Game Review - Kholat

A little bit of history before I go head-first into this review. Does anyone know about the Dyatlov Pass Incident that occurred February 2 1959? It was an event that led to the unexplained deaths of nine hikers on the eastern side of Kholat Syakhl, along the northern Ural Mountains in Russia.

After being missing for some time with no news, family members of the hikers demanded a search and rescue expedition eight days after their expected time of arrival to Vizhai. Rescuers found their campsite six days later, badly damaged and covered in snow.

All of the hiker’s possessions were still inside, including clothes and provisions. It was also noted that the tent had been cut open from the inside, hinting that something had spooked the group and they fled into the snow.

The bodies were discovered in separated positions, the first two were found within the forest, having attempted to make a makeshift fire since they wore nothing but their underwear. Others were found around, all of who died of hypothermia. It took two months for the weather to lessen to find the remaining bodies, all of which bore fatal injuries to their bodies, major skull damage, chest fractures. As though they had been hit by something of tremendous force, yet bizarrely they showed no external injuries of any type.

The incident fell into a notorious investigation with many theories as to what led to the death of the nine individuals. Certain evidence pointed towards a freak avalanche, uncertain facts pointed towards the supernatural/extra-terrestrial, and others even pointed towards a secret Russian military operation.

Even to this day, the truth is not known.

So, why not design a game solely to answer that question?

Kholat is a survival horror game developed by Polish team IMGN.PRO, using the Unreal Engine 4. In it, you take the role of an unnamed protagonist who attempts to uncover the truth behind the disappearance and deaths of those young hikers from said incident.

A chilling start on your bitter journey,

On the off-set, the game is very beautiful. Visuals are very striking and after reducing the motion blur by almost 95%, I was able to enjoy the dense landscapes with elated awe.  However, there are the occasional screen-tearing issues but nothing to jarring in terms of the overall experience.

Music and audio is also very pleasant and engaging. We are even treated by the talented Sean Bean himself as a form of narrator for the majority of the story, as well as the wonderful Mary Elizabeth McGlynn to memorise us with a peaceful credit song. In-game audio is spot on, with the bitter, howling winds screaming through your headset and the soft, calm patter of water droplets as you explore the twisting caves.

In terms of gameplay, it certainly throws you into the deep end. The main element of the game itself is that of a walking simulator, in the mind-set that the game drops you in the middle of nowhere with barely any idea where to go. So it’s up to you to navigate the dense landscape with the help of the in game map and compass. It’s actually somewhat refreshing to play a game like this where nothing is holding your hand. Everything that there is to discover is all up to you and your own skills.

The caves are just as pretty as the outside environments.

It puts me in the mind-set of other games of its type, such as The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. Another fantastic and gripping game.

The exploration can sometimes be quite frustrating, with a sprint mechanic that only allows you to run for a few seconds. (Although that makes somewhat sense, have you ever tried to run fast in thick snow?) But the environments certainly makes up for some of that vexing back-tracking.  

The other side of the gameplay is survival. It is possible for you to die in this game. Whether that’s by falling to your death, being crushed by falling boulders, falling victim to a deadly spike pit, or something much more sinister.

The main enemy you will encounter is something that I found very fascinating once I noticed it. Being almost completely invisible to the human eye, it’s only as you are close to it do you notice the utterly horrifying outline of the beast haunting these dark and lonely mountains and it is shocking to find such a beast in your path with just seconds to react.

What is that..?

I do have a gripe with this game however and it will be a common problem that reviewers will pick up on, is that the ending is somewhat ruined by its rushed and ruthless pace. No overall question is ever fully answered, in fact they are replaced by numerous other questions. For a game that is thick of story elements, relaying upon an incident that comes from real life itself. The ending came across as something very dashed and forced. I’m aware of an extra ending segment if you collect all of the hidden diary pages throughout the map but that has the same problem as I mentioned above. No answers, more questions.

In the end however, I somewhat imagine that was the developers main goal. To work with the notion that the events of the Dyatlov Pass Incident is something that will never be truly known, and so we will be left pondering upon the ending concept for Kholat as well.

One of the most unnerving locations in the game.

For a final conclusion, the game gave me three solid hours of tense, atmospheric gameplay. The horror was very gripping, music beautiful composed and a story that had me wanting more. Kholat can be purchased on Steam for £14.99. And as a whole, I give this game a 7/10.