Dread X Collection 5

Dread X Collection 5 is another inventive entry in DreadXP's anthology series, bringing together the talents of multiple independent developers to deliver twelve distinct horror experiences wrapped inside a larger narrative framework. Developed by Christopher Yabsley, Stroboskop, VisceralError, Nikk F., FYRE Games, Roope Tamminen, Shakles, Darkstone Digital, Philisophic Games, Colorfiction, iwilliams, Matt Reeves, and Abbey "Scruncho" Smith, and published by DreadXP, the game embraces the idea that horror can take many forms. Instead of relying on a single campaign, it invites players to journey through a collection of self-contained nightmares linked by the eerie Outpost 3000, a deserted alien-themed entertainment center hiding secrets of its own. This unusual structure creates a sense of discovery that extends beyond the individual games, encouraging players to investigate every corner between episodes. One of the anthology's greatest strengths is the sheer variety of ideas on display. Every story introduces a fresh setting, gameplay style, and interpretation of the horror genre, preventing the experience from ever becoming predictable. Players explore abandoned attractions, uns…

Overall fun collection of games, but man; one of them in particular REALLY sucked. Treat this review not as one for the whole collection, but just for this one special little stinkerstar. INTERIM I hate this game. I hate this game more than Garfield hates Mondays. I hate this game more than Borderlands 3 hates good writing. The plot? Nowhere to be seen. The gameplay? Literal ♥♥♥♥ on top of ♥♥♥♥. The artstyle & visuals? ♥♥♥♥ squared. The parkour section? ♥♥♥♥ cubed. Some people say you shouldn't be too hard on people if they worked really hard on something, and do you know what I say to those people? Eat my whole scrotum. It doesn't matter how hard they worked on a piece of ♥♥♥♥; that doesn't change the fact it's a piece of ♥♥♥♥. This is a game that, by what I can tell, was made without the player's absence of context in perspective. Some people might say things in a game 'don't make sense', but this? Eyeballs floating around. A person falling into a manhole opening. Your director (aka, a superimposed cropped videofile of the presumed game director who looks like a clone of Jonny Razer) gets murdered by a... thing? Man, I can't tell. My best description is saying that it resemble…

I'm wicked sad they quit doing these. I get the negative reviews, but these always felt like watching B movies to me. The point is to find the hidden gems, if they were all bangers it wouldn't be half as fun. Some of the demos on here suck. That's why I liked it. Worth grabbing, especially on the sale it's on currently.

Dread X 5 is pretty awesome, and arguably the best game in this indie anthology series. I think Dread X 4 was packaged together a bit more memorably, but the production values on 5 are just wonderful. The idea of the game taking place in kind of an interstellar Chuck E. Cheese is so weird, and I love that the comic you unlock slowly tells the story of what's going on so you can piece it together. It's up there with the better "wraparound games." Having completed all 5 Dread X titles, I always notice some theme seems to unconsciously emerge from the games. In this game, the theme that appears is kind of an art deco motif. The best games here have either a meta story or actual art staging. There are, of course, a couple pointless games. You basically walk around this sci fi children's play place collecting comic pages which lead to puzzle areas that unlock presents. You bring the presents back to the center area to light a candle and unlock one of twelve games. I love the concept, but you have to expect the unexpected with these. Sometimes you will uncover a true gem, and other times you'll just end up with a glorified walking sim or incomprehensible weirdness. I can at least say t…

pretty unique games in this one! always unsure how i feel about the overarching story of the 'main' game but it doesn't really sway how i feel about these too badly.

I had to alt+F4 out on the third game I tried here. I played one game that was OK, one that just totally wiffed explaining the mechanics that resulted in progress, and the third one I played was just this horrendous ASMR of some wet-mouthed dude whispering in your ear. The game said the true experience was meant for headphones to create a "true binaural 3D experience, but it just makes that wet voice move from ear to ear. I switched to my speakers and looked for the setting that the game's disclaimer referenced that would ditch the ASMR, but there wasn't anything that seemed to say that aside of "True Narrator" but that setting resulted in the disgusting voice being even more present because it was coming out of both speakers. Unfortunately the second two games I tried required enough rage quits for me to go over 2 hours and I can't refund this. Given that the game doesn't seem to let you make progress to find the way to unlock more than one game at a time, I now have to listen to this milk-mouthed creep whisper for no good reason in my ear and I just won't do that. I may come back and restart the game and just skip what I've played already, but honestly I have hated the majorit…