Kholat - a FPP storytelling / experience game based on the Dyatlov Pass Incident

[Jaesun]

Kholat is a FPP storytelling / experience game, developed by independent studio IMGN.PRO, inspired by true events known as the "Dyatlov Pass Incident". We follow the path of a group of Russian students, that went for an expedition in the northern Ural Mountains. The team does not reach its goal, the entire crew dies in mysterious circumstances.

The rescue expedition is being sent. They find the tent, which is cut from the inside. Students bodies, incompletely dressed, are found within a radius of several hundred meters. Everything points to some kind of event, that caused sudden panic, which led to the tragic, chaotic escape. In most cases, death occurs as a result of chilling, but some bodies have other strange damage signs. Player is thrown into the area where the tragedy occurred, years after the actual event, with a chance to discover the real course of tragic events.
About IMGN.PRO – founded 5 years ago, is an indie game developer and publishing company located in southern Poland.

Kholat – exploration game narrated by Sean Bean is going to be released worldwide on 10th June 2015. Kholat will be launched on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/343710/ as well as on other major digital distribution platforms.​

This just looks and sounds really interesting to me. But I don't know, it could just turn out to be utterly terrible shovelware. I'll just keep an eye out for reviews when this comes out.

EDIT: Apparently this is just a walking simulator where you explore and find notes to piece together the story. :/

 

[vonAchdorf]

The setting, story and location sounded really interesting, but just collecting 9 journal pages, running away from (jump scare) monsters on rails and no interaction with the environment (other than collecting the 9 sheets) is a bit less than I'd expect.

 

[Sceptic]

EDIT: Apparently this is just a walking simulator where you explore and find notes to piece together the story. :/

To be fair they didn't even try calling it an adventure or a real game - when I saw "FPP storytelling / experience game" I thought great, yet another Stanley Parable / Dear Esther clone.

 

[Suchy]

I liked Dear Esther and Vanishing of Ethan Carter, this seems to be yet another. I read some reviews, mostly positive, with an occasional kid bitching about lack of handholding (definitely not a con). I think I'll give it a try.

 

[taxalot]

Collecting nine pages in a scary environment ? Wow, that Slenderman game did some damage on game design.

 

[Bubbles]

I liked Dear Esther and Vanishing of Ethan Carter, this seems to be yet another. I read some reviews, mostly positive, with an occasional kid bitching about lack of handholding (definitely not a con). I think I'll give it a try.

Wouldn't it be easier to just read those 9 pages on youtube?

 

[Zombra]

If you like [Kona] you might want to try out Kholat. Gameplay is more bare bones than Kona but the story is more captivating in my opinion. It's based on the Dyatlov Pass incident.

Wow, even less gameplay than Kona? That's hard to picture. Still, thanks for the recommendation.

 

[luj1]

I'd rather we start a thread about possible theories, it's one of the craziest incidents ever.

I watched the best documentary on it in Russian, both of the two most knowledgeable guys on the subject who devoted their life to it agree that it was an "experimental weapon".

 

[Outlander]

If you like [Kona] you might want to try out Kholat. Gameplay is more bare bones than Kona but the story is more captivating in my opinion. It's based on the Dyatlov Pass incident.

Wow, even less gameplay than Kona? That's hard to picture. Still, thanks for the recommendation.

Yeah, as far as I remember there are no weapons, no inventory (besides the provided map, flashlight, compass and diary/journal). Basically just a walking sim, it's open world and the 'puzzles' involve navigating the map to find certain places using coordinates.

'True ending' is achieved by collecting all the notes scattered around the worldmap.

 

[Outlander]

I'd rather we start a thread about possible theories, it's one of the craziest incidents ever.

I watched the best documentary on it in Russian, both of the two most knowledgeable guys on the subject who devoted their life to it agree that it was an "experimental weapon".

Yes, the most 'rational' (and official) explanation is that they were caught by surprise by an avalanche in the middle of the night, but there's evidence suggesting that wasn't the case.

There's a russian TV show from 2020 called Dead Mountain about it. Anyone watched it? I have it on HBO Max. Guess I should hurry to watch it before they pull it for being, you know, a russian production

 

[luj1]

Yes, the most 'rational' (and official) explanation is that they were caught by surprise by an avalanche in the middle of the night, but there's evidence suggesting that wasn't the case.

Nope, that is not the official explanation. The official explanation was "compelling natural force". The avalanche theory was one of the first to be dismissed by the investigation.

 

[Outlander]

Yes, the most 'rational' (and official) explanation is that they were caught by surprise by an avalanche in the middle of the night, but there's evidence suggesting that wasn't the case.

Nope, that is not the official explanation. The official explanation was "compelling natural force". The avalanche theory was one of the first to be dismissed by the investigation.

You're right, apparently the avalanche official statement is a fairly recent one (2020) tying to the old (1959), and vague, 'compelling natural force' statement.

 

[luj1]

It's vague, but it was the best they could do.

Something made those people run out of the tent in the middle of the night, naked, at freezing temperatures. Therefore "compelling".

You never make camp in an avalanche-prone area. These people were experienced.

 

[Zombra]

I'd rather we start a thread about the real life incident the game is based on, that has nothing to do really with the game.

Good idea. I'll ask DarkUnderlord if he can add a new functionality to the forums, maybe a button for posting new threads since apparently you can't do this already. We could call it "Post New Thread".

 

[Outlander]

Nobody cares about this game, I guess the subject it is based on can be freely discussed here, dunno.

Oh, and as opposed to Kona, Kholat can be downright creepy at times.

 

[Outlander]

You never make camp in an avalanche-prone area. These people were experienced.

This. And why wouldn't they have made camp in the nearby forest? In case a tree or heavy branch could fall on the tent?

 

[luj1]

I don't know but they made camp in the right place.

 

[Zombra]

Nobody cares about this game.

Infinitron Please retitle this thread and move it to GD since these guys have decided it's not about a game.

 

[Spukrian]

So I finished this after taking a long break.

Good:
+Sean Bean's voice is great
+The ambience and the environments are excellent, almost makes me feel the cold
+Some of the stealth sections are tense

Neutral:
*The story didn't catch my interest

Bad:
-There are quite a few annoying chase sequences, that's why I took a break from the game.

You know, this game made me realize why I dislike most (not all) chase sequences in horror games. Most of the time they're just prolonged QTEs.

A funny thing, I read in a review somewhere that this game "was just a Slender rip-off". If I had read that before buying the game then I probably wouldn't have bought it.