In 1959 nine ski hikers disappeared on the slopes of Kholat
Syakhl in the northern Ural Mountains in Russia, their bodies were eventually
found but the circumstances surrounding their deaths are still a mystery to
this day, investigators determined that their tents had been torn from the
inside out, with many of the bodies found barefoot as if trying to escape some
immediate threat, this is known as The Dyatlov Pass incident. Originally released in 2015 on Steam, Kholat is an indie
survival horror based on these events where you play as an unknown protagonist
investigating the disappearances, armed with only a note book, map, compass,
and a torch, you wander the desolate landscape in search of clues and avoiding
a strange murderous entity that is also roaming the area.
Initially you’re fresh off the train in a deserted village, no
instructions or equipment as you eventually find a path that leads into the
wilderness, you fall and find yourself completely disorientated, somehow you
stumble on a small camp where you pick up a map and a compass and head off to
explore the snowy mountain. The game itself takes a lot of inspiration from P.T., it
sets up the atmosphere of isolation and helplessness right from the get go, it
doesn’t tell you what you’re really supposed to be doing or even where you are
a lot of the time, as you follow one of the many paths through the trees and
snow you’ll quickly learn that the map isn’t wholly accurate so getting lost is
an all too frequent occurrence. Along the way you’ll find stray pieces of paper, which’ll be
diary entries or newspaper articles about the area, these act as save points on
your journey as do campfires, which also allow you to fast travel to other campsites
for quicker exploration and helps to give you some idea where you are,
occasionally map references will show up on elements of the landscape which
also help with finding your current location too. None of the above is all that difficult, your biggest
problem is the apparition that you share the map with, often recognised by its
shining orange footsteps, ominous heavy breathing and freaky growl reminiscent
of the noise that Kayako makes in The Grudge film series.
Draw too much attention to yourself and he’ll come kill you,
venture into the orange mist that intermittently envelops the mountains and
he’ll come kill you, in fact you really have to keep your wits about you to
stay alive, even if the wraith doesn’t get you, one wrong step and you’ll end
up falling to your death.
What really sets the atmosphere in Kholat is the sound, wind
howls around you as you trudge over the mountains, your footsteps crunching the
deep snow underfoot, you’ll hear distant birds and wolf cries, occasional
spooky music fades in if you happen across a new area or item, there’s a
voiceover by Sean Bean that narrates moments of the title, and also the noises
the creature makes if you should be unlucky to cross paths with it. The graphics also work very well at convincing you you’re actually
up in the Russian snow-capped mountains, snow and sleet blast your face as what
little foliage and vegetation is blown around in the winds, light creeps
through the clouds from the moon above, dilapidated buildings hide themselves
amongst the mountainside, dark and damp caves requiring exploration litter the
landscape but are not in the least bit inviting, damaged bridges and downed
trees teeter dangerously above lofty precipices that you find yourself
reluctantly using on your investigation of the area. The main problems with the title that I had were the fact it
took me so long to work out what I was supposed to be doing to start with, it
might have been that I was tired or perhaps even slightly more stupid than
normal but it’s all well and good giving the player free roam to discover
things at their own pace but a small nudge in the right direction would be
nice. Gradual exploration and discovery in your journey yourself
would be fine if when completely left to your own devices you weren’t also
being constantly hunted by something that instantly killed you and reset your
quest back to the last camp or pickup you found, or at least if it weren’t so
often would be better. Mostly I enjoyed Kholat, looking out over the mountains and
taking in the beautiful views or trying to pinpoint the location of a nearby
diary page rustling in the wind, even if I spent the majority of my time nervously
laughing after being caught by the wraith and almost soiling myself following
yet another jump-scare.