Layers of Fear is a first-person psychological horror experience from Bloober Team and Anshar Studios that tells the story of three obsessive artists who are struggling to come to grips with their reality.
It’s also a remake of Layers
of Fear (2016), its Inheritance
DLC, and 2019’s Layers of Fear 2
that recreates the original games
with gorgeous
environments, fresh gameplay elements,
and more using Unreal Engine 5.
You can see from my footage here
that there are a collection of differences
between the original releases
and the remakes.
Along with these night-and-day
visual changes is additional
story content — a chapter
about The Painter’s wife called “The
Final Note” and a new story about a writer
trapped in a lighthouse.
The original narratives remain
nearly intact in Layers of Fear (2023),
with notes and
dialogue ripped straight
out of their respective games.
Layers of Fear (2016) especially holds up
well in this regard, with The Painter’s
story a bit more enthralling now
thanks to more streamlined
and polished gameplay segments.
However, it’s
where the original releases failed
that the remakes continue to stumble.
If the original Layers of Fear
is a haunted house, then the remake is,
well, still a haunted house
but with the occasional game of laser
tag against an opponent
who is begging you to blast them.
Those densely atmospheric opening hours
had me optimistic about what
Bloober and Anshar’s remake would achieve,
but Layers of Fear (2023)
still suffers from tiring tricks
and by-the-numbers puzzles.
While some tension-breaking moments,
like the infamously hilarious baby
that runs into walls, were gutted,
many segments remain exactly
the same or ever so slightly,
unremarkably tweaked.
One attempt to break up
the monotony is a new lantern mechanic
that allows players to illuminate areas,
uncover secrets, and ward off enemies.
It’s easily the most meaningful alteration
to the Layers of Fear formula
and a welcome change of pace,
but Bloober
needs more than a point-and-shoot lantern
to elevate the previous foundation.
Though the remake is absolutely
an improvement on the original,
the enhancements to the DLC
and sequel aren’t as apparent.
Two playthroughs later
and Inheritance seems to be little more
than a glorified remaster.
That’s fine, except in both runs,
I encountered an autosave glitch that
kept the final cut scene from triggering,
leaving me unable to complete the story.
Layers of Fear 2, meanwhile, has
a creative version of the lantern mechanic
that ties into its gameplay
more cohesively, but the sequel also lacks
the polish the 2023 upgrade grants
the original.
Two of Layers of Fear’s bright spots
are The Final Note and The Writer’s story.
The former is a brisk
perspective flip on Layers of Fear (2016)
with crisp, golden lighting
and some mind-boggling environments.
The latter is a noble attempt to tie
the entire Layers
of Fear narrative together
with a standalone story.
I had more fun exploring these angles
than I did the majority of the remakes.
You’ll probably hear
others say the new content
brings these stories together
with a pretty bow – and that’s true.
Unfortunately,
the prettiest Unreal Engine 5 bow doesn’t
change the fact that the gift it wraps up
isn’t much of a gift at all.
It’s still the same decent-at-best,
tedious-at-worst
horror experiences
we got in 2016 and 2019.
This much is true: Layers of Fear (2023)
is the definitive way
to experience these games, but if you’re
hoping this release will finally fix
your problems with originals.