Bringing existing games to new platforms means new audiences – here’s a look at three new ports that are coming to consoles near you: DreadOut 2, Mutropolis and Bricky To Me.
DreadOut 2 review (PS5)
Originally released on the PC, the DreadOut games caught our eye when they came out but we never actually played them. Now that the sequel has launched on consoles, we thought we’d change that. This Indonesian-developed survival horror game feels different enough from games like Silent Hill and Fatal Frame, even though it clearly takes inspiration from them. It’s also available on Xbox, but we took at look at the PlayStation version on a PS5.
As a direct sequel, the story for DreadOut 2 picks up where the first game left off. As we hadn’t played it, we read up on its story beforehand, but if you have the option we’d recommend playing the original game first. Protagonist Linda has survived the events of the first game, but as she walked out as the sole survivor some people around her are a bit leery of her, thinking maybe she has something to do with all the deaths.
At the same time, strange occurrences keep popping up all over town, and before long you’ll enter an alternate world again – though others can’t do this, feeding into their suspicions towards you. It’s an interesting setting, but you can tell that DreadOut 2 is a low budget production in how it doesn’t tell its narrative in a compelling way like the recent Resident Evil games do. Judging from videos and screenshots it’s a far more visually compelling game than the first DreadOut though, so it looks like the team was ambitious enough to try and raise the bar.
A lot of the gameplay is Fatal Frame-inspired, with a large role for your camera, which you’ll use to damage ghosts by taking pictures of them – and you can use your phone for a similar but less powerful effect in a time of need. You can also equip a melee weapon later in the story, but both the camera and melee combat feel awkward – much like the combat in older PS1-era survival horror games did, but it’s harder to forgive in 2022. While it’s much easier to ignore some visual polish in an indie title, the combat is where DreadOut 2 could have used a bit more polish. For a low budget horror title, it’s certainly worth a look though, as it’s visually different from both western and Japanese productions.
Mutropolis comes to the Nintendo Switch on August 18th
This one isn’t coming out until the end of next week, but Application Systems Heidelberg is bringing Mutropolis to the Nintendo Switch and we had an early chance to play it. We originally reviewed the PC version of the game back in March of last year, and it’s a real throwback to classic PC adventure games of the mid to late 1990s.
Content-wise, the Switch edition of the game is identical to the PC version that came out over a year ago, and our early impressions are that it looks the same as well, even in handheld mode. The lack of mouse control is something that you’ll have to get used to when playing on a console, but we had a lot of fun playing through this eight to ten hour story driven adventure on the go. Mutropolis runs great in handheld mode, and we encourage all classic adventure gaming fans to check this one out when it launches on the eShop next week.
Bricky To Me review (PS4)
QUByte’s been prolific as a console publisher in recent months, porting over a variety of games. Bricky To Me by developer IdunaSoft is the latest example, and it’s a typical indie 2D platformer with a few small twists that’s available now for a low budget price.
The big selling point for Bricky To Me is its dynamically changing environment, which is certainly uncommon for a 2D platformer where levels are of the single screen variety. The controls are fairly straightforward though, with simple jump and run controls as well a (ranged) attack button and the option to flip switches that change up the level and open up new areas for you. Also not unusual is the goal to collect keys and food, which you can trade for coins. Blue coins are special and grant access to the boss fight, so you’ll want to keep an eye on those, whereas blue points shrink your little knight character down to make it possible to get through smaller openings.
Not quite common is having a cat that you can offer stuff to, and he’ll reward you by showing you secrets in levels later on. With 60 levels to complete, this is a nice little diversion for a few hours, after which you’ll mostly also have unlocked all of the game’s trophies – one of which is a brand new platinum. On the way, there’s a nice bit of platforming with the occasional (mild) puzzle to overcome, and thanks to decent controls you can’t really knock it at its price point.
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