Layers of Fear is an excellent introduction to the series for those who haven’t had the chance to play the original. It’s beautiful, scary, and haunting.
Layers of Fear 2023 is the newest release from Bloober Team, the creators of the original Layers of Fear in 2016. The independent developer was founded in 2008 and is known for its haunting survival horror games that have recently dominated the gaming market. Excitingly, they are working on the Silent Hill 2 Remake that is set to come out in September of this year. Anshar Studios are teaming up with Bloober Team to publish, being known for other horrors such as the ever popular live service Dead by Daylight.
There was some confusion around the release of Layers of Fear 2023, as it was not expressly clear if the game was going to be a sequel, remake, or something new altogether. It turns out the truth was a little of all three. Layers of Fear contains a remake of the original game, Layers of Fear 2 and the DLCs from the first game as well as an additional story that acts as a connecting line between the two previous tales. The whole game has been made from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5, meaning the remake portions of the game have got a nice polish and the new elements are graphically stunning.
Layers of Fear starts in a totally foreign environment to even players of the original games. A woman, the Writer, is at a lighthouse where she is expected to complete a writing contract. The story she wrote to earn this contract is on her desk, the story of a tortured Artist. A call she receives reminds her she is on a deadline and the contract needs to be completed in a timely manner. The unfamiliar section then launches the player into what should be a known situation to those who played the original Layers of Fear in 2016. The story of the Artist then begins to unfold.
The artist’s story begins with the player making their way to the study to get the keys for his workshop so the Artist can continue his latest piece of work. It quickly becomes clear to the player that Layers of Fear plans to explore the descent into madness. Walls and hallways start to change, with whole rooms being rearranged as the player simply turns around. The house contains notes that allude to the Artist’s past and the trauma that has clearly befallen him. His wife is also constantly referred to in the past tense suggesting to a horror that may have befallen her some time ago.
Hallucinations of rats then start to swarm the building, yet notes from pest control state that no rats were found, and the artist uses blood as a medium to continue with his painting. The addition of the plague of rats is one of the ways Layers of Fear integrates the new tale into the old seamlessly. This is because, in the flashes to the Writer’s story, a vision of a monstrous, rat-like woman is seen in her tale. A muse offers to help her with her newest story as she did with the Artist, the Musician, and the Actor while the Writer looks upon the image of the Rat Queen.
As Layers of Fear continues with the Artist’s story as more is revealed about his past, including his attitude towards his daughter and her own drawings, commenting on one that horses aren’t pink. Her crayons then create flames and haunting images on the walls. The Artist switches between chastising her and apologising. These flashbacks to a fire as well as hauntings from a burned, disfigured woman continue as the player explores the space searching for the final materials for his painting which include hair, skin and eventually a finger.
With the exclusion of the Writer’s story, this is a very similar story to the one seen in the original Layers of Fear game. The two DLCs from the first game then follow, presented as the Writer’s books. The story of the Daughter is again much the same, with the player exploring the Artist’s house from his daughter’s point of view. The Musician’s book is about the Artist’s talented wife who has her skills ripped away from her in the fire and what becomes of her as a result.
The Writer continues to be haunted by the Rat Queen, who even replaces her son in a photo on her desk as she settles in to write her centracted story. This ends up being the story of the Actor from Layers of Fear 2. An Actor explores a ship with instructions from his director to build a character. The note states there should be no one else on the boat, but the Actor soon starts to see two children stowed away, as well as mannequins that appear to be involved in the shooting of the scenes. As the Actor continues through the ships, the scenes become more violent and papers about the Actor’s declining mental health can be discovered.
The Actor also sees visions of rats on the ship as he learns more about himself and the children on board. Layers of Fear has a final scene of the ending to the Writer’s story as well as the conclusion of the Rat Queen. The stories of the first two Layers of Fear games are improved on with added pursuers and a little more fleshing out of the characters. The stories are also told very well; many of the notes can be pieced together well but are not oversimplifying a story about very complex emotions.
The additional story on Layers of Fear is also very interesting and unique. However, it can be hard to keep track of as the game jumps into and out of the Writer’s story. Although this does allow for an exciting storytelling method, it can make it hard to connect to her as a protagonist, unlike the others whose stories are told in larger blocks.
Like many games in the survival horror genre Layers of Fear relies heavily on the play exploring an environment and retracing their steps. When done poorly, this as a core game mechanic can feel like an endless shore of going back and forth with no real direction. Layers of Fear cleverly alleviates this problem by having the environment change. As soon as the player starts to feel comfortable in a surrounding, like they know where to go, the game will have the player walk into a room while the corridor behind them switches to a completely new area.
There are moments when this can feel predictable, however. I found myself preparing for the corridor behind me to be gone any time I was led into a room with just one entrance. To avoid being little more than a walking simulator with the occasional confusing geometry, it was important for Layers of Fear to add some additional gameplay elements. Some of the puzzles from the original two games traversed to the new one in a seamless manner.
Many of these puzzles were very simple, finding a code for a door or adding a cog to a mechanism. This proved to be somewhat of a double-edged sword. While it was nice not to have an overly complicated puzzle that was more frustrating than fun, it did mean that these also became a little repetitive. An example of this is in the Actor’s story, where a projection shows the image of a door. There isn’t another exit in the room, so the player has to realise they are able to access the door and progress forward. However, in the next projector room, the solution is the same: another slide and another door with no variation.
Layers of Fear does contain a very specific upgrade from the original games in the addition of combat or a near enough imitation of it. The player can find a lantern or flashlight, depending on the story, and use it to defend themselves from pursuing enemies and solve puzzles in the game. This stun effect helps the player escape these chases as well as adds additional threat to the game. There are now more fail states that can happen, adding more tension to the game.
While this added tension is good, the downfall of the gameplay is, strangely, in its length. The game is simply too long. While the gameplay elements are all fun in and of themselves, they wear thin rather quickly due to the constant repetition. The original Layers of Fear came out in the aftermath of the ever-popular PT, which followed much of the same gameplay. A faceless protagonist working their way through a house, slightly changing with each evolution. The shorter experience of PT allowed for the player to never get too comfy with the changing environment, which can happen as Layers of Fear 2023 goes on.
The changing narrative can as the stories switch between protagonists allows this to become not too overwhelming a problem. It should be noted the gameplay is not weak by any means, simply lacking some further variation. I was also concerned upon starting Layers of Fear that, with the original first game being better than the second, the first half of the game would be a lot better than the second. However, the variations in the puzzles and the use of the flashlight to solve puzzles were very well executed in the Actor’s story, meaning I was not let down by the latter part of the game.
Being built in Unreal Engine 5, the game is absolutely stunning. There is a moment during the Artist’s and Musician’s stories where the house is ablaze. The fire effects are so realistic at this moment that I thought for a moment I had entered a live-action cutscene rather than still playing a game. The environments are also superb. The Actor’s story takes place on a ship that has moments that create real claustrophobia with the low ceilings and effective lighting.
Some of the sound effects in Layers of Fear are similarly effective at creating this uneasy feeling and tension. The music remains present throughout, building with moments to an impressive and tense crescendo. Many of the other sound effects are similarly effective. The Artist’s painting, with all the body parts used in its creation, often made horribly unnerving slopping sounds. Some of the voice actings, however, doesn’t quite live up to the other sound effects, with much of it being stilted and awkward sounding.
The endings to each story can vary as the player plays the game in differing ways. Many of them reflect the same themes, however, with that being of a tortured artist. A key example of this is in the Daughter’s story as she is seen as an adult asking her own child “why pink?” when looking at a drawing from them. While being a seemingly small moment, this reflects perfectly the cyclical nature of those trapped in the game. The Rat Queen is also given an exciting ending within the Writer’s story; with her power over those she is a muse to becoming clear in the final moments of the game.
Overall, Layers of Fear is a very fun experience for fans of the survival horror genre. It is also an improvement from either of the two original games and the DLCs. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t quite live up to other remakes of late such as Resident Evil 4 Remake or Dead Space. Although, the addition of an entirely new story is a welcome one in the story. If you have never played the originals this version of the game is the version you should pick up. It is graphically fantastic and the combat adds a welcome change to the gameplay.
