Layers of Fear

Layers of Fear is the definitive release of this series that packs up everything with a nightmarish bow. The added story and context are compelling enough for new players to reexperience the adventure. Still, the restructuring of the game really makes this a marvelous experience for first-time players. The night-and-day comparison between this release and the original title is incredible and just hints at what we can expect from this team.

The new release of Layers of Fear is one of the best and most complete packages in the horror genre; one that improves the first game substantially and takes its story further forward with new DLCs. More work could have been done on the second game, nevertheless, this package is the best way to experience the whole franchise and is definitely recommended to any fan of the genre.

If we were to just judge the Layers of Fear remake on the sound and graphical improvements alone, it would far surpass its predecessor. Unfortunately, an abrupt ending and less-than-impressive voice acting takes the player away from the immersion and makes us yearn for some of the original qualities.

While the original stories remain intact, they have been reworked and new ideas have been interspersed among them. Layers of Fear doesn't shy away from the dark side of the human mind, representing emotions and thoughts in sinister art forms. The visual enhancements are impressive, and a perfect excuse for fans wishing to visit the game again. The all-in-one package style of the reimagined Layers of Fear is also an effective way of introducing newcomers to the unsettling series.

Layers of Fear 2023 stylishly combines Bloober Team’s flagship games into one beautifully terrifying definitive edition. The reimagined and drop dead gorgeous visuals built entirely from the ground up alone are reason enough to revisit these titles, but the added cherries on top are the brand new chapters that wrap all the narratives together. It’s a must play for anyone into psychedelic and psychological horror experiences, but may come off a little underwhelming for anyone looking for something truly scary.

Much like the painter's quest for creating a masterpiece, Bloober Team and Anshar Studios have almost done so with Layers of Fear.

Layers of Fear is a psychological horror game that is really scary, but as time goes by you start to miss something. That doesn't make it bad, mainly because it contains extra stories to entertain the player. However, a little more action here wouldn't hurt anyone.

Thanks to the right changes, the atmosphere remains fresh and scary as it was in 2016. Even with its imperfections, it will hook fans of the most abstract horror.

A very particular compilation, which collects the remakes of the two main stories of Layers of Fear, together with the two DLCs of the first chapter (one of which is unpublished) and a totally new adventure that binds everything together. The Unreal Engine 5 gives us genuinely terrifying settings and atmospheres and the "package" guarantees many hours of thrills but also manages to arouse emotions other than simple fear.

Much more than a remake.

This is the definitive version of the game and it brings all the previous Layers of Fear content together in a cohesive whole. Fans of the original game will enjoy revisiting these games in this tightened and polished version. New players who are horror fans should also find this a worthy experience.

Layers of Fear is an excellent remake, adding quite a few hours of new content that fits the original story like a glove. It is scarry, depressing and marvelously dark, and it is a must for all the fans of the genre, no matter if they played the original game or not. The bugs are extremely annoying, and they break the immersion, but they can easily be fixed through a patch. The over 12 hours of total gameplay and the replay value granted by multiple playthroughs needed in order to figure out the multiple endings more than justify the price of the game. The new Layers of Fear is a well thought out horror game, that with the mandatory facelift manages to be more impressive and memorable than the original one.

Layers of Fear is a great example of Bloober Team’s particular brand of psychological horror. Playing through the entire series as one game makes the connections and links between the stories and characters far more evident and the end result is a real treat for horror fans. It is a very different sort of horror to the likes of Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space but is still up there as one of the best horror games of the year for me.

Bloober Team has paid homage to its series with an updated and extended package, both from a playful point of view and in terms of visual presentation. Thanks to Unreal Engine 5 we have faced an even more immersive thrill journey, strengthened by some new gameplay solutions. The defects of the second chapter have remained more or less unchanged, and we believe that the developers could have tried to file them with more conviction. Having said that, the work of the Polish collective convinced us, so we can only recommend the experience to fans of the genre.

The updated version of Layers of Fear is incredibly impressive. In addition to offering high-quality remakes of the entire series, this version goes a step forward and creates new material with the explicit purpose of bringing all pre-existing content of the series under one umbrella. The exceptional visual overhaul, fascinating transforming environments, and great sound design ensure this horror series has done a phenomenal job of making sure it continues to be an experience worth having.

Layers of Fear is not a new game, nor a remake. it seems like a sort of definitive edition that includes the old games of the series and a new section that ties the two stories together. The passage to Unreal Engine 5 and the mild gameplay tweaks are not so relevant and add nothing to the game experience.

There are certainly things to enjoy in this redone version of Layers of Fear, especially its visuals and carefully constructed psychological horror elements, perfect for players willing to look for hidden connections. Its attempts to scare you fall a bit flat, however. But while the overall story of the writer is deeply disappointing, the new depressing episode, The Final Notice, is capable of true emotional destruction.

Layers of Fear combines both games (properly remade with Unreal Engine 5) and DLCs in a slick, reasonably priced package that binds the two stories together. However, neither the new content nor the graphical upgrade justifies the expense if you’ve already played the originals.

Fans of the Layers of Fear series are likely to enjoy this new take on its stories, combined and enhanced with new elements. But at the same time, you’re likely to be disappointed that more hasn’t been done to make everything more consistent and unique. What’s more, it’s not as if these games are so old that they needed remaking; the Writer’s story could have perhaps been its own thing, expanded upon to offer something genuinely new. So, while Layers of Fear (2023) is a solid horror experience, we can’t help but feel like Bloober Team has missed an opportunity to really mix things up and impress.

Nicely revamped and expanded collection of atmospheric horror madness that still lacks gameplay substance.

Layers of Fear impressively goes beyond the call of duty of updating both games for modern hardware. It's a remake with significantly enhanced visuals and a strong dedication to creating an immersive atmosphere, while also introducing new content. However, it's regrettable that the newly added content feels lacking in substance and significance. Nevertheless, Layers of Fear remains the definitive way to experience the Layers of Fear series, warts and all.

The game flexes all the muscles with the excellent use of Unreal Engine 5 but is undermined by obsolete tricks to create tension.

Layers of Fear 2023 delivers an immersive and atmospheric horror experience across five different perspectives and 12+ hours thanks to its stunning visuals and haunting sound design, but its blend of jump scares, basic puzzle-solving and slow exploration probably won’t provide frights that will satisfy most gamers looking for a more interactive, combat-heavy game.

Layers of Fear is a visual stunner, but as a horror experience, it tend to be a bit of a letdown more often than not.

The problem is that everything in Layers of Fear (2023) seems to be taking cues from the first game, not the second. The Writer's frame story and both pieces of DLC share the first game's approach to ubiquitous, weak voice acting, and both pieces of DLC return to the unpleasant mansion setting. Layers of Fear 2 should have been an evolution for the series that informed what Bloober and Anshar Studios built here, but that isn't the case. Maybe it's fitting, after all, that this collection shares the first game's name.

All told, when Layers of Fear (2023) is firing on all cylinders, it feels like a genuinely mind-bending thrill ride as pathways behind you twist and contort in the blink of an eye. These qualities are best exemplified in the lithe and tight debut title. That said, what truly flies in the face of the collection’s overall charms is its uneven storytelling, repetitive puzzles, and buggy technical performance. In essence, much like the fractured psyches of the artists that form the soul of these vignettes, Bloober Team’s latest collection is simultaneously beautiful, fascinating, and deeply, profoundly… aggravating.

Layers of Fear (2023) starts out strong with the story of The Artist, and loses itself amidst its own ambition during the story of The Actor. Bloober Team’s once meaningful exploration of a character’s descent into madness quickly becomes redundant amidst a sea of film references and blurred storytelling. Layers of Fear is certainly a cohesive remake that brings the original games together, and there’s no denying that it looks great, but its second act feels incredibly lost when contrasted against such a strong start. Layers of Fear (2023) is one major case of whiplash, that’s for sure, but it does showcase Bloober Team's potential to do good if it can nail down the focal points of the stories it tells.