In Layers of Fear, players take the role of a highly lauded painter struggling to continue his work. It becomes clear in the first moments of the game that this man has suffered some traumatic events in the recent past which have effectively stoppered-up his creative font. Players wander through the artist's Victorian home and search for mementos, letters, and hints as to what has happened in the man's past as he seeks to collect the components needed to complete his final masterpiece.
The story in Layers of Fear is told through the various notes and items that players find as they search the house. There are a huge number of cabinets, drawers, and other containers in the game - any of which might contain clues. I found myself searching each and every container for items, and began to jokingly refer to the game as "cabinet simulator 2016". Admittedly, it was my own drive to be thorough which led me to open containers ad nauseam, but the game's method of storytelling does require a bit of tedious searching if players want to reconstruct the artist's past.
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| What does a Victorian era man keep in his drawers? |
The artist seems to be under a lot of pressure to complete his final work from his agent, as is noted through early letters and scribblings. As the game goes on, however, it becomes clear that other stressors are affecting the man's work as well. Strange noises haunt the home, and hallucinations cloud the man's mind. Images of a woman and child seem to hinder any progress made in exploring the house. Often the artist finds himself heading for one room, only to inexplicably find himself in another part of the house. As the artist fights through adding layer upon layer of paint to his magnum opus, things only get stranger and more deadly.
As a Psychological Horror game, Layers of Fear relies heavily upon setting a creepy atmosphere. The game uses lighting and sound well to create a sense of dread in players as they explore the house. Unfortunately, the game's sound quality can be quite inconsistent. Music and some effects sound great and work well to set the stage for fear, while other effects sound extremely compressed - as though they are coming from someone's phone in the next room. Most of these tinny-sounding effects would have been the creepiest part of the game's levels if they didn't sound so unreal and removed from the game.
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| Ah-ha! They must have recorded their effects off of this! |
Layers of Fear also utilizes other devices well known in the horror gaming community such as jump-scares and changing the layouts of rooms while you aren't looking. These work well in combination with the game's creepy atmosphere, but are overused in similar situations throughout the game. As I was playing, I would walk into a room and see something and be like "oh let me guess...as soon as I turn around...yep...thought so.." Needless to say, some things just aren't as scary when you expect them to happen. Maybe it was the sound effects, or maybe it was the game's predictability, but I was disappointed in game's level of "scariness". I'm nowhere near a horror game enthusiast, and get creeped out easily enough, but Layers of Fear just wasn't scary to me. Sure there are a couple of uncomfortable situations, and I definitely jumped when things popped up out of nowhere, but I was hoping for more.
Layers of Fear is played in first-person. The game's controls are quite simple. Players can move around the house, walking either slowly or a little more quickly (dramatic, right?). Players can also interact with objects in the home using an interesting "push a button to grab an object, then move an analog stick to manipulate it" system that makes the game feel slightly more immersive. At first I thought that the character movement in the game was horrible. Eventually I learned through the game's story that the uneven movement of the artist is partially on purpose. My main complaint is that looking around your environment is strangely slow, as if you're moving through jello. I partially wonder if slow looking was a purposeful choice - to add to the stress of being in a creepy situation and not being able to look away quickly - but in the end it really annoyed me how long it took to look around.
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| He planned to paint the town red...but didn't make it out of the house... |
As the artist wanders throughout his home, players encounter puzzles which must be solved in order to continue. Most of the game's puzzles are pretty easy to figure out, but I found myself smiling as I worked through some of them at how clever they were. Layers of Fear's puzzles work hand-in-hand with the game's creepy atmosphere to give players a sense of what the artist is going through as he struggles through facing his demons.
Layers of Fear's puzzles, story, and atmosphere pulled me in for most of the game. Even after playing the game multiple times, I still felt myself compelled to push through and bring the story to it's close. Unfortunately the game's final chapter contains a puzzle which completely ruins all of the momentum that was built up by previous chapters. This specific puzzle is so unclear as to what to do, and annoying, that I found myself completely removed from being immersed and reminded that I was playing a game. After this puzzle, the completion of the game didn't feel nearly as impactful as I had hoped for.
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| This painting will become the image that comes to mind when you think of Layers of Fear. |
Layers of Fear has three different endings that can be achieved. The game uses an interesting, and somewhat mysterious, technique for deciding which ending is unlocked. The game tracks players' interactions with the environment behind the scenes and tallies points toward each of the three endings. Bloober Team has been somewhat tight-lipped about what exactly affects the ending achieved, but have hinted that things such as deaths, players' reactions to paintings and creepy events, and even which items are picked up throughout the game will affect how the game ends. Each ending has a different completed painting which relates to the actions taken by the artist as he struggled through his haunting quest.
There are three different types of collectibles that can be found throughout the game. There are somewhere around 60 items total to find, each of which helps to flesh out the game's story. The multiple endings and collectibles are a welcome addition to the game, as it is quite short. The first time I played through the game, I took my time and investigated everything I could find throughout Layers of Fear's 6 chapters. This playthrough took me roughly 2-3 hours to complete. I then did three more playthroughs in search of collectibles and to witness the other two endings. Once I knew where to go and what to do, the game only took me around 1 hour to complete. In all, the game lasted me something like 6 hours, which is still pretty short.
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| I wish I could create a masterpiece painting in one hour... |
Even though I have my complaints about the game, I really enjoyed playing Layers of Fear. The game's atmosphere and method of storytelling kept me interested and wanting to move forward. The psychological horror part of the game was extremely well done, and at first made me question what I thought I knew about the mansion. Unfortunately that feeling faded as the same ideas were used repeatedly, but it was a very interesting sensation when it did happen. I wish that the game had been a little bit longer, but as it was I found myself losing interest in the story toward the end thanks to that momentum-ruining puzzle I mentioned. I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys psychological horror, and even to those who might normally avoid these types of games due some of them being too scary. It may seem surprising that I'd recommend the game after this review, but a lot of Layers of Fear's shortcomings are balanced by moments of brilliance.
Amulets and Ale Rating:
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