At the time of Layers of Fear’s initial release in 2016, the psychological horror mixed with a walking simulator fit in well against the wide range of horror games we were experiencing at the time. Games such as Amnesia: The Dark Descent had changed the face of horror forever by creating survival horror without being able to defend yourself against enemies, whilst Silent Hill’s P.T had crafted an atmosphere unlike no other with a highly unique gameplay mechanic at the time – repeating corridors. But these different styles of gameplay, all with the goal of emphasizing psychological horror resulted in the creation of Layers of Fear.
When I first played this game back in 2016, I found that Layers of Fear had some really good scares and an atmosphere that stood out amongst the pack. But it was a tough year for Layers of Fear to be released, going up against Horror powerhouses of Alien Isolation and Outlast, still remaining as some of the best horror games to date. Layers of Fear fell short in its gameplay compared to the two horror games I just mentioned. It only had atmosphere and a decent psychological story to back itself up. It had the standard formula of a walking sim horror with story told through notes that you collected, enemies that you could not beat as they would often be hallucinations, and random poltergeist activity of paintings and objects falling from the walls and ceilings.
The Problem with Walking Simulator Horror
Credit to where credit is due, Layers of Fear is a stunning game and one that does incredibly well in the psychological department. The story for all games and DLCs are interesting, but its gameplay falls under a repetitive cycle. I often found myself just searching for all action prompts rather than really thinking about the puzzle at hand. At the same time, the puzzles felt tedious as instead of having to go to multiple locations like in Resident Evil, or solve something somewhat complex, Layers of Fear would lock you in a room where you just had to interact with everything you saw until you picked the right option.
Whilst the voice acting is decent with a good story and atmosphere, they are let down by its gameplay. As Layers of Fear released more DLCs and a sequel to continue its psychological narrative on madness and trauma, these at the time of release, fit the horror walking sim mould without feeling basic compared to other horror games that included combat and other mechanics. But for a reinvention of the series, Layers of Fear (2023) feels like the same game over and over as hours of the same gameplay consumed in a single sitting can only feel repetitive, with slight changes in its story from characters to their trauma was not enough to truly differentiate full games to their DLCs.
Limited to Only Admire its Beauty
Obviously inspired by P.T, Layers of Fear thrives in the everchanging level design of the setting. It makes for both a unsettling and disorientating experience as you descend into the character’s madness, feeling much like how Jack would have felt in the Overlook Hotel. Whilst the level design is great, I often found myself blitzing through the corridors, completely unfazed by jumpscares and sights of any monsters. The sound design overall is great but there are moments where this too would repeat. For example, a looping sound of a child laughing took away from what should have been a rather haunting sound to hear in the darkness. The setting distorting, shifting in size or seeing the room with stretched out furniture and doors to show a child’s POV definitely adds a layer of fear to the games but it is not enough to strike fear into a horror gamer.
Unfortunately, I believe that Layers of Fear (2023) falls under the all style, no substance category of video games. Its setting, lighting and sound design makes Layers of Fear both disturbingly beautiful and its story is enough to keep you intrigued initially, however you are never truly invested in either the characters or their trauma.
Performance Issues
In my playthrough I had found performance issues. On multiple occasions (specifically in the DLCs) my character had glitched through the walls. Having fallen from a height or repeatedly smashed against the inside of the walls, my character ended up trapped – a new cursed painting to be admired. These types of bugs and glitches left me with no choice but to return to the main menu and head back in. But in doing so, I had been either placed back to the beginning of a playthrough, such as Daughter’s Story and be placed into another playthrough all together. Because of this, the game almost forces you to play through its entirety from beginning to end rather than selecting which story you would like to visit first.
Whilst this would be fine if you could just simply select New Game to experience Layers of Fear in order, having the option in place to select which Story to experience first or if you wanted a change mid-way into your journey increases the likelihood of experiencing game-breaking bugs that force you back a few milestones in the game.
The Removal of Fear
Whilst the atmosphere is good, I only really found myself getting jumpscared by the dog in Daughter’s Story and the sound design in the lighthouse of Writer’s Story. As a horror fanatic, this was incredibly disappointing as I was anticipating more of a struggle to play the game out of fear due to its walking sim gameplay but instead could fly through its winding corridors until getting trapped in a room, searching for that interaction prompt to continue the story.
The stories of Layers of Fear truly do seamlessly blend as Bloober Team intended, however this is not a good thing. Yes the narrative follows from each story rather perfectly but it is not enough to save the game from its gameplay. The Devs added more survival horror elements with objects such as lanterns that could be used to destroy visual distortion, haunted objects and ward off enemies. However, these were placed on a limited use system where the lantern would burn out after using it for approximately 10 seconds. This is obviously put in place to add to the panicking feeling of being chased, but when completing puzzles or seeing an enemy appear from afar and having to slowly back away as you wait to reuse the lantern completely took away from what should be scary.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Layers of Fear (2023) may be one of those games that should have been left in the past. As more and more Developers are trying their luck in the remaking department, Layers of Fear attempted to complete their story by adding a curtain call closing with the Writer’s Story. Whilst the final tale for this horror game had promise with its claustrophobic setting and a distressing, impactful sound design to match, it felt ruined upon arrival as you had to complete the rest of the story with the Painter and Actor in order to experience the Writer. Bloober Team wants you to finally FINISH IT but it is a long trek to its final destination and it is a journey I would not take twice.
