I’ve heard about Kholat years ago, not about the game, but the incident which has taken place within the confinement of the titular Kholat trial. I’ve always found tragic incidents fascinating, especially when such are wrapped with a thick fog composed of mysterious circumstances, and urban legends. So when I finally had the code for Kholat the videogame in my hands, I couldn’t wait to play it.

 

Kholat begins with no elaborate introduction, it simply places you in front of a train, right next to a building resembling a rural train station. The initial area is fairly built up considering the setting, however, the game is not expecting you visit a local pub and have a pint, but press forward straight into the forest which is visible on the horizon.

 

The initial introductory sequence, is considered to be the first act of the game, and it should take even the most curious of players no more than five to ten minutes to complete. It simply requires you to go forward, and no matter how far you get off the main path, you can never get lost. However, the feeling of safety disappears as soon as the act ends upon discovery of the first tent.

 

 

The first tent will present you with a map, notebook, and a compass. All three are designed to guide you through the open-world of the Kholat Syakhl, and actively assist you in your quest to uncover the truth. The frozen landscape of Kholat also features a handful of additional tents, and they all serve the role of Fast Travel checkpoints, and does not provide you with any additional gear.

 

The world of Kholat is simply stunning. It features an extensive burnt forest, which is glistening with dying embers, tribal monuments which are scattered across the entirety of the pass to remind you that you are not alone in this land. And last but certainly not least, the world of Kholat is a host to expansive frozen vistas which are the focal point of the experience. However, as fascinating as the world of Kholat is, it is still simply a retirement community for Slender Men.

 

The core gameplay mechanic of Kholat hinges on basic features of the Binman Simulator. Throughout the 4-7 hours, which you’ll spend with it, you will pick up numerous pieces of paper, which will provide you with information on the plot of the title. However, every now and then you’ll stand face to face with post retirement Slender Man. Now that he is out of a job, and can spend rest of the eternity hunting adventurers for leisure, he has dropped his black business suit and adopted a bright orange shell suit. And right from the beginning, it is clearly visible that he, and his friends are all past their glory days. Not nearly as tall and athletic they struggle to get going, and it is extremely difficult to grab their attention as they seem to attack only when you are 5 centimetres away. And even then, their joints which have deteriorated due to years of active pursuit, only allow them to chase you for about three seconds, before they realise that they are too old for this shit.

 

 

The entire enemy mechanic in Kholat is completely unnecessary, and just like in recently released Layers of Fear, it should have been cut from the game all together. It feels like it is only there to justify the word survival, within the term survival horror which Kholat claims to be. Post retirement Slender Men’s existence is never explained, it is not teased, or even revealed in any major way, at one point they just show up. And when they do finally make their way into the world of Kholat, their role is not sign posted in any way, so naturally, when I’ve finally met one, I’ve attempted to approach him, and it didn’t end well. I wouldn’t mind if the death of the protagonist would simply place me on the top of the hill which I’ve just walked down, but instead it has placed me next to a note which I picked up twenty minutes ago. And that was absolutely tragic, as I’ve spent next two hours walking around the forest hoping to find a familiar location, but instead I have managed to accidentally complete the game.

 

The poor automatic save game system, which doesn’t always occur, isn’t the worst part of the Kholat experience. Mechanically, the title suffers in each way that one can possibly imagine. When playing the game continuously everything looks and plays fine, but if you die or return to the menu and reload the save, the entire thing just falls apart like a house of cards. The relatively stable framerate drops to catastrophic levels, and gets progressively worse as you visit new locations, and if you attempt to traverse the landscape of Kholat too quickly, the game turns into a slide show. However, the developers have found a solution for this already, as in game, you are able to sprint for five seconds at the time, as you run out of stamina instantly. And after about an hour of holding R3 in, you give up altogether, because your thumb will be sore from continuous pressure, as sprinting cannot be toggled.

 

Kholat’s protagonist may suffer from incredible lack of cardio vascular endurance, and he does suffer asthma attacks so severe that they blur out his vision, but all this is compensated with his iron legs. I’m saying iron legs, because it is nearly impossible to die from fall damage. During my playthrough, I’ve managed to get myself so lost, I’ve nearly given up, but I’ve decided to kill myself, return to the checkpoint, and start anew. First I spent a good 10 minutes looking for a retired Slender Man to take my life, but he was nowhere to be found, but it was 8pm, so he was probably watching reruns of Murder She Wrote. Bored to tears, and completely confused, I’ve decided to finally jump off a cliff, but to my surprise instead of breaking my legs and dying in agonising pain, the protagonist just fell down, and landed like nothing happened. However, this failed suicide attempt did allow me to complete the game, so in the end we’re all winners.

 

 

To conclude I would like to touch upon the horror aspect of Kholat, and the man whose name should rhyme but doesn’t, Sean Bean. By touching upon the horror aspect of the title I mean, I’d like to talk about its lack of. From the beginning, the game is trying to convince you that something evil and unnatural has happened on the Kholat Mountain in 1959, and Sean Bean does everything he possibly can to back this up. However, the constant teasing of results is a complete disappointment as nothing really happens. At one point an animal skull caught fire and somehow started an earthquake. And as I sprinted out of the cave, onto a mountain pass with boulders falling everywhere, I felt genuinely excited for a second, because I was unsure if I’ll get out of this alive. And to cut the long story short, I didn’t, but not because I had a boulder fall on me, but because I’ve clipped through the floor and fell into the depths of digital abyss.

 

It would be a lie for me to say that I didn’t enjoy Kholat, as I’ve genuinely and truly did, but as I am writing this review I’m struggling to say anything positive about this game. And it is because it falls short at nearly every hurdle. I’d like to say that I’ve enjoyed Sean Bean as the narrator, but in truth I didn’t. His delivery is fine as he has been a performer for decades, but the text with which he had to work resembles a Bray Wyatt promo, and at times it is absolutely dreadful. The only reason why I’m recommending this game, is because it is full of examples of how not to design games in the future, and any aspiring, or current developer will surely find a multitude of things which could easily be fixed.

 

A sample of Kholat‘s dialogue

 

Do you want reveal the Review Score?