Layers of Fear

Review

If you are a fan of first-person psychological horror games and you’ve never heard about the original Layers of Fear, then this might be the best time to try this series in a brand new revamped version. This is not simply a remake, it’s a definitive collection that includes the first and the second games, the “Inheritance” DLC, but also completely new chapters such as “The Lighthouse” and “The Final Note” that further expand the story. In the first game you play as a Painter in the middle of an existential crisis. You will be exploring a Victorian mansion, trying to put the pieces together and learn more about his insanity. The DLC “Inheritance” is also included and allows you to play as the Painter’s daughter, learning all the secrets about her family. The remake also adds a new DLC called “The Final Note”, in which you take control of the Painter’s wife, a musician, giving a totally new perspective to the events. Then you have the second game, which is not a direct continuation of the same story. Here you play as an Actor who find himself trapped on an ocean liner, exploring the ship and discovering why he was chosen by the director himself to play the role. And finally, you will experience “The Lighthouse”, a brand new chapter in which you play as a secluded Writer who is trying to complete a book and connect all the stories together. You will play parts of this new chapter in-between the other games, unifying all the different storylines in one interesting plot with a common theme.

Similarly to Amnesia and other horror games that play with your head, you will explore creepy environments and solve puzzles to overcome the obstacles that block your way. Most of the time, this will simply require finding hidden keys or codes to unlock doors or find story-related items. The whole experience is mostly linear, with few branches that effectively give the illusion of choice but bring you on the same path. To be honest, I played the original Layers of Fear back in 2016 and there were a few parts that I didn’t remember, so there are certainly things that have been changed or added in the remake, such as new sections, items and room layouts. One thing is sure, the puzzles are extremely guided and don’t require much thinking, which is a pity considering the variety of environments.

There is also another problem, which understandably can be subjective, but for me it’s been very annoying: the game is not scary. It can be during the first two hours, when you can feel the tension of being inside a dark lighthouse or a creepy mansion, and then you get the first few frightening jumpscares that work pretty well, but then every room you enter starts to include one or more jumpscares and they become repetitive and predictable to the point that I got bored of seeing stuff suddenly flying, moving dolls, ghosts’ appearances or lamps that break. The game constantly uses the same method to frighten you: when you are facing a door or a wall, you can feel that something has changed in the environment behind you (there is like a visual glitch for one second) and when you turn around you simply get a jumpscare. Again, it’s fun and interesting for the first few hours when you don’t know what to expect but then it wears off really quickly. Fortunately, the team has introduced a new mechanic taken straight from Alan Wake: The Lantern. You can use it not only to illuminate dark areas, but also to destroy corrupted items and as a weapon against ghosts. Yes, there will be some sections in which you will run for your life while being chased by ghosts, adding a bit of dynamism to the gameplay. That said, Layers of Fear works more like a showcase of surreal things happening. Once you accept the absurd repetitiveness of the jumpscares you won’t feel any real tension or sense of danger. It becomes more like a story-driven and visually splendid walking sim with easy puzzle solving. I love that depending on the actions you make, such as closing and opening the same door again or watching a painting several times, you can trigger new jumpscares but again, it’s all pretty redundant.

Speaking of actions, all the chapters feature multiple endings. The requirements for unlocking these are unknown to me, but I imagine they are somehow linked to the amount of “collectibles” you have found (there are quite a lot) and how you deal with the ghosts’ appearances. The game includes a chapter selection, so it should be easy to replay single parts and try to achieve the other endings. One thing that I should mention though is that despite finishing the Inheritance DLC with one of the endings, it didn’t get unlocked in the chapter menu (probably a bug).

Since this collection is also a complete remake, the main differences you will find are in the graphics. The game is built on Unreal Engine 5 and utilizes the Lumen global illumination system. I went back to watch some videos of the original games to really understand the difference and it’s really huge. The environments are fantastic, very photorealistic and super detailed. Despite all the cheap jumpscares, I really enjoyed my time exploring these gorgeous, but unsettling, locations. The game is also decently optimized and features a good number of graphical settings, including raytracing, DLSS, XeSS (Intel Super Sampling) and TSR (Temporal Super Resolution), which work pretty well on Quality Mode with almost imperceptible quality loss but better performance overall. The game also uses binaural audio, which simulates a 3D effect and sounds much better on headphones. The only “bug” I found is the sound of rain that can be heard from inside the mansion, in the first game. It’s difficult to describe this issue, but sometimes the rain sounds weird, not realistic but more like a poor 3D effect.

Layers of Fear strives to be frightening, but it actually ends up being a relaxing walk in the park, assuming you have enough experience with this kind of horror game, love art and surrealism. It’s not a bad game by any means; it’s a pleasant story-driven journey through the mind of twisted people consumed by their obsession for art, but I wish they could have avoided all those repetitive and ineffective jumpscares to focus on a more intimate and unsettling story. Anyway, this is the best package you can currently get for the series, with lots of content between the two games, DLCs and an entirely new chapter. Probably worth a try if you love being scared by a train of jumpscares or like me you simply enjoy exploring these atmospheric environments and dive into the twisted minds of the protagonists without fear.

Review written by Sonic Punk for Zeepond.com

Layers of Fear Steam Store Page