A creepy story about people with a creative crisis on Unreal Engine 5: Layers of Fear horror review
Layers of Fear (2023) is a reimagining of the first-person horror series developed by Polish studios Bloober Team and Anshar Studios. First of all, the game attracts with its visuals. Developed on Unreal Engine 5, Layers of Fear supports ray tracing, HDR, and 4K resolution. The locations and attention to small details make this project one of the most beautiful in 2023. At the same time, all the sounds and music add to the horror atmosphere so much that the game often makes you tense up, listen to every rustle, and feel the danger, even though there are practically no screamers. The stories that the developers have prepared for us are also described through various notes, objects, interviews, and memories. And you really want to dig into it. You can't sleep peacefully until you complete the game and answer the questions for yourself: Why? How? Who? However, there are some drawbacks. Given that it's a roguelike, the game can get boring at the end of the passage, so it all needed to be shortened by an hour or two. I would also like to see more moments related to the new heroine of the series, the writer, because she was shown much less than I wanted, which does not make it clear why she appeared in this universe.
And although there are some minor drawbacks, and I'm not really a big fan of the horror genre, I liked Layers of Fear. And given that there are not so many releases in the summer, this game is definitely worth paying attention to. It can give you emotions, make you become a detective who walks through dozens of creepy locations, looks at paintings, and searches for various items to come up with at least some answers. The game was released on 15 June, and to understand whether you should buy it, gg 's editorial team will tell you about all the main points of Layers of Fear that you should know.
5 Reasons to Buy Layers of Fear
- for $30 you get two games and two add-ons
- you have never played a horror game and want to try a new genre
- you like to scour the nooks and crannies for answers
- you want to play a game with dozens of paintings by different artists and references to cult films
- each story has several endings, which allows you to complete the game more than once
3 Reasons Not to Buy Layers of Fear
- you like dynamic gameplay, and you can wander back and forth in real life
- you have passed dozens of horrors and it is very difficult to scare you
- you don't want to figure out the game's plot by yourself, collecting notes and objects
Fast forward:
- The Multi-Layered Story of a Writer, Artist, Actor (and More) in One Game
- How to Play It?
- Optimisation, Visuals, and Audio
- What We Have Not Liked
- To Sum Up
A The Multi-Layered Story of a Writer, Artist, Actor (and More) in One Game
Let's start with the main thing: Layers of Fear is a collection that includes the first part of Layers of Fear (2016), the add-on Layers of Fear Inheritance, Layers of Fear 2 (2019) and 2 new stories: The Final Note add-on, which will help to reveal more about the mysterious events of the first part, and the storyline of a writer who came to an abandoned lighthouse to write her story and combine all these events into one coherent picture. So when you buy one game, in fact, you get 2 separate games, 2 add-ons, and another small story arc, and it's all for only $30, which is quite attractive against the background of modern AAA games for $70.
Did they rewrite the story, if we don't take into account the new events in Layers of Fear? No. Although the developers claim that this is a rethinking, everything remains in place. This game is best for those who are not familiar with this series. And the review is aimed at such gamers, because if you are a huge fan of the original Layers of Fear, then I don't know why you are still here and not playing the game.
Generally speaking, the game can be divided into three big blocks: the writer's story, the artist's story, and the actor's story. The two additions we have are related to the artist, so I will refer them to the second block, and we should start with the writer.
A writer who decided to have an adventure in one place
The game begins with a scene near a lighthouse, where we meet the new heroine of the series - a mysterious writer (like all the other characters). In her monologue, she tells us that she used to have everything, but one day a woman took it away from her, leaving her with only pain and shame. Our heroine returns to the lighthouse to take back what is hers... The curtain falls and the inscription on the screen reads "10 years ago". This is where the game begins.
It is worth noting that we will be at the lighthouse twice. The first time is at the beginning of the game, when the heroine has no idea what awaits her, and the second time, 10 years later, to take revenge. For the first time, the writer came to such a remote place because she won a writing competition where she wrote a text that deeply impressed the jury. Now she has to write a full-fledged book on this lighthouse. But the "jokes" start right away, because we get calls telling us to hurry up with our writing, even though we have just arrived, and it feels like we are being spied on. Later on, the heroine calls her son and says that everything is not as fun as she would like, but she still goes to her typewriter to start writing. After that, the events of the first Layers of Fear game begin.
It's hard to say much more about this storyline, as there are very few moments with the writer in the game. It was advertised as the one that would unite all the Layers of Fear stories into one, but it was only realised because all the parts are now in one game, not because of the presence of the writer. This story had a lot of potential, especially in the middle of the game, but either I didn't understand something or the developers just didn't reach a logical connection, because now there are even more questions than before. I'll talk about this in more detail in the section on the game's cons.
A confused artist who failed to overcome a creative crisis and lost his family
I'm going to go a bit ahead and say that the story of the first part of Layers of Fear is the best one in the series. It all starts with the artist returning to his large estate to paint his last picture. While wandering around the estate, we find notes, photographs and various objects that help us understand what happened here. For example, it becomes clear that the artist had a wife and daughter, but what happened to them? Later, we learn that our artist was a famous artist, but his works no longer looked "adequate" and drew criticism. But why did he change his style? Was it due to a quarrel with his wife? And why did such quarrels start? In the estate, you can find a piano that the woman used to play, and it was the meaning of her life. But why did she stop playing? Was it an illness, an injury, or did her husband forbid her? And what happened to her daughter? We find a note that says she was taken away from her parents because of their inappropriate behaviour. And why does the estate change with each chapter, and is there some kind of scarecrow hunting us? Is it the hero's hallucination or reality?
And so, chapter by chapter, the puzzle begins to take shape, and at the end we are presented with one of three endings. It's hard to say more about this story without giving away spoilers, but I could never have imagined that I would enjoy a game where you have to collect dozens of different objects, analyse them and create an idea of the tragic fate of a family of artists who couldn't stop their mania for pursuing ambition and destroyed everything.
The daughter returned to her home to revive her childhood memories and collect her inheritance
Next, players will find the Inheritance DLC, which will return us to a long-abandoned estate, but we will play as the protagonist's daughter, who has grown up and must recover her childhood memories and receive her inheritance. Here we will be introduced to the family, shown how the parents behaved, whether they loved their daughter, and what scared the girl the most in those years. There is not much to say about this DLC, it is short and can be completed in an hour. The ending depends on which side you choose: the father or the mother. However, for a better understanding of the plot, the add-on is a must.
Psychological chains or how a woman tried to start playing the piano again
The Final Note is the second DLC, which is sometimes better than the main games in the series. It tells the story of the artist's wife, an outstanding musician who, after a tragic event (you will learn about this event yourself), can no longer play the piano, but really wants to continue this business. The DLC shows what psychological barriers the wife has to go through and how she begins to lose control of herself.
The Final Note also allows us to look at the artist from a different angle and understand that not everything in this story is so clear-cut, and the one who at first seemed to us a tyrant, alcoholic, psychopath and abuser may actually be a completely different person.
The DLC is as atmospheric as possible, sometimes tense and mysterious, and depending on your choice, you will find out whether the musician was able to survive her traumatic experience. I would also like to highlight the mansion, which this time is covered with heavy chains that characterise the psychological state of the heroine, and this decision deserves special praise for the game designers.
The actor who plays the role of a lifetime
And the last story arc in the game is the story of a film star who got the main role in a film that is being shot on board a ship in the middle of the ocean. The story is more complicated than the previous one. There are a lot of flashbacks about a sister and brother who illegally got on the ship and played pirates, mysterious instructions from the director, paranormal phenomena and a lot of mannequins (pedophobes, hello). And if you distract yourself from what's happening for even a minute, you might stop understanding what kind of liner it is, who we are, and what the story about children playing pirates is all about.
While in the artist's story the situation was clear in the middle, here I was trying to understand what it was until the very end. Fortunately, everything fell into place in the end. These events will appeal to film fans the most, as there are some scenes and puzzles based on films such as Seven and David Fincher's Fight Club, as well as references to Space Odyssey 2001 and Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.
I liked this story less than the first one, and there are two reasons for that. Firstly, it was too long. We'll talk more about this, but the actor's story is too long (for a brooder). Secondly, the plot has become too confusing. Too many themes are revealed here at the same time: introspection, childhood traumas, lost memories and a creative crisis. Trying to keep track of all this and not lose track for 5-6 hours is difficult. Usually, games that aim to cover such a range of topics last 20-30 hours. Although at the beginning I liked the second part more than the first, the length and confusion changed my mind. But reading the reviews of other players about Layers of Fear 2, many praised the game, so it all depends on personal taste.
To summarise, I can say that this game is only worthwhile for those who don't mind finding out the story on their own by collecting notes and objects. Those who are looking for story-oriented games like The Last of Us or God of War will not find what they are looking for here. However, there is a second option if you don't care about the plot, but want to tickle your nerves, immerse yourself in a mysterious atmosphere where your hands get sweaty from time to time and it becomes difficult to hold the gamepad, but at the same time you can enjoy looking at dozens of different locations created on Unreal Engine 5.
How to Play it?
Each game, and there are 5 of them, has its own unique game mechanics, so each should be considered separately. But to summarise, we have a project where you have to constantly walk, sometimes run, and collect notes. And let's be clear, if you've been playing Fortnite and Call of Duty all your life, you'll probably turn off Layers of Fear after an hour or two. Therefore, before starting this game, I recommend that you try playing short roamers. What Remains of Edith Finch would be the best choice, as it can be completed in two hours, while for Layers of Fear you'll need at least 12.
Okay, so we do what for the writer? Writing?
It's all too trite here. The lighthouse is small, and there aren't many places to go. Also, there are no battles with creatures or other controversial characters, and the number of notes found is small. We talk on the phone a couple of times, realising that there is always room for paranormal phenomena in this universe, and that's it... But there was something to develop and expand. When you play an actor or an artist, you feel that this is the essence of their life and you worry about them. But here, everything turned out to be so limited that it's kind of embarrassing.
Should we be drawing for the artist?
And now it gets more interesting. After completing each chapter, we will return to our room with an easel and continue to make a picture. To do this, you will need to find some important object in the estate, for example, a piece of human skin or something similar. There are dozens, perhaps hundreds of paintings throughout the estate. Some of them are memorable for a long time, and some of them can scare you. During the first two chapters, I was constantly looking at all the paintings, and at some point it seemed to me that I was not just playing a game, but I was at an exhibition of works by a crazy Victorian artist. 99% of the paintings do not reveal the plot of the game, but they always attract attention. Whoever in the team was responsible for finding these paintings clearly knew what they were doing.
Examples of paintings in the game
As for the other items, as already mentioned, there are plenty of notes, photos, and other items that will help you understand the story. All the notes are voiced, so you don't even have to read them. You can listen to them and move on to the next location at the same time if you have a good listening comprehension of English. Although most of the notes are short and can be read in less than a minute.
And then there are the puzzles, of course. In the artist's story, most of them are very simple and involve finding a code combination that will open a safe or door to move on. It is quite easy to find these codes on the locations. Of course, there are a few puzzles that don't involve finding a code, but let's keep that as a surprise for you.
And now the most interesting part - we have a flashlight. It overheats quickly, so you need to control it. It performs 3 functions: it illuminates dark locations, burns a thick mass to get to an object, and also serves to fight with opponents. From time to time, the artist will be chased by a scary grandmother who needs to be burned with a lantern and run away or solve puzzles. Only after you have burned the creature, it will reappear in the same place in a few seconds, so you should act quickly. You should also keep in mind that our hero has a problem with his leg, he limps, so you won't be able to run far. The moment of the battle with this "enemy" looks like this:
Go deeper: Game settings
The game also has a pretty good system of gameplay settings. You can open and close doors by simply pressing a key, instead of holding it down. You can turn on the reticle to make it easier to navigate in space, or turn off camera shake if you need a more static picture. And one more interesting thing: if you realise that you can't deal with the enemy, you can turn on the mode where you can't be killed. This is especially suitable for people for whom this is one of the first games in general, so that they do not get annoyed by the constant reloading to the checkpoint, but move on calmly.
What does the artist's daughter do?
When playing as the daughter in the Inheritance DLC, we don't have to fight with anyone, and there are not many notes scattered about. The gameplay is based on flashbacks that will take us back to the days when the family was still somehow together. The DLC has several interesting moments and can be completed in just an hour.
Maybe the wife went even more crazy with her piano than the husband?
The Final Note add-on is very similar to the first part of Layers of Fear. Here you also need to use a flashlight, shine it on the enemy, solve puzzles and collect a lot of notes. However, the presence of huge chains that are everywhere creates "unforgettable" emotions for those who are claustrophobic. And if the writer's implementation was not very successful, the new addition has successfully collected many positive aspects of the series and provides gamers with an hour and a half of tense horror.
What about our Hollywood star?
The gameplay for the actor is the most interesting. Firstly, he can crouch, which makes some scenes more dynamic. Here you need to not only run, but also manage to crouch down and crawl over obstacles. By the way, the game explains very well why the actor can squat, while the artist and his wife cannot. The latter have their own health problems that simply do not allow them to perform this manoeuvre.
In addition to the usual notes, the game has interviews that are worth listening to to better understand the story, as well as four mysterious objects that can be deciphered in the dressing room and provide more information.
The puzzles just got better. Now you can find not only puzzles to search for the code to open the door. Somewhere you need to avoid the rays and go unnoticed, or use the clockwork to open the gate, or send an SOS signal using Morse code. There will also be puzzles related to the main character's flashbacks, but I don't want to reveal them. So, in terms of variety, this part is the best, but I would have been happy if it lasted an hour less.
There are also changes with the flashlight. There are 100 mannequins scattered around the ship, and some of them can be interacted with. For example, in order for a mannequin to open a door so that we can pass through, we shine a flashlight on it, from which a film is projected, and the mannequin performs a programmed action.
There is also an enemy here that you need to shine the flashlight on. Only he is much more agile than the old lady in the artist's estate, so it's a little harder to fight them. But all the moments with him are interesting and tense, especially the first meeting. I will remember it for a long time.
Although the gameplay in Layers of Fear is similar, each story has its own innovations that dilute the wandering around the locations. It's comfortable to play, the controls are nice, and you get especially emotional during active battles with enemies or non-standard puzzles. However, there is still one problem - this game should have been shortened a bit.
Optimisation, Visuals, and Audio
Spoiler: I have zero questions about optimisation, visuals, and sounds. The developers have done a great job here and paid maximum attention to these aspects, so it is worth talking about each of them separately.
Stable frame rate on all platforms
At first, I played Layers of Fear on Steam when the demo version was released. On a Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 gaming laptop (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 + AMD Ryzen 5 4800H) with low graphics settings and Intel XeSS enabled, the game ran stably at 60 frames per second, and the graphics were fine if you didn't look at the screen with a magnifying glass. The game also supports DLSS, so gamers with the right NVIDIA graphics cards shouldn't have any problems with the game. As for AMD FSR, the developers have not yet mentioned this technology, but it may appear later. However, a mid-budget PC should be enough for a comfortable game.
I played the full version of the game on PlayStation 5, and the frame rate was kept at 60 for the entire 12 hours, never even dropping to 55. There are two graphics modes: performance (60 fps) and quality (30 fps).
On Xbox, the situation should be similar. Of course, there are minor bugs that I encountered only a few times. For example, once the location didn't load, and I fell through textures or objects could appear in the air. But these problems will obviously be fixed with the first patch, as I played the game 10 days before the official release, so such situations are normal.
In general, Layers of Fear is an example where gamers on all platforms get a game that is already a finished product at the time of release. There is no need for dozens of patches or other similar situations that, unfortunately, often arise in the modern video game industry.
Unrivalled visuals on Unreal Engine 5
The best thing about Layers of Fear is its visuals. To make the game atmospheric and immerse players in this world of nightmares, the developers used the Unreal Engine 5 game engine and a number of technologies. For example, the Lumen system was used for lighting, which creates fully dynamic lighting.
The shadows and reflections of objects are created by the famous Ray Tracing, which makes the player feel as if he is really in an abandoned mansion or liner, and not just playing the game. The graphics are as realistic as possible, and right now Layers of Fear is a great technological demo of Unreal Engine 5.
To create visual effects (VFX), we used the Niagara System, which adds various particles to the game: dust, leaves, sawdust, etc.
Visually, Layers of Fear is one of the best games of 2023. The developers masterfully use all the features of UE 5 and create a horror that will make you want to take dozens (or maybe even hundreds) of screenshots. This game can be perceived as a virtual tour of terrifying places, where each room looks real, even against the background of everything otherworldly. The right lighting and visual effects do their job. And you get pleasure from it. There are still few projects on Unreal Engine 5, but Layers of Fear has already set the bar for what games should look like at least on this engine.
Dozens of different locations that you will remember
Thanks to the fact that we have 5 separate stories, there are dozens of locations. For some characters, everything they see is a morbid fantasy, so you can create the rooms you want. If we talk about the Victorian mansion, we have a luxurious hall with a piano in the corner; spacious corridors with paintings hanging; a children's room with horrible toys; intricate mazes where danger awaits; an abandoned basement that no one has entered for a long time; an office with scattered books and many other interesting things.
Locations from the first part of the game
Everything is even more interesting on the ship, and I consider this stage of the game to be the best visually. Luxurious banqueting halls; the sun illuminating the ocean; scenery made in the style of 50s films; terrifying mechanisms responsible for the ship's operation; green parks; red rooms where dozens of mannequins seem to be trying to tell us something; abandoned decks and black and white locations that take us to past eras.
Locations from the second part of the game
I took more than 300 screenshots during my playthrough because everything here is interesting to explore. Even in the last hours of the game, I wanted to find another door, open it, wander around, take pictures, look at all the details and move on. Regarding the latter, the attention to detail here is maximum, no location feels empty. There's a radio on the table, passengers' belongings on the lower decks, and a lot of actor's attributes in the dressing room. Therefore, this game is worth paying attention to at least for the atmosphere created by interesting locations, visual effects, and of course, music...
Sounds that immerse you in this madness
All this atmosphere is enhanced by sounds. To implement this idea, the developers use binaural sound technology, which provides accurate transmission of sound effects from different directions and creates a realistic environment. Therefore, it is recommended to play with headphones for the best effect. As you progress through the game, you constantly react to every strange sound. You hear a step, take a flashlight and wait for the meeting. Thunder hits, and a second later a vase falls and breaks - you stop for a moment to catch your breath. Or a toy doll runs around the mansion, but it laughs like a real child, and it's no longer fun at all, and the depressing melodies that constantly accompany you make you nervous and want to get to a safe place as soon as possible.
I also really liked the way the actors made an effort to make their characters sound scary. For example, the voice of the director, which we hear from time to time on the liner.
The soundtrack here is also very cool. If this is the main composition to the artist's story, then you can hear the piano, which is associated with his wife. Another composition is performed with the help of a violin, which is also found in the game. Although some of the compositions have been "moved" from the original games, new ones are also present. All of this was composed by Arkadiusz Reikowski, who also created soundtracks for other Bloober Team games such as The Medium, Observer, and Blair Witch. So, once again, the game has no problems with the atmosphere at all.
What We Have Not Liked
There are 3 main drawbacks to Layers of Fear. The first one is related to the game's presale version, where there was a very unpleasant bug, but the next two cannot be fixed and will remain forever.
- Mum, I'm stuck in textures. While playing the Inheritance DLC, 10 minutes before the ending, I fell asleep in a closet, got stuck in the textures, and couldn't get out. I wouldn't have mentioned this situation, but it's ironic that this is the only episode where there are no save points. Either they will be added later, or you will have to complete the DLC in one go (it takes an hour). Because I had to watch the final episode on YouTube.
- Why did it take so long? Towards the end of the game, especially in the story about the actor, I got a little bored. Considering that the game doesn't offer anything new after 2 hours of play, you need to reduce the time. In the story of the artist, it's not so critical, but it was necessary to remove at least 30-40 minutes, as there are moments that do not move the plot at all. Playing as an actor, I could easily cut an hour and a half, especially the third chapter. I understand that it reveals one important plot point, but it would have been possible to tell this story faster.
- What does the writer have to do with it? I was really looking forward to the story arc about the writer, who is a new character in this story, but she was shown very little. The moments with her can be counted on one hand, and her screen time is less than an hour. It would have been better if we were brought back to her more often, if we were shown some flashbacks. We could also have walked around the lighthouse, where something new would have been waiting for us, because now I can't answer what her role is here.
5 Things to Know about Layers of Fear
- Layers of Fear is a horror game where players will spend most of their time wandering around atmospheric locations, collecting various items, and diving into the minds of artists.
- The game will include all the content from the previous 2 games in the series, along with the Inheritance DLC, as well as 2 new stories.
- Owners of Layers of Fear (2016) or Layers of Fear 2 (2019) will receive a 30% discount on the purchase of the game for the first two weeks after release.
- Thanks to the Unreal Engine 5 game engine and binaural sound technology, you get the impression that you are in the game and everything around you is real.
- The game suffers from a long timing, sometimes boring gameplay, and an unsuccessful reveal of one of the main characters.
| Layers of Fear | |
|---|---|
| Genre | First-Person Horror |
| Platforms | PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, macOS |
| Number of Players | Single-player |
| Developer | Bloober Team, Anshar Studios |
| Publisher | Bloober Team SA |
| Time to Complete | 12-15 hours |
| Release Date | June 15, 2023 |
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