Dread X Collection Review for Steam

In case you wanted Halloween to come early this year, the Dread X Collection, published by Dread X, would make a lovely spot in your Steam library. The collection includes 10 separate horror games, each psyching you out in some way whether it is existential dread, fear of the dark, awful noises, and all of the good cringey stuff in between.

I really like the variety, because you don’t quite know what you’re about to pick up once you start browsing. You can select a title and then click on the paper/photograph on the right hand side to figure out more about the game. This includes a small snippit to get you ready contextually, or thematically, and the controls. Most of them let us use the WASD and arrow keys thankfully.

Summer Night, for example, starts off as an 8 bit collect-the-mushrooms type of game, and you know things feel off because of the sound effects in the background and the occasional horror imagery that finds its way into the game. But as it turns out, the game does not end there. You run out of batteries, so you put your Gameboy down and leave your bedroom in search of replacements. Now those sounds that made you uncomfortable from the first phase are actualized in the “real” world, and that creepy monster is somewhere in your house! Good game, but I screamed at myself for walking straight into a banshee.

I personally liked Mr. Bucket Told Me To because it starts off as this quirky and kind of cheery game, but then you descend even deeper into this strange role-play of a Cast-Away/Survivor Guilt story. It gets weird, because the “people” who didn’t make it are inanimate objects. We, as the player, don’t ever hear what the objects are saying to us, but the character does. We only know what Mr. Bucket is saying to us. It’s messed up, and I regret sacrificing Mr. Bowl. The gameplay and level design feel minimalistic, and it only lasts 3 nights. During the day you roam the island for food and water, and then you relieve yourself. You wake up and kill one of your smiling friends. Rinse and Repeat!

I don’t want to just explain away the titles included in the collection, because the novelty is the thing that attracted me to selecting through each game and spending roughly 20 minutes in each. As of this review, I think the anthology is about 7 dollars on Steam. That is not bad for all of these bundled together. There is not a whole lot in the way of replayability, but it’s fun to experience all 10 of the games with their own unique feel to them. I think a fair rating for the collection is an 8 out of 10. You may find some of the games underwhelming, and you may even find yourself wanting more from other titles.

Check Out the Dread X Collection Steam Video:

The Dread X Collection is available for PC via Steam.

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John Pruitt

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I like to think of myself as the average Joe who grew up alongside video games. I have fun playing strategy games, RPGs, shooters, sandboxes, the whole shebang! Every game provides an experience whether it strikes you as profound, mundane, or someplace in between. I'd like to weigh in my two cents before you spend a single penny.

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