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backSaturday 12th April 2025
Karma the Dark world. A game or a critique?
Critical thinking is not a crime -Yet-.
Karma the Dark world is something entirely new to me on many levels. It’s probably the horror game — horror/sci-fi? — with the best graphics I’ve ever seen, possibly only surpassed by the Silent Hill 2 Remake.
All of that is fantastic, and I’d love to say more than what you’ll see in any gameplay footage so you could judge for yourself, especially about its technical aspects or what lies beneath the surface. But I won’t do that to avoid repeating what’s already out there.
This game pushes boundaries in another way. It’s a game that essentially recounts an Orwellian nightmare blended with material Philip K. Dick might narrate. Again, you might think this is commonplace — except for the fact that the game is set in a divided Germany during a pivotal era of geopolitical division and ideologies. It takes place in East Germany, in a "dystopian" future, framed through a "parallel timeline" perspective.
Let’s put it this way: Like Orwell, it narrates an alternate version of history and is set in the same year as Orwell’s novel of the same name: 1984. And this would all be fine if not for the fact that the studio behind this work is Chinese.
That’s right. Chinese. The narrative is undeniably cinematic, and the blended elements are so well-crafted that the flavor of the mix ends up being more than just palatable. Behind every work of this caliber, there has always been a hidden critical undertone. Of course, given the game’s origin, if such criticism exists — and it does — the question arises: Is a fully authoritarian communist country actually critiquing the West? What kind of critique is this?
The game’s opening plotlines present the opposite of Orwell’s proposition. There is no "Party," no daily dose of hatred toward an enemy, nor whispers that Orwell’s "Big Brother" and "the Party" reference a totalitarian communist force — though his work is often interpreted that way.
Of course, astute readers will know Orwell himself had affiliations with certain communist factions and harbored both rejection and affinity for the ideology for many reasons. This is why the mention of a single Party as the sole authority and institution alludes to authoritarianism and disinformation, leaving the political ideology’s interpretation largely open to the audience.
In this case, there’s little ambiguity. It’s a critique of a corporatist world overrun by monopolies. Apparently, this has left the West in the grip of a corporation, and, much like in 1984, propaganda is a constant presence throughout the game.
I won’t spoil anything or overhype the game — that’s pointless.
I’ll just say this: It’s a stellar title and an invitation to philosophically analyze the Chinese vision of an opaque, murky dystopian future.