KARM

About

KARM is a single player shooter game. It was developed by Matthieu Gouby and was released on May 19, 2024. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Karm brings back '90s FPS look and feel in a lovecraftian world. Try to discover what lies behind the cult and make sure you don't lose your sanity!

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

67%

Audience ScoreBased on 27 reviews

music5 positive mentions

graphics3 negative mentions

The game captures the nostalgic feel of classic boomer shooters, providing smooth movement and satisfying combat mechanics.
Recent updates have improved the graphics and overall gameplay experience, making it more enjoyable than its early access version.
The soundtrack enhances the atmosphere and adds excitement during gameplay, contributing to the overall enjoyment.

Level design is repetitive and lacks variety, with many maps feeling similar and uninspired.
The final boss fight is poorly designed, making it frustrating and difficult, especially on higher difficulties.
The game suffers from simplistic enemy AI and a lack of enemy variety, leading to boring combat encounters.

music
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
29%
The music in the game is generally well-received, with many praising the cool soundtrack that enhances the atmosphere and action. However, some players find the combat music repetitive and annoying, noting that while the soundtrack is enjoyable, it may not be particularly memorable. Overall, it effectively complements the gameplay experience.
- “The soundtrack is cool and amps up when the action gets chaotic.”
- “Quite fun to play, brutal, and the soundtrack is amazing!”
- “Great atmosphere, good soundtrack; enemy types are okay but do leave something to be desired, in my opinion.”
- “The music is serviceable.”
- “The combat music gets annoying; it's the same heavy metal loop every time.”
gameplay
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
The gameplay is a mix of nostalgic run-and-gun mechanics reminiscent of classic titles like Doom and Quake, featuring solid execution and smooth mechanics. While some maps are criticized for their pre-alpha quality and bugs, the overall experience captures a vintage vibe and offers engaging challenges within a Lovecraftian-inspired setting.
- “The core gameplay is familiar, yet executed well, and distinguishes itself enough to be interesting.”
- “It does a good job of capturing that vintage vibe of games such as Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem, etc., taking elements of its mechanics and gameplay and transferring them to what they aptly describe as a 'Lovecraftian' inspired world.”
- “The gameplay is smooth, with solid mechanics, and the setting is well-developed, providing a challenge in itself in terms of having to loop back at certain times to determine what exactly you're unlocking.”
- “You can get stuff off of Doomworld for free that features the same basic kind of gameplay but is massively better in every way.”
- “It plays a lot like Doom and Doom 2, games that I love: no crouching and no jumping, similar pickups and (at least some) weapons, run-and-gun-and-keyhunt gameplay.”
- “Core gameplay is familiar, yet executed well, and distinguishes itself enough to be interesting.”
graphics
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews; while some players criticize the art style as ugly and poorly fitting for a retro shooter, others appreciate the improvements made with Unreal Engine 5, noting that the visuals and retro graphics are now satisfactory. Overall, opinions vary significantly, with some finding the graphics underwhelming and others acknowledging a positive shift in quality.
- “The game now uses Unreal Engine 5, and the graphics and visual style are a lot better now.”
- “The gunplay is alright, level design is decent, and the retro graphics look good enough.”
- “Even for a retro shooter, the game is unnecessarily ugly even with all the settings cranked up, mainly because the art style is terrible.”
- “It doesn't fit the pixel graphics you've implemented so well.”
- “But since it's basically an extremely underwhelming Doom or Doom 2 with 3D graphics, I decided it's not worth the price and requested a refund.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The game's atmosphere is generally praised for its enjoyable old-school style and level design, complemented by a good soundtrack. However, some users feel that the enemy types are lacking and that the overall character of the game could be improved. Despite mixed opinions, the atmosphere is noted as a standout feature.
- “Great atmosphere, good soundtrack; enemy types are okay but do leave something to be desired in my opinion.”
- “I still think that the game stands out and has a captivating atmosphere.”
- “Enjoyable old-school style shooter with a nice atmosphere and level design!”
- “A mundane retro shooter lacking in character and atmosphere.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
100%
The game offers significant replayability by presenting increasingly difficult challenges that players can tackle after completing the initial levels, reminiscent of its inspirational titles.
- “The variety of choices and paths you can take ensures that each playthrough feels fresh and engaging.”
- “With multiple endings and character builds, I find myself coming back to explore different strategies and outcomes.”
- “While I'm not there yet, the game does provide replayability value, offering higher and higher challenges (most like the games that inspired it) which you can try after you defeat it at a lower level.”
- “The game lacks significant replayability; once you've completed the main story, there's little incentive to return.”
- “After finishing the game, I found that the replayability is quite low, as the experience doesn't change much on subsequent playthroughs.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express that the game evokes a strong sense of catharsis, reminiscent of the emotional impact they experienced with "Dusk" in 2018, highlighting its ability to resonate deeply on an emotional level.
- “A cathartic feeling that dusk made me feel back in 2018.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users report that the stability of the game remains problematic, with pre-alpha quality maps contributing to a less enjoyable gameplay experience and only marginal improvements in bugs compared to the early access version.
- “The latter is a set of pre-alpha quality maps, far inferior in design, where gameplay is much less enjoyable and barely any less buggy than it was in the early access version.”