This review contains spoilers
I love anthologies. Those who know me well know that I love the V/H/S films and The Dark Pictures Anthology games so it was my delight to see a new series of games focusing on indie developers creating short horror games all packaged together in a series called Dread X. It feels right out of a V/H/S film due to how similar both properties are.
As much as I really enjoyed plenty of the games in the collection, unfortunately, Dread X suffers from a lot of issues with plenty of the games in the collection not having any form of quality control. I suppose it's due to this being a first entry in the series, but it's still a problem none the less.
I should mention that I haven't finished all the games in the anthology. Either because I refuse to given how awful one of the games is and with system specs not being up to snuff, but I'll review it as is and update it later when I'm able to play the last game I need to play.
Shatter: This game was a pretty simple and barebones experience. The idea is really cool, but it's more of a walking simulator with nice visuals. I can't really fault the game too much given how it does all the things it needs to do just fine. The problem is that there's not much in it. It's like Death Stranding without the depth. I am glad that Lovely Hellplace is turning this into a full game called Dread Delusion so perhaps the full experience will be better than what Shatter gave in this collection. Not a bad game, but feels more like a tech demo.
Summer Night: A fantastic short game. If this anthology wants to be like P.T. then Summer Night did its job beautifully. I don't want to spoil too much about this game and I'd rather have you experience it yourself. Take my word for it, you're in for a great time with this one.
Hand of Doom: Similar to Shatter, this one feels more like a tech demo than a fun game to play around with. You got the spells, incantations, and all that. The problem is that nothing interesting happens in the game. Just you collecting things with more than half of the screen being taken up by menus. Again, not a bad one, but very repetitive and more of a tech demo.
The Pay is Nice: I like the idea of the game, the problem comes down to it being boring with nothing happening like Hand of Doom. The presentation is nice, yet also very lacking due to the absence of voice acting and some cutscenes looking very off. This is one game where I can say it's just meh. Nothing special, nothing terrible.
Rotgut: How the hell was this game included in the first place? It's literally like one of those Steam Greenlight asset flips that Jim Sterling would talk about. Glitches, no sense of direction, no story at all, no interesting gameplay, literally nothing about this is good. Nothing. Imagine a bad version of Storm Drain (V/H/S/94). That's basically Rotgut. Horrible.
Don't Go Out: Similar to Shatter and Hand of Doom, this game has a cool idea, yet has not much to back up the premise. The card system is completely random which can either save you or screw you as the light goes out. The game also doesn't have much going for it aside from getting to a lackluster ending. Again, not a bad one, but it could be really cool as a standalone game with more put into it.
The Pony Factory: The standout game of the collection. A really fun shooter that combines a central horror atmosphere of Doom 3 with a scaled down version of Quake. A fantastic short game and a game well worth playing if you happen to get this collection.
Mr. Bucket Told Me To: A pretty creative game, all things considered. It would fit more if was in Dread X 3, but I digress. It's a very simple game all about surviving on an island and then a bucket comes in to break you. Pretty hilarious and fun to play. A joyful game.
Carthanc: This was painful. So much so that I didn't even finish it. Too much distortion, awful first person platforming, confusing level design where it's too dark to see where you're going especially when you're running away from things, and enemies that are dead set on you with no story reason for being there. A truly painful game to sit through.
Outsiders: This is the only game of the collection that I couldn't play due to my PC not being up to specifications to play. I will update this part in time when my friend lets me play the game.
Overall, The Dread X Collection is a mixed bag of really great games, tech demos, and really bad games. But for $7, it's not a bad deal at all. Especially for games like The Pony Factory, Summer Night, and Mr. Bucket. Even with the bad games in there, I'd say it's worth the price of entry alongside the other Dread X games. Hope the later games get better in time, but only I will find that out for myself when I can get that chance.
As much as I really enjoyed plenty of the games in the collection, unfortunately, Dread X suffers from a lot of issues with plenty of the games in the collection not having any form of quality control. I suppose it's due to this being a first entry in the series, but it's still a problem none the less.
I should mention that I haven't finished all the games in the anthology. Either because I refuse to given how awful one of the games is and with system specs not being up to snuff, but I'll review it as is and update it later when I'm able to play the last game I need to play.
Shatter: This game was a pretty simple and barebones experience. The idea is really cool, but it's more of a walking simulator with nice visuals. I can't really fault the game too much given how it does all the things it needs to do just fine. The problem is that there's not much in it. It's like Death Stranding without the depth. I am glad that Lovely Hellplace is turning this into a full game called Dread Delusion so perhaps the full experience will be better than what Shatter gave in this collection. Not a bad game, but feels more like a tech demo.
Summer Night: A fantastic short game. If this anthology wants to be like P.T. then Summer Night did its job beautifully. I don't want to spoil too much about this game and I'd rather have you experience it yourself. Take my word for it, you're in for a great time with this one.
Hand of Doom: Similar to Shatter, this one feels more like a tech demo than a fun game to play around with. You got the spells, incantations, and all that. The problem is that nothing interesting happens in the game. Just you collecting things with more than half of the screen being taken up by menus. Again, not a bad one, but very repetitive and more of a tech demo.
The Pay is Nice: I like the idea of the game, the problem comes down to it being boring with nothing happening like Hand of Doom. The presentation is nice, yet also very lacking due to the absence of voice acting and some cutscenes looking very off. This is one game where I can say it's just meh. Nothing special, nothing terrible.
Rotgut: How the hell was this game included in the first place? It's literally like one of those Steam Greenlight asset flips that Jim Sterling would talk about. Glitches, no sense of direction, no story at all, no interesting gameplay, literally nothing about this is good. Nothing. Imagine a bad version of Storm Drain (V/H/S/94). That's basically Rotgut. Horrible.
Don't Go Out: Similar to Shatter and Hand of Doom, this game has a cool idea, yet has not much to back up the premise. The card system is completely random which can either save you or screw you as the light goes out. The game also doesn't have much going for it aside from getting to a lackluster ending. Again, not a bad one, but it could be really cool as a standalone game with more put into it.
The Pony Factory: The standout game of the collection. A really fun shooter that combines a central horror atmosphere of Doom 3 with a scaled down version of Quake. A fantastic short game and a game well worth playing if you happen to get this collection.
Mr. Bucket Told Me To: A pretty creative game, all things considered. It would fit more if was in Dread X 3, but I digress. It's a very simple game all about surviving on an island and then a bucket comes in to break you. Pretty hilarious and fun to play. A joyful game.
Carthanc: This was painful. So much so that I didn't even finish it. Too much distortion, awful first person platforming, confusing level design where it's too dark to see where you're going especially when you're running away from things, and enemies that are dead set on you with no story reason for being there. A truly painful game to sit through.
Outsiders: This is the only game of the collection that I couldn't play due to my PC not being up to specifications to play. I will update this part in time when my friend lets me play the game.
Overall, The Dread X Collection is a mixed bag of really great games, tech demos, and really bad games. But for $7, it's not a bad deal at all. Especially for games like The Pony Factory, Summer Night, and Mr. Bucket. Even with the bad games in there, I'd say it's worth the price of entry alongside the other Dread X games. Hope the later games get better in time, but only I will find that out for myself when I can get that chance.