Karma Flow - The Prototype

Stealth games can be incredibly fun if the gameplay mechanics allow you to choose the desired approach every time, because there’s nothing worse than linearity in such situations. As long as you can choose whether to go in all guns blazing or hug the walls and take out the enemies as quietly as possible, the experience is usually quite satisfying and enjoyable.

Karma Flow - The Prototype is an interesting game that relies on a few new ideas, which is always nice to see, even if the actual experience might not be up to standards. In this case, the central idea is that you have to take karma into account when it comes to assassinating your target, because as it happens, the killer is forced to die the same death as the victim.

The whole story takes place in a noir setting, and you play the role of a meat hunter by the name of Florien Kealborn, who is actually an assassin. In essence, your missions require you to find a way to kill your targets without delivering the actual blows or bullets, which is trickier than you may believe. On the other hand, it’s what makes the game fun.

You are also free to roam the entire map as you see fit, although there’s not much to see between the buildings. Once you go in, the experience feels a lot like Hotline Miami, except that it’s a tad slow and much easier. On the other hand, you are also encouraged to stay hidden instead of alerting every guard in the building, which actually causes an alarm, and you are unable to interact with certain objects during the alarm.

As for the graphics, the game features a retro visual style that may not appeal to everyone, especially since it’s very dark and lacking detail. There might be some who enjoy the heavy noir style, but it must be said that most of the darkness is there to hide the lack of attention to detail. Hence, it would be nice to see more effort in this regard.

Although it has its fair share of flaws, Karma Flow - The Prototype is more than capable to keep you entertained for a while, especially if you enjoy stealthy kills and an interesting story. However, it clearly needs more work before it can be marketed as a complete game.