Karnage Chronicles

84%
Game Brain Score Based on 880 reviews
  • graphics
  • gameplay
  • story
Karnage Chronicles Game Cover
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"Karnage Chronicles" is a VR action RPG where players can explore dark dungeons filled with monsters, traps, and puzzles. Players can choose to play alone or with friends, with auto-scaling difficulty for a flexible co-op experience. The game features an inventory system designed for VR and several locomotion options. .

  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

84%
Audience ScoreBased on 880 reviews
graphics132 positive mentions
grinding26 negative mentions
  • Beautiful graphics and immersive environments that enhance the gameplay experience.
  • Engaging combat mechanics that require strategy, especially in multiplayer mode.
  • Fun dungeon exploration with a variety of enemies and loot to collect.
  • Combat can feel clunky and inconsistent, with hit detection issues and enemy AI that sometimes feels unfair.
  • Limited character classes and lack of depth in RPG elements, such as leveling or skill trees.
  • Inventory management can be tedious, with items taking up valuable space and requiring multiple steps to manage.
  • graphics205 mentions

    The graphics in the game have received widespread praise for their beauty and detail, with many players noting the immersive environments and vibrant art style that enhance the overall experience. While some users reported issues with performance and a lack of graphical options, the majority found the visuals to be stunning and well-optimized for VR, contributing significantly to the game's atmosphere and enjoyment. Overall, the graphics are considered a standout feature, elevating the gameplay and making it visually appealing.

    • “The graphics are gorgeous, and the gameplay is intuitive and lots of fun.”
    • “Beautiful graphics, intuitive interface (for me at least) and an all around fun co-op dungeon crawler.”
    • “The graphics are drop-dead gorgeous, not just because they are polished, but because they hit the perfect exploitation of the Vive's capabilities and somewhat low resolution - it's just cartoony-ish and unrealistic enough that everything is bright, vivid and easy to make out.”
    • “I can't find an in-game graphics adjustment, because even with my Index and running the game with a Core i9, a 4080 Super, and 64 GB of RAM, the image jumps every once in a while when turning or moving, and it's just often enough to bring on motion sickness for me after 30+ minutes of play.”
    • “The graphics and overall art style are rather inconsistent as well.”
    • “The graphics are a bit misty.”
  • gameplay150 mentions

    The gameplay is characterized by a deep dungeon-crawling experience filled with lore, ambushes, and NPC interactions, offering a mix of melee and ranged combat that can be both engaging and frustrating due to mechanics like enemy dodging and imprecise aiming. While many players appreciate the solid mechanics and immersive environments, some criticize the repetitiveness and lack of depth in character abilities and combat strategies. Overall, the game provides a fun experience, especially in co-op mode, but it still requires improvements to enhance gameplay satisfaction and challenge.

    • “A deep dungeon dive, lore to be found in various places, ambushes and traps all over, several encounters with NPCs who give you missions, branching paths, big boss battles, etc. I really like this and the general gameplay.”
    • “The graphics are gorgeous, and the gameplay is intuitive and lots of fun.”
    • “Great gameplay and absolutely stunning environments.”
    • “The gameplay is really basic as it is right now and gets kinda boring quite fast.”
    • “Some people have described the game as challenging, but it really isn't; you can keep progressing from just grinding through it, and the only challenge is in forcing yourself into beating your head against the wall pushing through the frustrating mechanics.”
    • “But the gameplay is severely lacking.”
  • story119 mentions

    The game's story is generally viewed as weak and lacking depth, with many players finding it either vague or filled with generic fantasy tropes. While some appreciate the environmental storytelling and lore scattered throughout, others criticize the linear quest structure and lack of memorable characters. Overall, the narrative serves as a backdrop to the gameplay rather than a compelling driving force, leaving players wanting more substantial content and character development.

    • “A deep dungeon dive, lore to be found in various places, ambushes and traps all over, several encounters with NPCs who give you missions, branching paths, big boss battles, etc. I really like this and the general gameplay.”
    • “It's a gorgeously crafted world and the story is compelling.”
    • “The story and the characters are well developed and very likeable so far.”
    • “The story makes little sense, and I found it difficult to stay interested, hearing so much of the limited lore from the awful NPC I mentioned earlier.”
    • “The story is essentially non-existent and what little is there is incredibly boring and forgettable.”
    • “Weak storytelling and world-building.”
  • atmosphere41 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive and polished design, featuring stunning graphics, detailed environments, and effective sound design that enhances the overall experience. Players appreciate the attention to detail in world-building and the emotional impact of the visuals and audio, creating a captivating RPG adventure feel. However, some reviews note that while the atmosphere is exceptional, the gameplay can become repetitive, detracting from the overall experience.

    • “I thought the atmosphere and graphic design was superb, especially the start section with the sunset over the water which looked incredible in VR, and the game so far has a lot of visual interest.”
    • “The overall atmosphere of the game is really amazing, and the combat feels fluid and proper, with connecting hits feeling like you're actually hitting someone.”
    • “Couple that with the sound design; the little cave noises and the narrator with a voice like fantasy Morgan Freeman, and the whole thing is just dripping with atmosphere.”
    • “While I really like the level and character design and the atmosphere, the combat gets repetitive and enemies become 'bullet' sponges.”
    • “The atmosphere and scuttling noises on our first go were anxiety-inducing (in a good way).”
    • “The atmosphere, the AI, and the scenery keep you looking over your shoulders all the time; I'm only about an hour in.”
  • grinding26 mentions

    The grinding aspect of the game is often described as tedious and repetitive, with players noting that inventory management and looting can become cumbersome. While some enjoy the challenge of grinding for better gear and upgrades, many feel that the experience can lead to frustration due to enemy spawns and low damage output. Overall, the game offers enjoyable moments but is marred by a grindy nature that can detract from the overall experience.

    • “Karnage Chronicles started off okay for me, but then became a tediously dull dungeon/cave crawler with no direction on what to do or where to go.”
    • “Some people have described the game as challenging, but it really isn't; you can keep progressing from just grinding through it, and as I mentioned, skillful play seems to be rendered ineffectual. The only challenge is in forcing yourself to push through the frustrating mechanics.”
    • “The inventory management can be a bit tedious: quest items, writings, and consumables take a lot of space, leaving barely any room for loot.”
  • music26 mentions

    The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many praising its ability to enhance immersion and set the mood, while others criticize it for being too loud or lacking in interaction with the gameplay. Some players appreciate the beautiful soundtrack and sound design, noting that it complements the visuals and atmosphere effectively. However, there are also concerns about the balance between music and in-game communication, particularly during critical moments like boss fights.

    • “Amazing game - highly recommend, gameplay is flawless, beautiful art and soundtrack, extremely fun singleplayer and multiplayer.”
    • “Music is amazing and really sets the mood.”
    • “Beautiful visuals and a great soundtrack.”
    • “The lack of music and interaction with the world kind of sucks.”
    • “There's no music.”
    • “And so there are times when you really need to hear the frustration of your teammates during a boss fight, but cannot, because the music is too damned loud.”
  • optimization22 mentions

    Overall, the game's optimization is highly praised, with many users reporting smooth performance across various systems, including VR setups. While some players experienced minor issues, such as fluctuating frame rates or graphical fuzziness during motion, the majority found the game to run solidly, especially in multiplayer scenarios. Notably, recent updates have further enhanced performance, making it one of the best-optimized VR experiences available.

    • “Easily the most optimized VR experience I have played.”
    • “Most importantly, this game is optimized fantastically.”
    • “This VR game has some of the best graphics and is properly optimized to run smoothly on all systems.”
    • “On 90 fps mode, I would get ~40 fps, and adjusting supersampling did not change performance.”
    • “I am not sure why the performance is all over the place, but at 60 fps re-projected to 120 it was playable.”
    • “They don't have anything optimized for the Valve Index.”
  • replayability21 mentions

    Overall, the game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players find it highly enjoyable with random loot drops and multiplayer options enhancing the experience, others feel it lacks depth and variety, particularly due to the limited number of classes and repetitive dungeon designs. Many reviewers express a desire for additional classes, randomized levels, and higher difficulty modes to significantly boost replay value. Despite these criticisms, several players still appreciate the game's potential for replayability, especially in cooperative play.

    • “Awesome dungeon crawler RPG VR game, only 3 hours in but I can see loads of replayability.”
    • “Random loot drops and scaling difficulty levels make this game very replayable!”
    • “Some simple dungeons that are different every playthrough would give the game almost endless replayability.”
    • “With little to no replayability incentive.”
    • “It's a shallow, arcade-style, hack-and-slash with little to no replay value.”
    • “Another class to play as would add way more replayability.”
  • stability21 mentions

    The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant bugs and glitches, particularly in co-op mode, which often detracts from the overall experience. While some users note that it runs well on certain hardware and has only minor issues, others express frustration with frequent crashes and unresponsive gameplay. Overall, the game appears to need further polishing and updates to address these stability concerns.

    • “Runs great on Quest 2 with Air Link.”
    • “Great voice acting and mostly bug-free multiplayer co-op.”
    • “It's not buggy or unpolished, so at early access prices, the game is a steal.”
    • “Still very buggy and co-op almost never works.”
    • “I was playing it in early access, and got close to the end, but it was just so buggy that I felt I was battling the bugs more than I was battling enemies, so I decided to put it down until it was out of early access (which ended up being a couple of years).”
    • “So ultimately the game is gorgeous, and appears to have had a lot of painstaking design to create an absorbing world (at least the first levels; the end of the game appears slapped together), but the broken, buggy implementation results in a game that just isn't fun to play.”
  • humor7 mentions

    The game is praised for its immersive and humorous storytelling, with players enjoying witty NPC interactions and comedic gameplay elements, particularly in co-op settings. The humor enhances the overall experience, making it a fun choice for playing with friends, as it leads to many laugh-out-loud moments during gameplay. Characters, especially one named Seven, contribute significantly to the game's comedic atmosphere.

    • “It's a good immersive story, funny and sometimes heart-stopping-- and since it's co-op for up to 4 people, it's pretty damn fun, too.”
    • “As a huge plus: in real life, I get lost everywhere (it's humorously horrible).”
    • “I recommend this game to play with friends :) We laughed so much at how you can feed your friends with your hands in their mouths, hilarious!”
  • emotional5 mentions

    Players express a strong emotional connection to the game, feeling fully immersed in its world and likening the experience to beloved classics. However, some frustrations with controller feedback and movement mechanics slightly detract from the overall emotional engagement.

    • “In the 3 hours of gameplay I've had so far, Karnage has made me feel like it's the only action VRPG worth buying.”
    • “I spent a little while just very carefully touching my shield this way and got the astonishing feeling it was solid.”
    • “Wow, made me feel like I just jumped straight into the world of Evercrack.”
  • monetization2 mentions

    The game's monetization is praised for being fair and not exploitative, standing out as a quality experience amidst a market filled with cash grabs. Players appreciate its charm and personality, viewing it as a refreshing exception in the gaming landscape.

    • “It's a goddamn golden egg in an increasingly large pile of cash grabbing excrement.”
  • character development1 mentions

    Character development is praised for its level and design aesthetics, as well as the atmospheric elements; however, players find the combat repetitive and feel that enemies lack depth, often becoming mere "bullet" sponges.

    • “While I really like the level and character design and the atmosphere, the combat gets repetitive and enemies become 'bullet' sponges.”
    • “The character development feels shallow and lacks meaningful progression, making it hard to connect with the characters.”
    • “I was disappointed by the lack of depth in character arcs; they felt one-dimensional and predictable.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

8hMedian play time
9hAverage play time
5-10hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 16 analyzed playthroughs

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