Kholat Reviews
Kholat's poor attempts to creep and confound you fail to capitalize on its terrific premise.
As a lifelong fan of Fortean mystery and atmospheric adventures, Kholat is a game I really wanted to love, but it left me out in the cold in more ways than one.
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.
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.
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.
An amazing story based on actual events. KHOLAT is a standout game in a genre that often fails to deliver.
Kholat is a welcome challenging and atmospheric take on the horror genre
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.
Kholat is a compelling release set against a fascinating backdrop that drew me in early and kept me playing. It offers a memorable, if not completely satisfying, experience that's worth checking out.
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.
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.
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'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.
If you're really, truly desperate for a new adventure-horror game in the vein of Dear Esther and you consider yourself to literally have the patience of a saint, at the very least Kholat will look and sound pretty as you play it. Anyone who doesn't want to deal with tedious gameplay, a confusing story, or frustrating progress roadblocks however should steer clear.
Kholat brings the atmosphere, but makes you wish you had brought your own compass.
While much of Kholat can feel repetitive as players roam aimlessly through the barren landscape, the spine-creeping sense of dread that accompanies the rest of the game more than makes up for it. There were a few times that I began to feel a bit bored with winding through the same rocky paths, but they were offset by the time spent struggling to survive against encroaching threats and the strangely threatening narration of Game of Thrones' Sean Bean.
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.
Visually stunning but a slog to play through
Grievously weighed down by its unforgiving orienteering mechanic, tedious gameplay and frame-rate issues, Kholat is more likely to leave you with your head aching rather than your head spinning.