Layers of Fear

 Xbox One
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. Digitally Downloaded
    Mar 4, 2016
    100
    Fear. Pure fear. The most primal of emotions is the overwhelming one while playing Layers of Fear.
  2. Official Xbox Magazine UK
    Mar 27, 2016
    90
    Smart, spooky and psychedelic, this thrusts you into its story, whirls you about and leaves you dizzy. You'll hate and enjoy your stay in equal measures - in the best possible way. [Apr 2016, p.76]
    All this publication's reviews
  3. TrueAchievements
    Feb 23, 2016
    90
    There have been much shorter and less polished games for the price point of £15.99/$19.99, so even though it's not exceptionally long, the quality easily counteracts this. If you're after an enthralling experience, horror fan or not, Layers of Fear is a great way to satisfy the itch.
  5. MondoXbox
    Mar 6, 2016
    85
    Layers of Fear manages to deliver lots of tension and some good scares thanks to an original and carefully crafted storytelling, a fascinating and paradoxes-filled atmosphere and a nice end of 19th century stylistic look. Bloober Team definitely strikes the right note in offering a memorable, deep, exciting and scary horror game.
  6. ICXM
    Feb 18, 2016
    85
    While Layers of Fear has some minor issues and couldn't have suffered from maybe some extra polish for the technical aspects, it is still a great experience that I would recommend once it falls in price a bit.
  7. Hobby Consolas
    Feb 16, 2016
    81
    Layers of Fear is an unexpectedly great horror game. Bloober Team has one of the worst games ever, Basement Crawl, and one of the best horror games on PS4, PC and Xbox One. Enjoy it... and be careful with the pictures.
  8. Windows Central
    May 28, 2016
    80
    3-5 hours may not seem long for a game, but the quality of those few short hours is really worth it. With a reasonably low price tag of around $20, I think you'd be missing out on a very intriguing and very exciting game. While deep down yes, it is your bog standard psychological horror scare tactic jamboree, its executed in such a way that it blows others like Slender or SCP-187-b clean out of the water.
  9. games(TM)
    Apr 13, 2016
    60
    What you’re left with is a short slice of horror that’s got a few genuinely brilliant ideas up its bloody sleeve, but one that dulls the edges of its own experience with a lack of subtlety.
  10. Gamers' Temple
    Mar 13, 2016
    60
    Unfortunately the game's bugs are the scariest thing of all in this horror story.
  11. We Got This Covered
    Feb 18, 2016
    60
    Layers of Fear is an unsettling and occasionally frightening game that succeeds in keeping you on the edge of your seat, though it doesn't deliver up to its potential and ends up feeling a bit lacking.

Awards & Rankings

57
#57 Best Xbox One Game of 2016
41
#41 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2016
45
#45 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2016

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.9

Mixed or average reviews- based on 126 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 65 out of 126
  2. Mixed: 38 out of 126
  3. Negative: 23 out of 126
  1. Chops
    Jan 6, 2017
    3
    The framerate and graphics for this game is inexcusable (I'm playing on the Xbox One).. which is a bit ironic since it's a visual-horror gameThe framerate and graphics for this game is inexcusable (I'm playing on the Xbox One).. which is a bit ironic since it's a visual-horror game about an artist.

    I'm far from a framerate snob, and I'm absolutely OK with sub-PC performance, but it is so bad in this game that you can actually see tracers and artifacting (I'd guess it averages about 15fps). It's a tough to be scared by a visual-horror game when everything is so obscured by motion-blur you can't tell whats going on. There's also noticeable input lag (a delay from the time you move the stick to the time your character moves).

    That being said, graphics not withstanding, this game seems amazing. I love the concept, the music and sound design are on point.. so if framerate isn't an issue on your platform, I'd highly recommend it.

    On Xbox One it's a bit like having a Lamborghini with a decomposing corpse in the back seat.. great in theory, just contains something too distracting to make it enjoyable.    … Full Review »
  2. BetterCallSalt
    Feb 17, 2016
    9
    A horror masterpiece with stunning sound design and a chilling atmosphere which manages to really grabs your attention from the start. LayersA horror masterpiece with stunning sound design and a chilling atmosphere which manages to really grabs your attention from the start. Layers of fear contains some really interesting "mechanics" and concepts but can sometimes struggle on the performance side. Frame drops are frequent but not too bad that it gets in the way of enjoying the game.Definitely worth a buy for anyone, not just horror fans.… Full Review »
  3. Rodrigo_31
    Feb 25, 2016
    9
    Imagine a game totally based on Silent Hills P.T. Demo, then you add a little of Outlast feeling with more polished visuals and with a betterImagine a game totally based on Silent Hills P.T. Demo, then you add a little of Outlast feeling with more polished visuals and with a better and unique story, at the same level of Amnesia: the dark descent. That is the game you will get!
    Layers of Fear shows why the survival horrors (with no guns) are so important to the industry, when it attempts to show that games can be immersive and truly inspiring as an art form, and this one succeeds on that. What holds the game to score a 10 from me is the fact that it has a fast pacing, it could be a little slower with more puzzles and gameplay elements to slow it down a little, because it contains almost 5 or 6 hours of length, and it could certainly feel more terrifying and bigger if some scare jumps could be swapped by more challenges and medium-hard puzzle solving into it. I could say that this game tried to so hard to reach a masterpiece standard that the developers excitement were a little above their own expectations...
    Another stunning feature is the incredible soundtrack and its audio, which is powerful and emotional as well is it is immersive, so that is my verdict:

    Audio/soundtrack: 9.5
    Graphics/level design: 9.5
    Story/plot: 9
    Gameplay: 7.5
    Fun/immersion/atmosphere: 10

    Overall score: 9.0    … Full Review »
See all user reviews »