Kholat

IMGN.PRO's indie survial horror video game encourages profound contemplation, specifically about living with death.

A poignant and masterfully haunting affair, Kholat’s flawed narrative and sparse environments aren’t enough to considerably detract from its overwhelming atmospherics and sense of adventure.

It’s a world that feels remote, hostile and bloody mysterious, and you’ll want to persist in order to unthaw its buried secrets. [June 2016, p78]

Though technically unpolished, at at times frustrating, Kholat's imposing mountain is impressive. A good few hours of horror, hiding, swearing and reloading await. [May 2016, p.86]

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.

Successfully combining exploration with horror elements, Kholat is an extremely mysterious and unsettling experience that can at times be utterly frustrating yet is always strangely compelling.

A quality title, without a doubt, but definitely polarizing and not for everyone.

Kholat is a terrifying game. The darkest elements give shape to a plot worthy of being one of Masters of Horror episodes and, on top of that, the real facts behind the game make the experience even better. It is a shame that some poor gameplay mechanics weigh down what could have been a must among terror indie games.

Irrespective of the platform, Kholat is a game full of extremities. Awesome aspect of navigating the area is squandered by invisible corridors resulting from main character’s restricted mobility. Powerful horror scenes are wasted in a story that’s just an empty shell. On a technical side I was disappointed that the game runs in 30 fps and sometimes noticeably stutters. [05/2016, p.63]

Quotation forthcoming.

Kholat could have been an amazing game, but it just isn't. It's based on a true story and looks great. The game start really good, but then slips away in boredom. The tension it needs just fades away really quickly.

Even though Kholat presents an horrific experience with breath-taking atmosphere and Sean Bean's narration, it wasted its potential with fps drops and insufficient A.I.

Kholat on PS4 is almost as good as the original PC version, but offers some minor hiccups like an unstable framerate.

It might lack horror and scares, but the hike through the mountains delivers tense moments, even though the performance on the PS4 is less then stellar.

It's partly a walking simulator, but the gameplay delivers some unexpected turns. The young development team clearly lacks experience, but it's still a promising first step.

The simplistic gameplay may turn some off with how tedious exploration can become with few scares and long stretches of nothing, but if you choose to remain steadfast on this trail, the sights, sounds, and story may very well be worth your effort.

It might not be as disturbing or interactive as I expected, but Kholat really does deliver something special in terms of visual and sound design. Despite it’s imperfections it definitely deserves credit and I really did enjoy my experience with this title.

It’s a disappointment to see something squander such potential.

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 had a lot of potential, but is unfortunately hard to enjoy, due to frustrating gameplay and hard to decipher orienteering mechanics. It will appeal to the odd soul, who will fall in love with its disturbing and maze-like mountaintop setting, but most will come away annoyed.