Have you ever seen Creepshow? If you are a horror fan, you are probably familiar with the movie. It showcased multiple short stories by horror masterminds and was really taboo for the time. Dread X Collection 5 brings back those horror vibes and delivers them on such an awesomely creative and high level of horror experiences. If you are a horror game fan, this one is absolutely worth your time.

Story

Dread X Collection 5 is an anthology of horror games developed by very talented indie developers. The collection includes 12 titles, each with its own unique story, gameplay, and feel. The game's “hub” is centered at Outpost 3000, which is a space-themed kid's party and play place. You are all alone and celebrating your birthday, which gives quite a creepy feeling in itself.

The Outpost 3000 serves as a metagame and a center point for hopping from game to game. It also has its own lore within the area that can be discovered the more games you play. Everything from unwanted managers, to finding comic book pages about the legendary Stranglemaw that preys on children. It is a very unique experience and offers some interesting lore while trying to unlock all the anthology titles Dread X Collection 5 offers.

The 12 horror games are all themed around “entertainment” which vary from parties to museums and even amusement parks. There is truly a wide variety of settings, all of which feel unique and frightfully entertaining. You can check out the full list of titles and a brief description of each game here.

The story for many of these titles was pretty minimal considering the experiences each averaged about 45-60 minutes of playtime. There is only so much you can pack in a bite-size game, however, I did feel impressed with the majority of the selection. Some were predictable and a bit overdone but the horror and frights were still very much present. This collection definitely brings the scares and didn't disappoint.

Gameplay

I am happy to report that this anthology brings a healthy variety of gameplay amongst the 12 horror titles included in the collection. Everything from First-Person exploration to Third-Person shooting, this anthology mixes it up very well and does a fantastic job of not feeling like cookie-cutter experiences.

One of my favorite titles in the collection, The Book Of Blood, features a terrifying entity that stalks you in the middle of an amusement park, and it’s up to you to send it back to where it came from. You must sneak around the park, searching for items without getting caught by the entity. It provided a great sense of horror and intensity that kept me playing.

Each game varied in length, with one only taking about 20 minutes to complete. But don't let that discourage you! I can happily report that it should take approximately 10-12 hours to complete all of the games in the anthology, including the Outpost 3000 hub area which is really an extra game that brings all the others together.

You will find a multitude of experiences in this anthology that all left an impression on me that felt very refreshing and horrific in their own way. I want to refrain from going into too much detail about each title since these games are not very long and to avoid spoilers, but I believe this game is truly enjoyed the most going in blind. Don’t watch any gameplay other than the trailer, that way you can experience the game the way the developer intended.

It's a similar thought process to watching a horror movie and actually being in one. It is easy to criticize a character's actions in a horror movie but you really don't know how you would react unless you were actually in that situation. Do yourself a favor, if you like horror games, watch the trailer and give it a shot. You will thoroughly enjoy the game more when you don't know what's coming. Since the gameplay mechanics aren't very deep and the experiences are fairly short, it doesn't do one justice to watch the gameplay if you plan on experiencing it yourself.

Audio and Visuals

The music, sound effects, and voice acting are all done very well and provide some great tension. The mood was always set appropriately for each game and nothing sounded out of context or misplaced.

The graphics are decent, with some titles utilizing a very retro-style pixelated texturing and others offering a more modern look. I very much enjoyed the varied approach and it was interesting to see how each developer envisioned their masterpiece. All of these games run off the Unity Engine which can provide decent visuals but the art in this game is what stands out the most. You can expect to see some very unique art styles that fit the mood of each game very well.

Replayability

Unfortunately, I would have to say there isn't much replayability in the Dread X Collection 5 once you have completed all of the games. The games don't give you much of a reason to go back and multiple endings didn't seem to make the cut for these titles.

I think the most important aspect of this game is the amount of playtime it offers and the quality put into the title for the price tag. But if you are looking to replay these titles in different ways in the hope of getting different experiences, unfortunately, that won't be the case. All of these titles are fully experienced in their entirety the first time you play through them. To me, they are very much a “one-and-done” experience. 

What It Could Have Done Better

Dread X Collection 5 does a lot right and I have very minimal complaints! The game’s got some bugs. Not many, but they exist and some of them can be very annoying. Mind you, many of these have been patched already but it is worth noting since I don't know if all of them have been addressed by Dread XP just yet. There was one bug that would allow me to start a specific game and I had to delete the entire game and reinstall it.

Thankfully, that was the worst of it and I was pleasantly surprised that this entourage of indie developers were all able to release these titles with very minimal issues.

One thing I would like to see in the next collection is more playtime. Some of these horror experiences are so good I didn't want them to end. I would love to have an additional hour or two for some of these titles, maybe it's something that could be explored in the next collection?

Replayability would be a nice touch, offering multiple endings or more in-depth game mechanics that would serve as a reason to play a game differently. Since all of these titles are very linear, as most horror experiences are, it lacks very much in replayability.

Verdict

Dread X Collection 5 is a fantastic title that includes an ensemble of incredibly talented developers and terrifyingly horrific experiences. I would absolutely recommend this to any horror fan that is looking for unique experiences and doesn't mind bite-size games. This game brings me back to the good ol’ days of staying up late at night to watch Tales From The Crypt or Creepshow and have successfully captured that feeling in video game form. Bravo Dread XP and the many developers on this sadistically entertaining experience!

Dread X Collection 5 is available now on PC via Steam and coming soon to EGS.