Dread X Collection: The Hunt Review (PC)

Last Updated on: 15th April 2021, 02:44 am

Note: This key was provided by the developer and as such is a pre-release build. Any bugs or glitches mentioned in this review may be addressed upon release.

Indie games tend to have some of the best horror titles. The freedom of expression and willingness to expirement make the indie genre packed with different and strange titles. Dread X Collection: The Hunt is an anthology of seven short horror games that are developed by a group of indie devs.

Each game is a completely different experience, as every game has its own tone and mechanics in place. From the tragic, to the absurd, there’s no shortage of creativity in any of these seven games.

The backdrop to these particular games is simple: you play as Artemis, a lone woman sent to research base ARK 2 to check up on the research team there. Upon arriving at the base, you realize that something has gone terribly wrong, and it’s up to you to figure out what happened.

Your investigation leads you to explore the worlds of seven different “anomalies” that each make up a different game. Completing each one unravels a different part of the horror that lurks in ARK 2. Each game has its own graphics and its own mechanics that are separate from the “hub game.”

The hub game itself consists of puzzles that you solve in between breaks between the different games. Each puzzle leads to a further escalation of events, as Artemis gets closer to unveiling the truth of the research team’s ultimate fate.

The story here is both personal and laced with a bit of humour, as Artemis has some personal connection to the mission. She is voiced with plenty of personality and has some fun dialogue spread about in different points of the game. While she never directly comments on the different games you end up playing, it’s more than made up by the story in the arctic base.

It’s not a super unique narrative, but it’s a fun time if you’re willing to take the story at face value and allow yourself to be lost in the absurdity of it all. Something that might take away from the experience is the janky nature of some animations and sound cues that can lead to certain objects being stuck on the screen.

Despite having such a strong hub area, however, the real stars of The Hunt are the various games made by the featured indie devs. They’re each so unique that we’re going to have to explore them each in some detail.

Axis Mundi (Phillip Hesselback)

One of the best things about this collection is that it isn’t afraid to get emotional in some of its games. Axis Mundi is probably the best way to start this collection in my opinion, mainly because of its gentle tone when compared to the rest of the games.

You play as a ghost photographer sent to a mall to exorcise some ghosts that are milling around. The gameplay is very straightforward as you take photos of various ghosts and solve some environmental puzzles. In its entirety, Axis Mundi is a concise experience, that has some solid writing behind its straightforward gameplay.

You aim and shoot your camera as if it was a gun in a survival horror game, and have to wait for it to recharge in between pictures. While you wait for the camera to be functional again, you might have to dance around some unfriendly ghosts. Compounded with some tense music, these engagements tend to be fun despite becoming a bit tedious by the end.

When you finish the game, you might be left with a sense of peace and may even feel the need to reflect a little bit on your own perceptions of death and the afterlife. The creator, Phillip Hesselback, succeeded in creating a game that is all brevity and filled with enough soul to carry you in the thirty minutes it’ll take to see the credits.

I’d definitely be willing to call this entry the most emotional of this batch of the Dread X: Collection games.

Uktena 64 (KIRA)

If you decide to play Axis Mundi first, Uktena 64 will leave you with an incredible sense of tonal whiplash. Developed by Lost in Vivo creator KIRA, Uktena 64 is a beautiful love letter to the Nintendo 64 era of console shooters such as Turok and others.

You play as Jebadiah, a video creator who moonlights as a bounty hunter for the CDC. He’s sent to various locations to hunt and photograph various animals that have been infected by a mysterious virus. The game is, to say the least, incredibly goofy and bursting at the seams with creative energy.

Jebidiah’s excitement at the prospect of taking pictures of dead animals is both disturbing and weirdly charming. Coupled with goofy verbiage on some context-sensitive actions (“sippies” being the favourite word here) and the game becomes a riot to play through.

The gunplay is incredibly satisfying and demands accuracy at higher difficulty levels, as enemies come at you hard and fast. Weapons feel great and enemies are plentiful enough to create a meaty challenge. There’s nothing more satisfying than putting down some infected creature as you manoeuvre around any friends it brought along.

The game’s horror is contrasted well alongside the occasional meme and video game reference that appears during a level. KIRA did a great job melding two vastly different tones to create an experience that I can only describe as nothing short of pure joy.

Rose of Meat (Mr. Pink)

Alright, this one’s pretty weird, but definitely not in a bad way. Rose of Meat is a Chronenburg-esque mind trip created by Mr Pink, where you play as a nameless protagonist that is trying to escape a strange island. All you have to assist you is a revolver and a talking leg that creates red statues that you can use to blow enemies up.

This game is out there, as it takes the normal conventions of first-person shooters and tweaks them slightly to suit its strange narrative. You don’t use the revolver to shoot at enemies necessarily, as you mainly shoot the red statues that you create with your leg, which spouts quips at you whenever you pull it out.

The environments are chaotic and terrifying, as there can suddenly be a whole building that pops up out of the floor while you make your way to another section of the game. Colours are vibrant and are used effectively to create a wild and uncomfortable experience that can only be described as a nightmare told by someone still experiencing one.

You really don’t do too much actual shooting, as you’re mainly talking to characters and completing objectives that they give you. What really makes the game compelling is its aesthetic and themes about dreams, devotion, and free will.

I can honestly say that I’ve never played anything like it and probably never will. It really is the black sheep of this group of Dread X: Collection games

READ MORE: New horror game ‘Ghosts’ announced via Kickstarter

Seraphixial (Vidas Games)

Following up from Rose of Meat, Seraphixial by Vidas Games is similarly strange but melancholy as well, much like Axis Mundi. You play as a father who is in search of his daughter who may have gone missing. After disembarking from a submarine, you enter a strange world filled with seemingly abandoned environments.

Much like Uktena 64, Seraphixial is a straightforward first-person shooter where you fight your way through various environments in search of your daughter. The gameplay here really is straightforward, as you only get three weapons by the end and all of them feel very conventional.

What makes this game interesting, however, is its strange environments; the different places you explore feel dead and are silent for the most part. It all serves to make you feel somewhat uncomfortable and is only amplified by the few actual scares that are in this game.

I would argue that this game is probably the weakest of this particular Dread X: Collection, as it doesn’t shake up the first person formula too much. Despite that, the strange landscapes and effective scares ensure that the short time you spend with this entry is memorable at the least.

Black Relic (Torpledook)

Torpledook’s Black Relic is incredibly striking, as the harsh contrast of its black and red world create a tense experience that sticks with you. In this game, you play as a silent monk who is tasked with securing an important relic that he and his fellow monks have been protecting.

Gameplay here is in third person this time, as you’re armed with a crossbow that can only fire one bolt at a time. As a result, you’ll have to carefully consider the different enemy encounters, as it can be easy to get overwhelmed by cultists.

This entry in the Dread X: Collection is fairly concise, as it only takes about thirty minutes to complete on your first time through. The satisfying combat and disquieting atmosphere make for a fun, if brief experience that has great visuals. The lo-fi graphics add to the tense environments and make something both thrilling and harrowing.

The Fruit (Christopher Yabsley)

The Fruit is probably the longest game in the collection, clocking in at about an hour if you play on a lower difficulty. I’d say the game earns its run time, as it’s very ambitious about its scope within this collection of relatively short games. Its premise is simple: you’re a man named Thomas who arrives in the town of Ravenshollow in search of his lover, William.

Upon arriving, something is off, and you’re compelled to investigate the strange events centred around the titular “fruit.” The gameplay here is classic first-person survival horror, as you are only armed with an axe and a rifle to defend yourself against the various roaming horrors in and around the town.

Exploration is key, as you search various locales around the town; everything from a lone windmill, to an eerie mountain with a sealed entry is ripe for exploration. You’ll find magic runes to open passages and various notes that shed some light on the events of the game strewn about the various environments.

All the while, you need to defend yourself as best you can with the aforementioned axe and rifle, having to manually reload the rifle after every shot. Much like Black Relic, you have to consider enemy encounters carefully, as it’s really easy to run into a group of enemies that’ll make short work of you.

The reload mechanic is really immersive and fun but is hampered by the fact that it refused to work properly for me on a controller. Up until this point in the games I’ve played, The Fruit was the only one to have any serious issues regarding controller support. Switching to a mouse and keyboard wasn’t too bad, but I preferred to play with a controller.

Overall, this penultimate entry in the collection is fantastic, if a bit janky at times. The moment to moment gameplay is tense and exciting, and the story along with its excellent voice acting will keep you engaged the whole time. This was a slam dunk for creator Christopher Yabsley, as it is one of the most memorable games in the collection.

READ MORE: Devotion review: A trip to horror nirvana (PC)

The House of Unrest (Dan McGrath)

Leaning back into the absurd for the final game, Dan McGrath’s The House of Unrest is probably the most cathartic game of the bunch. For this final game, you play as a priest sent in to assist in battling a newly summoned demon at a fellow priest’s mansion. To aid you, a crucifix and a gun are all you’re given to fight off the fleshy monstrosities in said house.

This one’s fairly short as well, but left quite the impression on me with an epic finale that I wasn’t expecting. The gameplay is simple: shoot enemies, destroy fleshy bits on walls with the crucifix, and solve some simple puzzles. The aesthetic of the game is like Airdorf’s Faith if it was remade in a 3D engine from the 90’s.

The experience as a whole is cathartic and plenty of fun, as it’s helped along by writing that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The short length, tongue-in-cheek tone, and occasional unnerving atmosphere make this one a fantastic way to finish the collection.

If you’ve ever wanted to know what The Exorcist would be like if Father Karras had a gun, this game will answer that for you.

Hunting for a conclusion

Dread X Collection: The Hunt is one of those anthologies that leave you yearning for more when you’re finished. This collection has been a wonderful way for indie devs to flex their creative muscles and put together some memorable and concise experiences. The story of Artemis and her mission does a great job of tying the entire collection together, as she is given plenty of time to shine in between the different games you’re playing.

For the low price of $11.99 (on sale for $ 10.79 at the time of writing), you couldn’t ask for a better bang for your buck when it comes to horror games. Buy some snacks, turn off the lights, plug in your headphones and take a ride through the Dread X collection.

Happy hunting.