Developer: DreadXP
Publisher: DreadXP
Rrp: £5.19 (Steam) £5.58 (Itch.io) £5.99 (Epic)
Released: 26th May 2020
Available on: Itch.io, Steam and Epic
The Dread X Collection is a compilation of ten horror themed games that were created in seven days. The games were all created with the prompt of PT (the game PT as well the technical term, Playable Teaser).
Many of the contributors to the collection are names you may recognise such as David Szymanski (the creator of Dusk). In later Dread X Collections (because it has now become a series) some of these games have become more developed and brought out as independent titles that you may recognise.
It should be noted that there are a few things that should be kept in mind with these games;
1 – They’re all very short experiences.
2 – Due to the speed they were created in they are going to be rough around the edges and even have a few glitches etc.
3 – Again, due to the speed of development they aren’t going to be the prettiest games.
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The Pay is Nice
Developer: Odd Breeze
This was the first game I played in the collection and for me this game didn’t really strike me like some of the others would do later. The thing is I can see the germ of a great game inside it, there was an air of mystery going on and it left me wanting answers. Sadly those are answers I doubt I’ll ever get.
The game uses an old Resident Evil style, fixed camera angle which helps heighten the tension and sense of paranoia the game clearly wants to give the player. Sadly, as I said at the beginning of this review, the game didn’t grab me and part of that was a because of the way it ended, it just felt very unsatisfying.
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Don’t Go Out
Developer: Secret Cow Level
Yet again another game with a nugget of something great, a turn based game where you use resources in the form of cards to achieve the only goal that matters, surviving the night. You may succeed in doing this through clever positioning or perhaps you sacrifice a friend to give the rest of the party a chance. It doesn’t matter how you do it as long as you survive to see another day.
You get as many actions in a turn as you have characters out, you start with only one but eventually the cards you get in your hand will reveal other characters to put out on to the field. Thankfully, playing a card doesn’t cost an action so you can run and then play a card (or visa versa). At the end of each of your turns the enemies will take their turn and the countdown ticks on. You just need to have at least one party member alive by the time the countdown gets to zero.
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Hand of Doom
Developer: Torple Dook
This is one of those games that I mentioned that has (or will do) go on to be its own release. Based on what I played here I’ll definitely be picking it up. This is an old school dungeon delver (such as the Wizardry series) where the [A] and [D] keys are used to slowly turn rather than strafe.
One of the things that makes this game so interesting to me is the spell casting. You do this by using four buttons on the right side of the screen, each button representing a portion of an incantation.
This is yet another one of those games where I didn’t ever feel actually scared by this game, but I can see that there is definite potential for it to be very scary, as it stands in this form though its more just creepy. Honestly the full release of this looks like it’ll be a ton of fun. It’s now officially on my wishlist.
Edit: In the time between of writing this review and posting it, I have now purchased the full game.
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Carthanc
Developer: Scythe Dev Team
Indiana Jones in space if it were a FPS without any weapons. That sentence pretty much covers this game for a descriptor.
I’m going to be a bit charitable here and just say that this game was… frustrating. At no point did I find myself scared not even jump scared, what I mostly felt was annoyance mostly because of the enemies in this. They scream, constantly and its not scary it just causes my ears to hurt. It’s also frustrating because there are several puzzles that require some fairly precise first person platforming, all the while this screaming thing is following relentlessly.
I truly hope they never make a full game of this, because I’d envitably end up picking it up and having to suffer through it all over again.
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Shatter
Developer: Lovely Hellplace
I loved this game! It’s not the prettiest thing to look at but that adds to the charm and its clear the developers were intending on a Playstation one look to the game. A style that I think they achieved with flying colours.
Its a nice mix of cyberpunk and horror, kinda reminded me of Silent Hill in some ways.
This game was haunting and the story had me wanting more… sadly I’m not sure that’ll ever happen but I live in hope.
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Rotgut
Developer: Showrunner Productions
Quality was always going to be a questionable affair when it came to this collection, that was expected. But this game was POINTLESS. You just walk down an overly long tunnel hit a wall and then have to turn around and go back, that’s it. Nothing happens.
I hated this, it was a waste of my time.
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Summer Night
Developer: Airdorf
At the start this game gives the advise that its best experienced in the dark and with headphones on and I totally agree. Sound is a huge part of this game. Sadly I can’t tell you much about it because its quite a short one and only has room for a single twist and I’d hate to ruin that. What I will say is that there is more than meets the eye here.
Playing this game has convinced me that I need to play Airdorfs game Faith, I’ve been umming and arring about it for a while but now I’m convinced. As for this game, I love it, it terrified me!
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Mr Bucket Told Me To
Developer: Strange Scaffold
This one is quite interesting because unlike the rest it has multiple endings, they aren’t all that different from each other but still way more than I expected.
The basic jist of this game is to stay alive four nights and you die if any meter reaches zero and you go to sleep.
Personally I didn’t find this particularly scary, but I can see the core horror ‘concept’ that they were trying to achieve. Not bad honestly.
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Outsiders
Developer: Mahelyk
Timeloops games have become popular of late, but this one was made before it became the mechanic du jour. Though I’d argue this game is more cyclical than an actual timeloop. This is the game that is closest to being like PT, but even then that’s only in the most surface level of ways.
This game really had me on edge many times and really had me getting a bit paranoid. I definitely will be checking out Mahelyk’s other work.
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The Pony Factory
Developer: David Szymanski
The Pony Factory is a horror themed first person shooter by David Szymanski (the creator of the game Dusk). I must admit I love the B movie style of this game which captures the essence of horror while not actually being scary.
For the most part the game is in black and white which adds to the overall atmosphere. On the whole its a great little game, I kinda wish he’d do more with it but that’s doubtful.
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