Review 1
Purchased!
TDLR: Lost fat bastard walking simulator. Wanna explore and be scared without
having to fight on an older game? Get Outlast or Amnesia.
I remember 8 or so years ago, when I glimpsed at my son watching a Markiplier
video, saying how he thought the graphics were so good that he hadn't realised
he was in the game. Well, this is where the praises of the game end.
Story: Told through collectables and lots of them are mandatory.
Gameplay: Walking is slow. Running more than a couple of seconds renders you out
of breath and you'll get blurry vision and be locked at an even slower pace than
walking for a short bit. You will have to avoid some (at times annoyingly
placed) shadowy figures that are oft easy to steer clear of, though you may get
caught up by them and die (everything kills you in one hit), simply because you
happened to be running and are almost out of breath by the start of the
encounter. You have a compass and a map, the compass is a bit off and is in
russian, which doesn't really matter since red is universally still north. It
also helps that the needle rattles when an anomaly is nearby. As for the map,
you will have to figure out where you are as it will never tell you where you
are ON the MAP. It's also a terrible map. I'm pretty sure I would have had an
easier time if I would have drawn one myself seeing how many times I relied on
it. The game saves whenever you find a new collectable or tent (the latter
serves as fast travel points).
The game feels slow, unforgiving, and feels like a chore. I live in Québec,
Canada, and I'm used to winters with insane snow storms... So while I found the
environment relatable, it did not wow me at all. It was just another day.
Graphics: This game was released in 2015. You know what else was released that
year? Dying Light, Witcher 3, BloodBorne, Until Dawn, MGS V to name a few, a lot
of really good games. Environment is good, the rest passable.
Audio: Strongest point of the game. Though the musical score can sometimes get
cut out of nowhere, it has a solid ambience of dread and as Geralt would say:
''Wind's howling''.
You know those gamers that look behind every waterfall? Go to the left on the
first level on the start of the level on a side scroller? Press the interaction
button a few times to make sure they know the dialogue of an NPC is exhausted?
I'm one of those. Kholat made me hate myself. I got lost so many times trying to
explore the non essential paths before going the obvious ones that yes, I hated
myself.
Review 2
Purchased!
So I've had Kholat on my back burner for awhile now and was really looking
forward to it. Sadly it did not meet expectations, not in the slightest.
Positives:
• The Ural mountains are beautifully done and the snow effects were excellent
for UE4
• Controller support is always appreciated, give your poor fingers a break from
that m/k
• Based around a true story (the Dyatlov Pass incident is a great mystery,
there's no denying that)
• Decent voice acting
Negatives:
• The plot is extremely convoluted; after reading all the gathered notes I was
able to grasp an idea of the narrative the devs were trying to unfold but it was
just done so very clumsily that it didn't feel engaging at all
• I am not a fan of forcing people to waste time in games, especially walking
simulators. Since there is a sprint button, I would have preferred if there was
no stamina and you were able to sprint freely. Especially in this game where you
will find yourself backtracking a lot. An unliminted sprint + TOGGLE to sprint
would have been a lifesaver.
• I was expecting a horror game but there was nothing even remotely unsettling
to be found. The convoluted plot didn't help at all. Often there would be these
random ghosts that would appear and chase you but having no idea what they were
or why they were chasing me, totally killed whatever horror vibe they were
supposed to bring.
• No save option, and dying throws you ALL THE WAY back to the last camp you
visited or the last note you picked up
• I encountered several annoying bugs in the game: getting stuck on rocks,
getting stuck in the snow, and there was one part after entering a cave and
sliding down a steep path where the character froze; also encountered a "Fatal
Error" at the end of the game before entering Act III
• I don't really have an issue with the compass except that it would have been
nice if they'd have made it look like a normal compass with North clearly
indicated, IN THE ENGLISH ALPHABET.
• Several other random questions: what's with using British voice actors for
Russian characters? What's with the skeletons and skulls randomly placed around
the forest and mountain areas? How do the torches and candles seen in the cave
and mountain magically stay lit? Do the ghosts go around relighting them?
To summarize, this is not a game I'd recommend anyone to play, even fans of
walking sims. Finishing the game didn't give me any great sense of
accomplishment. To the contrary, I felt like I'd lost some brain cells along the
way.
Review 3
Purchased!
Good atmosphere.
Boring gameplay.
Disappointing ending.