The original Layers of Fear was one of many walking sims which followed in the wake of PT, yet stood out among the rest. A psychological horror game with artistic flair, Bloober Team (in collaboration with Anshar Studios) have taken their original titles and reimagined them onto one canvas, touching them up with fresh ideas. More than a haunted house packed with jump scares, Layers of Fear delves into the darkest depths of the human psyche; themes of mental illness, abuse, and disturbing imagery are prevalent throughout – player discretion is advised.
Layers of Fear is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox and Steam for £24.99 ($29.99).
Story – Triggering Content
The allegories in Layers of Fear are open to interpretation. Horror offers the opportunity of presenting difficult emotions in disturbing and abstract ways, and the Layers of Fear series is unflinching in this approach. While I personally appreciate this raw and controversial perspective rooted in reality, I understand it is not for everyone. As does Bloober Team, who have learned from the past and included an extensive trigger warning before the main menu. There is also an option to enable warnings for upcoming scenes which may contain upsetting themes. Due to the subject matter throughout the game, I have included the full trigger warning below, as well as the link to Safe In Our World’s website.
Full trigger warning which appears before the main menu.
Horror Reimagined
Previously, the only connection the narrative of Layers of Fear had to its sequel were the difficult themes which they follow. In the first you play as The Painter, exploring his home as he explores the decline of his mental health, battles with alcoholism and his abuse towards his family. Layers of Fear 2 follows the tormented tale of an actor, shooting a film aboard a cruise ship. While wandering through the oceanliner, the shadows of his past come to light, the voyage working as an aid in untangling the traumatic events of his childhood.
The two original titles have now been intertwined with the new story of The Writer. The Writer works to segue the first Layers of Fear to Layers of Fear 2, with her own spooks and inner demons to face. Her dialogue is poetic, and this additional story does well to glue the individual titles together. Yet while there is depth to the character, the narrative seemed to leave her story uninvestigated. It felt as though there should have been more to discover about The Writer’s background, as well as her experience in the lighthouse, which I found came to an abrupt ending.
Inheritance and The Final Note
The Inheritance DLC has been reimagined alongside the original game. Inheritance offers the perspective of The Painter’s daughter and the new DLC, The Final Note, the point-of-view of The Musician (his wife). By exploring the mansion though the eyes of his family, small details in the DLCs further explain occurrences in the first Layers of Fear. Learning the extent of the antipathy between the husband and wife and in turn how it affects their daughter fleshes out The Painter’s narrative. Inheritance in particular is an imaginative and emotional stand-out chapter of the series, conveying the feelings of helplessness and confusion experienced by the young daughter.
Exploring sinister corridors and the rooms they lead to make up the core of the gameplay.
Gameplay – Slow and Steady
If you are accustomed to walking sim style mechanics then you will feel at home in the dimly lit hallways. Trapped in a first-person camera, L3 is used to move and holding R2 combined with R3 to open draws and doors. Layers of Fear has scaled back on the jump scares, instead embracing the psychological terror they can inflict upon the player. Cries of tortured spirits, morphing artworks and upside down rooms, the game is designed to make the player question themselves as they stumble through doorways.
What begins as a simple layout of the mansion becomes a maze of repeating hallways with subtle differences, where you need to collect keys and solve simple puzzles to unlock more of the household’s history. The narrative unfolds through a collection of notes, pictures and items which can be found littered throughout the game. Although at first the amount of text can look tiresome, each piece is narrated through a voice over. An option can be selected to enable the voice over to continue even after exiting the close-up of the object, which significantly improved the pacing of the game.
Light Mechanics
A new addition to the series is the light mechanic. Appearing as a lantern in the first game and a torch in the second, these sources of light can be used to break up the darkness and ward off enemies. The light cooldown meter replenishes quickly which gives a generous advantage to the player. While this feels slightly detached from the first game, it is utilised in a creative way during the second. Shining the torch to maneuver mannequins is a charming mechanic. Until you are being chased through a winding maze, counting on them to move in time for you to evade capture.
Puzzles from the original games remain.
Audio and Graphics – Works of Art
Switching from Unity to Unreal Engine 5 enabled the environments to be recreated in meticulous detail, making full use of the updated tools to create breathtaking scenes. Despite the artistic protagonists battling to create a prized piece of art, the real masterpiece in Layers of Fear is the lighting. Sunlight pouring through the windows, the glow of flames bouncing off the walls and pools of light illuminating dust particles caused me to stop and appreciate my surroundings on more than one occasion.
Composer Arkadiusz Reikowski has returned, following his work on the original titles as well as Bloober Team’s The Medium. A mesmerising soundtrack lulls you into a false feeling of calm before becoming distorted and overwhelming. When fused together with the hum of electricity or creaking floorboards, the subtle sounds intensify the sense of trepidation as you tread through the corridors. Due to the binaural audio design, Layers of Fear is best experienced wearing headphones.
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- The return of The Painter.
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- The Musician’s Note DLC explores the world from the perspective of the wife of The Painter.
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- Layers of Fear 2 does not try to hide its movie references.
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- Mannequins make regular appearances throughout The Actor’s story.
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- Unreal Engine 5 has been used to create realistic rays of lights and shadows.
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- Layers of Fear 2 explores The Actor’s childhood trauma.
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- The original Layers of Fear games have been recreated along with the original and new DLC.
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- Inheritance is from the point-of-view of The Painter’s daughter, reminiscing childhood nightmares.
Layers of Fear was reviewed on PS5 with a key provided by Evolve PR.
