Layers of Fear 2023 Review

Introduction

Layers of Fear 2023 is neither a remake, nor a remaster. Think of it more as a reimagining of some of Bloober Teams earlier “walking sim” horror stories, tied together in a nice package with some added bells and whistles. Here we have abridged versions of Layers of Fear 1 & 2 – quick whistle stop tours of the original story highlights – plus some extra content to make the series a cohesive whole. The good news for those who have played the originals, is that despite knowing the stories, expect this return to provide a vastly different experience.

Story

Events begin with a writer arriving on an island to help. A welcome break to help clear their writers block. An all expenses paid trip to a lighthouse with the expectation that this inspiring location will result in a movie script. The writer story basically provides a bridge between the previous games. It’s a small explorable hub that you return to between chapters to get more of an idea of who the writer is and what their personal problems are.

Trauma and mental health issues as well as the stereotypical tortured artist are key themes over the two main chapters. It’s also rather prevalent that each of the main characters, whilst respected for their art, are floundering with the evolution of their art as well. Each chapter also explores more challenging topics and whilst it’s never visually explicit, disfigurement, child death and suicide are eluded to in notes, collectibles and through environmental story telling. Bloober Team have never been afraid of telling stories with dark themes even if they can be a bit ham-fisted at times.

It never felt like any of the themes were explored with any great depth in the main games, but they were definitely more impactful in the DLC chapters. The themes are mainly used to inspire set dressing, often manifesting as the characters fears, apparitions and vastly overused looping corridor sections. I’ll agree that mental health issues are difficult to explore in such a visual medium but sometimes it’s too on the nose.

After completing the prologue, we are placed in the shoes of the protagonist from Layers of Fear. The opening is instantly familiar – the dim foyer, the sound of the rain on the glass and the front door inviting you deeper into the warmth of the house. The same can be said for the rest of the house as well. The whole place is instantly recognisable and the layout is identical but it all looks beautiful in UE5.

The original Layers of Fear is told from the perspective of a broken artist. He appears to have seen some success but now, interest in his work has waned and he is struggling to create his magnum opus. This has led to him turning to alcohol to fight his demons, which in turn has had dire consequences.

The DLC chapters are also included in the package and help flesh out the painters story. Inheritance sees the daughter return to the mansion and explore flashbacks to her life in the house. Having seen exactly what sort of chap the painter is, she clearly had a troubled childhood.

The Last Note is played from the perspective of the mother. An accident has left her pretty much bed bound and in lots of physical pain. She feels trapped by her injuries, her unloving husband and her duty of care to her young daughter.

The sequel tells the story of a fading star of the silver screen and takes place aboard a ship, which is also doubling as the set of a movie. The actor appears to be struggling to build the character for the movie and must delve into her past to find motivation. Once again, there’s trauma involved.

I don’t want to talk about too much of the story in detail so as not to spoil it for newcomers. Also, each story will play out slightly differently depending on choices made by the player.

Gameplay

Layers of Fear is a return to Bloober Teams earlier haunted houses, so expect a lot of walking and looking at items in the environment. As you wander the halls and explore the rooms, you’ll find cupboards and drawers to open, collectibles and loads of notes. These all give the story a bit more flavour and add context to the events which playout.

Newspaper clippings might provide an insight into happier times, whilst a string of notes show a broken couple, passing like ships in the night. The problem here, is that so much of the story is easily missed if the notes and collectibles aren’t picked up. You can follow the basics, but it’s much easier to understand the characters struggles and motivations and the world is far more rich for it. It changes the game from a well developed narrative experience, to a very bland haunted house.

These collectibles, as well as some binary decisions will alter the endings, but you’re pretty much a passenger to all the ghostly goings on. As this is a remake of sorts, I didn’t expect too many new ideas, and I wasn’t disappointed. The over wrought giggling ghost child, the endless looping corridors, things that change when you turn your back and things falling over all make a welcome return. Don’t get me wrong, my heart skipped a beat once or twice, but this was more due to the foreboding atmosphere than anything else.

The one thing that did make my hair stand on end was the spirit that chases you. It’s clichéd at this point to include an unkillable horror, but this thing did just enough to keep me on edge. Your only means of defence is a torch that burns it to dust, but 10 seconds later and it’s back on your tail. The masterful use of sound, music and confined spaces all coalesce to make these sequences a tense experience. This, however, was used a little too frequently throughout all four stories.

The torch mechanic is fortunately fleshed out in LoF2 and doubles as a tool to solve puzzles. These usually involve manipulating mannequins to move things blocking the way forward. Hardly a new concept but the sequel felt like it had a bit more diversity in the puzzles overall. There’s nothing revolutionary for the genre, but it also needs to be remembered that these are remakes of older titles.

Game length will vary depending on your own curiosity. It’s cannot be said enough that you should seek out all the interactive objects as it will provide a much more satisfying experience. It’s a very linear experience so following the key path will get you to the end quickly but there is so much to miss it’s worth taking your time. With that said, there is a substantial amount of content here and it does get repetitive.

Presentation

The original games still stand up today, but the new iteration is a wonderful example of artists pulling out all the stops. The visuals are divine, with expert use of lighting and texture work bringing the world to life. It looks spectacular when all you have to light the way is the moonlight creeping through the windows. Old houses have always been creepy and the environment is disturbing because it feels so familiar. The rooms and corridors are so dense with objects, that the whole place feels claustrophobic. It doesn’t help that the darkness seems to creep in from every corner.

Audio has also had a massive overhaul. Voice work in particular is excellent. Almost every note and pick up has a voiced memory with the writer feeling particularly strong.

The atmospheric effects were absolutely key to making things more tense. Thankfully there is very little reliance on loud shrieking noises to give you a jump. Ambient sounds created by an old creaking house or the straining of a ships hull are put to great use to ramp up the tension. Combined with the murky darkness, the fear really comes from what you can’t see but could probably easily explain. Horrible images build up in your mind, making each step forward challenging. It’s incredibly well designed to a fault.

With the move to UE5, the biggest change that affects the whole presentation is the stability. Running on quality mode it felt like a steady 30fps for the majority of my playthrough.

However, it’s not all positive. Much like the gameplay, the environments also suffer from repetition with both the house, and the ship looking very similar. It also pulls the Silent Hill trick and occasionally warps the surroundings into a dilapidated, almost hell like experience. If these areas introduced something new I wouldn’t be complaining but it’s just chains, rusty metal work and things looking a bit broken. We’ve seen it a million times but 0they at least look exceptional.

Conclusion

There’s plenty here for newcomers and returning players to enjoy. The stories are the same but there are enough changes to make it feel new. I appreciated that the team also tried to tie everything together even if the execution of the writers story was weak. It’s also a shame that there is such a heavy reliance on collectibles to bring the individual tales to life. Simply running from room to room and only seeing the highlights will absolutely leave you disappointed.

The biggest issue is that the presentation is doing most of the heavy lifting. It cannot be disputed that Layers of Fear 2023 is a visual and audio tour de force and the atmosphere created is chilling, but the scares get predictable. As beautiful as it is, it all starts to look the same and the basic gameplay loop also starts to drag on. There’s only so many times you can walk down a corridor and look at an object before you start craving some different mechanics.

I enjoyed most of my time with Layers of Fear but by the time I’d reached the actors story, I felt burnt out. It feels like a weird thing to say, but maybe there is too much game here. The lack of variety in gameplay mechanics doesn’t help and so much of the back story is hidden behind easily missed collectibles. Ultimately, I can only really recommend this to people who love these haunted house/walking-sim type games. For the rest, it’s worth the walk just for the visuals, just wait for a sale.