom for players to explore, otherwise the entire experience just might have well been a movie.
Technical
As the game is still essentially a beta, there are bound to be a few hiccups you’ll experience along the way. Throughout my time with the demo, I did encounter a few problems such as the occasional screen tearing, and a moment towards the beginning of the game where a NPC’s dialogue overlapped with your character’s. But none of these problems really hindered what is otherwise an incredibly beautiful looking game. Built on the Unreal Engine 5, Karma takes full advantage of the engine’s graphical capabilities. I especially think the lighting is really effective. The demo will occasionally have these dark moments where a single red light is being cast, adding more to the already great atmosphere. Seeing the graphics in action excites me to see what the rest of the game looks like, and if it’s anything like the demo then I believe we’re in for a really impressive looking experience.
Summary
Karma: The Dark World’s demo is a good hour-long showcase of what we can expect to see from the full game next year. Whilst it’s technically impressive and the world is intriguing enough, I’m not completely sold on the whole experience quite yet. Hopefully the demo’s flaws do not carry over into the full game and when it releases we’ll get a truly unique and terrifying experience.
