Kholat

The Polish developers from IMGN.pro know how to draw attention to their debut game entitled Kholat. They offer an intriguing story inspired by authentic events that remain shrouded in mystery to this day, and Sean Bean. What came out of this mix?

Despite its issues I still feel Kholat is a genuinely disturbing experience, full of atmosphere, tension and visually impressive for an Unreal Engine 4 game. Its faults take it out of the really awesome category but I personally loved it and how it blended horror with unravelling parts of a real world mystery. As it is I believe Kholat is still worth playing but just be aware that frustration and tension will be present in equal measure.

Kholat is a welcome challenging and atmospheric take on the horror genre

Kholat then, is certainly not a game for everyone, but it is still a mightily impressive achievement. The way it looks and sounds draws you in to an immersive and sometimes chilling excursion, and whilst the technical issues will sometimes do their best to kick you out of it, it doesn’t take long until you’re once again held in its grasp. If you’ve not got the patience or inclination to wander in circles and frequently get lost as you tentatively explore a snowy hell then you should probably steer well clear of it, but if you love a good mystery filled with a handful of panic inducing moments ...

The single player horror exploration game takes place on a snowy mountainside, specifically a section known as Kholat Syakhl. Explore the chilling mysteries behind real-life events that inspired the title, and uncover what you can in regards to answers. It's a creepy and eerie experience matched with a great backstory, but does it deliver a great story of its own, or simply carry out a decent sequel to the true events of the past?

Little to no directions are given to the player — you’re just dropped into the world and expected to figure things out on your own. It wasn’t until my second play session that I realized the locations marked on the map were of importance. After figuring out proper use of the map and compass, it was easy to complete the game in just around four hours, which felt a bit light for the asking price of $20, considering most of your time will be spent looking at snowy rocks. Overall an enjoyable experience that has a fantastic presentation but just lacks much depth in gameplay.

KHOLAT nails the experience of being atop a snowy mountain during volatile conditions, and the idea of it being based on a true story is intriguing. Ultimately, though, the execution falls short and you’re left with a shallow experience that is hard to find the fun in.

It’s a shame because Kholat has one of the best horror game set-ups we’ve seen for quite some time. Not only that, the team at IMGN.PRO has clearly put effort into sculpting an spooky collection of vistas each dripping in atmosphere. Sadly, wedged between these tense moments is way too much filler. The mind-numbing map reading and navigation would have been easy to overlook if that only made up a small portion of the game. Instead, it forms this drab and unappealing bedrock that threatens to drag Kholat down whenever there isn’t something scripted happening on-screen.

Kholat's narrative exploration is ambitious, and the real world base for its plot, the recreation of exploring a bewildering and unforgiving landscape and the audio-visual design were all superb. But for what it gets right, the mounting flaws in its design only become more evident and distracting. Kholat does so many things right; the fact it went this far off track left me longing for a grounded, solitary experience that IMGN.pro clearly never intended it to be.

The Dyatlov Pass incident, a tragic event where back in 1959 a group of experienced ski hikers from the Ural Polytechnical Institute were found dead under mysterious circumstances on Kholat Syakhl (a mountain in the Norther Ural region) is the perfect premise for a survival horror game. Mysterious deaths? Check. Harsh environments? Check. Unsolved case? Check. Multiple hypothesis also involving supernatural elements? Check.