Layers of Fear Review
Ever since the release of P.T. in summer of 2014, the horror genre has attempted to recreate the game’s uniqueness and horror. Unfortunately, the gaming community has become oversaturated with “P.T. clones” that are, for the most part, failing to fill that niche. While we all feel that sense of dread as we walk down the limitless hallways, we begin to wonder how many more dark and dreary halls we have to walk down before we turn to something new. New release, Layers of Fear by developer Bloober Team, attempts to continue this trend and try to put a spin on the genre that is wholly unique. Unfortunately as you peel back the layers you find a game that has some interesting aspects, but as a whole is mediocre.
Layers of Fear places you as an unnamed painter who has recently struggled with his career. While we never get the whole story behind his fall from grace, we do get a sense that he was yearning to make a much bigger name for himself. He creates multiple paintings that are panned by critics and audiences alike, and through letters and scribbled notes we find that his agent is trying to help him get his life together. The Painter, as he will further be referred, not only is struggling with his career, but his home life as well. Again through letters we get a sense that not everything is going well in his marriage and his relationship with his daughter is strained. He sets out to create his magnum opus, or his painting that will make him relevant again, and that is about as much of the story as we are given. There is very little dialog in the game other than when you find small items that give you a glimpse of a past event. In these snippets of dialog we only ever hear the Painter and no other characters.
This was a huge letdown for me in this game. Early on I was drawn into the sense of insanity and terror that the Painter felt. It constantly felt like I was chasing something that I just couldn’t quite put my finger on. Part way through the game I began to wonder if I was really the bad guy and all the bad things that happened to me were because of the Painter’s decision. It was an interesting feeling that I had never felt in a game before as I felt like for once I was the monster. I hoped every time I picked up a letter that I would finally get some resolution about what happened to his wife and child. Unfortunately, throughout the three-hour campaign I never got that resolution. I will be honest and say that I did not find every letter or note and it is entirely possible that one of these summed up those missing plot points, yet I honestly feel that is not the case. The letters hardly proved to be relevant to the overall plot and I often found myself asking why the developers even put them into the game.
Gameplay-wise you are typically just walking down a hallway or across a room. You have no abilities and do not obtain any real items throughout the game. You simply walk forward and solve the occasional puzzle. As for the puzzles they are very hit or miss. I absolutely loved some of them and others I wished I could skip. One such puzzle I loved took place in the Painter’s office. The ceiling warps and seems to stretch into oblivion and you consistently hear a phone ring behind different bookshelves. Upon locating the telephone you must search for a phone number to dial that will allow you to move on. The atmosphere and sound design was amazing and I really felt a sense of almost Alice in Wonderland-esque insanity. On the other hand one puzzle that drove me insane involved being locked in a closet. A padlock appears on the door behind you and the only way to obtain the code is a note that is placed on top of a crate. The note contains the words “cat”, “dog”, and “rat” as well as some random numbers and scribbled lines that lead to the numbers. You are given no guidance or clues to this puzzle and it took me a random guess to choose the right numbers. While it is possible that I missed a clue, I truly felt that it was not a well thought out puzzle and I did not feel rewarded for completing it.
As for the fear factor of the game, I found the first hour terrifying. I would jump at every little creak in the floor or door that would slam shut behind me. This terror drops off after the first hour after you have your first encounter with the ghost of the game that looks shockingly similar to P.T.’s Lisa. She will kill you immediately on sight after which you wake up in a room and continue on with walking down the hallways. I really wish that there had been some negative repercussion to her attacking you. All that happens when she grabs you is a slap on the wrist and you don’t make that same mistake twice. It also makes the game artificially easy, as there really is no true way to fail the game.
As for presentation, I though the game was amazing with one major hiccup. The graphics, while not the best I have ever seen, were eerie and fit the setting of the game perfectly. Rooms would slowly melt away and paintings would stare at you as you wandered past them. The greatest part of the game, in my opinion, is how the rooms will change in an instant. One moment you will walk through a door only to turn around and realize that it is now a solid wall. Other times you will walk down a hallway and instantly everything will change. The sound design of the game fits these scenarios perfectly. I would often fear peeking around a corner because I could hear a child crying not five feet away from me. Or I would pass a door only to hear it creak open behind me. This is where Layers of Fear shines. I loved how Bloober Team used this unique aspect to make you truly feel like the character was going insane. Unfortunately, these aspects are muddled due to the games poor frame rate. Often times I would be taken out of the experience because I would be lagging my way down a hallway. I felt that this was slightly ridiculous in a single player game that had very little mechanics. Had the frame rate been at least a solid 30 frames per second consistently throughout, the presentation would be perfect.
Overall I wanted to love Layers of Fear. The game had so much potential and it flopped on the delivery. The premise was cool and I enjoyed the unique take on the mindset of a crazed painter, but it just wasn’t enough. The story fell flat and the frame rate could not be overlooked. I had some great moments with the game and am not disappointed that I played it, but I was just hoping for so much more. It is hard to recommend a game like Layers of Fear at full price when there are other great games, such as Amnesia: the Dark Descent available. I don’t fully think that a horror fan should skip Layers of Fear, but I do not think they should pay full price either. For $20, a gamer is going to get around three hours of content and not much else. I would recommend waiting until the game goes on sale or becomes a Games with Gold release.
