The next chapter in the haunting Dread X Collection series. Co-produced by the legendary David Szymanski (DUSK, The Music Machine, Squirrel Stapler), Dread X Collection: The Hunt showcases 7 all-new short horror shooters from a handpicked selection of creative and unique indie developers. Continuing the Dread X Collection story, you play as series newcomer Artemis. Driven by a cryptic message recorded by someone from her past, Artemis makes her way to the ARK 2 research base. Explore the abandoned base and uncover the mystery of what happened. If you're tough enough, you just might save the world.
Reviews View More
This 4th Dread X compilation focuses mainly on horror shooters. The number of games included is lower than usual, but each game is long and ambitious, so it feels more like they've focused on quality than quantity.
From best to worst:
The Fruit: 4/5
This is the best game of the collection. It's very ambitious and polished. It has a great atmosphere, good gameplay ideas, and manages to feel like a true survival horror. The mechanics of the manually reloadable rifle and the book of runes are well thought-out. Even the plot, while not revolutionary, has the merit of making the adventure captivating.
Rose of Meat: 4/5
Alright, this one is WEIRD. I thought I'd played a lot of weird games, but this one easily makes the top 3. Is it a good game? Impossible to say, really. But it's so unique and deranged that I can only respect the author. Probably the most divisive game of the lot.
Axis Mundi : 3.5/5
It's a paranormal game inspired by Project Zero/Fatal Frame. You can capture ghosts with a camera. You can also relive the past of the deceased, taking you back in time. The atmosphere is varied and well made. It alternates well between combat, puzzles and exploration. Pretty good overall.
Uktena 64 : 3.5/5
A N64 inspired hunting FPS. Not the most remarkable game, but there's an undeniable charm to the visuals, music and humor.
Black Relic : 3/5
It's the only game that's not a FPS but a TPS. You can tell it's inspired by Resident Evil 4. It's pretty good, but the pixelated visual style is very pronounced, making sometimes confrontations difficult to read. The gameplay is also rigid, with slow reload and pickup animations. I understand that slow movements makes a survival horror more stressful, but in this case it feels more clunky. The Fruit managed to execute that idea much better imo.
The House of Unrest : 2.5/5
Basically first person RE1 with an exorcist. The minimalist atmosphere isn't bad, but it's too easy (ammo is unlimited) and the puzzles aren't interesting.
Seraphixial: 1/5
This one is very bad, I'm sorry. It's really ugly to look at. The gunplay is boring and repetitive. Even the sound effects are laughably bad. Also the only "scares" come from lazy jumpscares.
Also the main hub of the compilation is an adventure game inspired by The Thing. Nice atmosphere and it's overall enjoyable. However, the main character is particularly annoying, with voice lines that remind me of Wolfenstein Youngblood.
From best to worst:
The Fruit: 4/5
This is the best game of the collection. It's very ambitious and polished. It has a great atmosphere, good gameplay ideas, and manages to feel like a true survival horror. The mechanics of the manually reloadable rifle and the book of runes are well thought-out. Even the plot, while not revolutionary, has the merit of making the adventure captivating.
Rose of Meat: 4/5
Alright, this one is WEIRD. I thought I'd played a lot of weird games, but this one easily makes the top 3. Is it a good game? Impossible to say, really. But it's so unique and deranged that I can only respect the author. Probably the most divisive game of the lot.
Axis Mundi : 3.5/5
It's a paranormal game inspired by Project Zero/Fatal Frame. You can capture ghosts with a camera. You can also relive the past of the deceased, taking you back in time. The atmosphere is varied and well made. It alternates well between combat, puzzles and exploration. Pretty good overall.
Uktena 64 : 3.5/5
A N64 inspired hunting FPS. Not the most remarkable game, but there's an undeniable charm to the visuals, music and humor.
Black Relic : 3/5
It's the only game that's not a FPS but a TPS. You can tell it's inspired by Resident Evil 4. It's pretty good, but the pixelated visual style is very pronounced, making sometimes confrontations difficult to read. The gameplay is also rigid, with slow reload and pickup animations. I understand that slow movements makes a survival horror more stressful, but in this case it feels more clunky. The Fruit managed to execute that idea much better imo.
The House of Unrest : 2.5/5
Basically first person RE1 with an exorcist. The minimalist atmosphere isn't bad, but it's too easy (ammo is unlimited) and the puzzles aren't interesting.
Seraphixial: 1/5
This one is very bad, I'm sorry. It's really ugly to look at. The gunplay is boring and repetitive. Even the sound effects are laughably bad. Also the only "scares" come from lazy jumpscares.
Also the main hub of the compilation is an adventure game inspired by The Thing. Nice atmosphere and it's overall enjoyable. However, the main character is particularly annoying, with voice lines that remind me of Wolfenstein Youngblood.
It starts on a great hub, which is miles better than the third one.
The connection between the games is also more interesting, so, on this one, I knew I’d be better served. For this one, only 1 is bad. But Axis Mundi and The Fruit are AWESOME! The Fruit is one of my favorites from the entire franchise.
Better than the third one, worth it if you get on a promo. Actually think that is cool to play all of them, but not back to back.
The connection between the games is also more interesting, so, on this one, I knew I’d be better served. For this one, only 1 is bad. But Axis Mundi and The Fruit are AWESOME! The Fruit is one of my favorites from the entire franchise.
Better than the third one, worth it if you get on a promo. Actually think that is cool to play all of them, but not back to back.
Unfortunately, this is my least favorite Dread X collection. This one focuses on FPS horror games, but only one or two stood out to me. Also the overworld and the story attached to it were easily the low points of the series.
Axis Mundi: 4
UKTENA 64: 4
Rose of Meat: 2
Seraphixial: 0.5
Black Relic: 4.5
The Fruit: 5
The house of Unrest: 3
UKTENA 64: 4
Rose of Meat: 2
Seraphixial: 0.5
Black Relic: 4.5
The Fruit: 5
The house of Unrest: 3
The theme here is "shooters" and was produced along with David Szymanski, which gives it a different aura. It's hard for me to get bored with a shooter, shooting stuff is always fun, so I was expecting to really like this one.
The launcher's cool, setting never gets old. It's too story driven in comparison to the previous ones, not only because of the dialogue but also because of how many chores and setups it puts you through. It doesn't feel too dense tho, since this collection contains half as many games as the previous ones. I also like the build up to the monster, previous launchers were really detailed but felt more like an intermission between each game. Here you actually get a climax, get yourself in danger and receive an ending and I think that's pretty cool.
7. Seraphixial
It sucks I'm sorry, Vidas just can't seem to find a balance with the asset flip move because everything looks out of place wherever you look at. Enemies suck, shooting sucks and this guy seems to think being loud = being scary, gets annoying. It's not boring tho, I'll give him that.
6. The House of Unrest
Cool-looking, but the rest is just fine. It's piss-easy and the "puzzles" feel more like chores, it's enjoyable because of the visuals but the mechanics feel more forced-in to make you feel like you're doing something more than walking. Final boss rocks tho absolute badass
5. Axis Mundi
This one's nice, I like how it plays out, no pretensions about it, it's exactly what you see and the scope is really small. Almost relaxing in a way.
4. Uktena 64
Similar to Squirrel Stapler in concept and presentation but a lot more action packed. It's sort of generic when compared to the rest of the pack, but the protagonist and the overall tone of the game just makes it really charming and enjoyable. It's just fun!!!
3. The Fruit
This one's just really polished, like, could've been a demo for an actual game. Combat feels nice, the sigils mechanic and the way it develops and relates to the story is really cool, and the plot itself, while simple, stays relevant during the whole thing and never feels like an excuse.
2. Rose of Meat
Didn't actually enjoy this one as much as Uktena or The Fruit gameplay-wise, but I respect when you do weird shit like this. Everyone had a different vision in this collection, but this is the only game that decided to go waaaay out there in both aesthetics and gameplay and I enjoyed it a lot in that regard, figuring out the mechanics and how to take advantage of them. Great stuff, would love to see more meaty games.
1. Black Relic
Torple Dook always understands the assignment. Clearly inspired by RE4 but it's really polished, movement feels great and shooting more. The visuals and plot are cool, but it's the ending what ends up selling it for me.
Overall, cool stuff. In terms of quality, I'd say it's the most consistent out of every collection, but it's also the one that surprised me the least. Not even Black Relic, which I liked a lot, comes close to the highlights from previous games, so that sort of brings it a bit down for me. Still enjoyed it.
The launcher's cool, setting never gets old. It's too story driven in comparison to the previous ones, not only because of the dialogue but also because of how many chores and setups it puts you through. It doesn't feel too dense tho, since this collection contains half as many games as the previous ones. I also like the build up to the monster, previous launchers were really detailed but felt more like an intermission between each game. Here you actually get a climax, get yourself in danger and receive an ending and I think that's pretty cool.
7. Seraphixial
It sucks I'm sorry, Vidas just can't seem to find a balance with the asset flip move because everything looks out of place wherever you look at. Enemies suck, shooting sucks and this guy seems to think being loud = being scary, gets annoying. It's not boring tho, I'll give him that.
6. The House of Unrest
Cool-looking, but the rest is just fine. It's piss-easy and the "puzzles" feel more like chores, it's enjoyable because of the visuals but the mechanics feel more forced-in to make you feel like you're doing something more than walking. Final boss rocks tho absolute badass
5. Axis Mundi
This one's nice, I like how it plays out, no pretensions about it, it's exactly what you see and the scope is really small. Almost relaxing in a way.
4. Uktena 64
Similar to Squirrel Stapler in concept and presentation but a lot more action packed. It's sort of generic when compared to the rest of the pack, but the protagonist and the overall tone of the game just makes it really charming and enjoyable. It's just fun!!!
3. The Fruit
This one's just really polished, like, could've been a demo for an actual game. Combat feels nice, the sigils mechanic and the way it develops and relates to the story is really cool, and the plot itself, while simple, stays relevant during the whole thing and never feels like an excuse.
2. Rose of Meat
Didn't actually enjoy this one as much as Uktena or The Fruit gameplay-wise, but I respect when you do weird shit like this. Everyone had a different vision in this collection, but this is the only game that decided to go waaaay out there in both aesthetics and gameplay and I enjoyed it a lot in that regard, figuring out the mechanics and how to take advantage of them. Great stuff, would love to see more meaty games.
1. Black Relic
Torple Dook always understands the assignment. Clearly inspired by RE4 but it's really polished, movement feels great and shooting more. The visuals and plot are cool, but it's the ending what ends up selling it for me.
Overall, cool stuff. In terms of quality, I'd say it's the most consistent out of every collection, but it's also the one that surprised me the least. Not even Black Relic, which I liked a lot, comes close to the highlights from previous games, so that sort of brings it a bit down for me. Still enjoyed it.
Despite having half as many games as the prior 2 collections, each game is twice as long and they're mostly quite well-made.
The Fruit is awesome for a demo and I look forward to a potential full game. 8/10. Besides that we have a lot of clones (of excellent games, mind you, all 6 or 7/10s).
Axis Mundi is a mini Fatal Frame, House of Unrest is a mini RE1 if Dante was the protag, Black Relic is a mini RE4 Clone and Uktena is a more fleshed out Squirrel Stapler
The two biggest misses were Seraphixial and Rose of Meat, which also happen to be the most visually interesting of the bunch, which is unfortunate, but at least gives them a level of play value.
Lastly, the hub is like The Thing meets Obra Dinn
Overall, would recommend it on sale.
The Fruit is awesome for a demo and I look forward to a potential full game. 8/10. Besides that we have a lot of clones (of excellent games, mind you, all 6 or 7/10s).
Axis Mundi is a mini Fatal Frame, House of Unrest is a mini RE1 if Dante was the protag, Black Relic is a mini RE4 Clone and Uktena is a more fleshed out Squirrel Stapler
The two biggest misses were Seraphixial and Rose of Meat, which also happen to be the most visually interesting of the bunch, which is unfortunate, but at least gives them a level of play value.
Lastly, the hub is like The Thing meets Obra Dinn
Overall, would recommend it on sale.