Kholat Reviews
Enormously atmospheric, highly intriguing, but falls just a little short of its narrative ambition. A compelling real life historical mystery. Well told, though the pay-off may frustrate some. A great control innovation effectively supports the overall atmosphere of isolation and exposure.
A certain type of player will find a lot to enjoy in simply puzzling out their location and trekking toward the objectives.
For its price, Kholat is a pretty enjoyable experience, and I'd certainly recommend picking it up if you can find it on a Steam sale, but do note that Kholat is one of those games that requires willpower to keep playing. It's easy to put down, but a work of art of a horror game when you don't.
Simply put, Kholat fails to properly balance its moody aesthetics while keeping the player actively invested. It is yet another case of an experience that is beautiful to witness, but boring to actually engage in.
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 quite likely captures what it would be like to be lost in the snowy mountains, but games are meant to be enjoyed, not merely 'survived.' With such an interesting story and a great narrator, Kholat truly dropped the ball in what could have been a great narrative, instead delivering nonsense dialogue and an incomprehensible plot.
Overall Kholat is an atmospheric adventure game that is creepy but really should not be labeled as a horror game. With a wonderful art style and amazing sound effects, Kholat should still please horror fans and adventure game fans alike.
Kholat brings the atmosphere, but makes you wish you had brought your own compass.
Kholat has plenty of issues but there is no denying that it also one of the most atmospheric games I've played recently and is really creepy. The game makes great use of the Unreal Engine 4 as well to deliver some great visuals. I also like that it is based on a real world event as it adds more to the game. If you're into these kind of experiences I highly recommend it but do expect some frustration to come with it.
Kholat does a fantastic job at creating a tense, moody atmosphere in which you're completely alone in an unforgiving landscape. However for everything the game does right there is an equal flaw to break player immersion. The grizzly tail of a real life a real life incident immediately draws you in, but the narrative is often perplexing leaving you with a lot of unanswered questions. The open-world environment is realistic, beautiful and calls on your adventurous side, but the gameplay is overly simplistic and exploration is tediously long.
An amazing story based on actual events. KHOLAT is a standout game in a genre that often fails to deliver.
Though there's less direct threat when compared to more mainstream horror titles, there's an intensity to that environment that helps to create a wonderfully sinister atmosphere. It's not an essential horror game, but it's a genuinely ripping yarn.
Kholat is a great looking game that can capture the imagination of players very quickly with its impressive environments and with the initial narrative about the real world set of events on which it is based.
Don't get me wrong, KHOLAT is a good example for next-generation walking simulators. But the unhinged story and lackluster gameplay makes the game feel stressful at times. The graphics, once again, are impressive. The 4 or so hours I've spent are oftentimes stressful when walking back and forth and don't even get me started with the game's disappointing ending.
The design, looks and sound are superb, mixing the deeply disturbing and realistic settings of this true disaster from 1959.
A horror title, with hardly any moments of dread, which has been seemingly written by a person who's behind WWE promos.
Kholat succeeded where many failed: to create a superb horror mood for a game, mixing great visual settings and a soundscape that is bewitching. In terms of gameplay, however, the game is limited by simple interaction and no jump system, plus frustrating death and errors with no reasons or explanation, which might test even the most patient players.
So, a beautiful looking game that has an amazing soundtrack and is based on a still unexplained real life event. I will now do quite a bit of reading about The Dyatlov Pass Incident and try to see how good the game related to it.
The Dyatlov Pass Incident might have been a fascinating story that could have inspired a superb horror game if fallen into the right hands, but Kholat misses the mark. The boring gameplay, graphical downgrades, poor framerate and complete lack of “horror” resulted in an unsatisfying experience.
Undoubtedly, a stimulating work, with ups and downs in its plot development, but with a slow, slow tone that will delight those who want to have a good time of tension without fear of the free scare.
Review in Spanish | Read full review