Layers of Fear

 Xbox One
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

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  1. Rem
    May 11, 2017
    5
    Few horror games nowadays ever really unnerve me, often not properly setting up tension or giving me a reason to care, but Layers of Fear manages to buck that trend in its first dozen or so minutes. Mind you I only say first dozen because the rest of this descent into madness is riddled with recycled horror tricks and visual effects. It loses steam very early and drags on far too long forFew horror games nowadays ever really unnerve me, often not properly setting up tension or giving me a reason to care, but Layers of Fear manages to buck that trend in its first dozen or so minutes. Mind you I only say first dozen because the rest of this descent into madness is riddled with recycled horror tricks and visual effects. It loses steam very early and drags on far too long for its own good, but hidden underneath its blemishes is a decent story.

    Playing as an artist in his own empty home, you come across an unfinished painting, supposedly his masterpiece. From that point on, Layers of Fear engages you in its story of love gone wrong, how obsession ruins things, and how the character copes with the tragic events surrounding him. The artist isn't a blank state, but he is decidedly generic enough for a player to fill their own take on what happened. Much of the story is uncovered through visual cues and notes/documents/items strewn about the decaying and ever changing household. You'll know something awful has happened at the start, but the real treat is at uncovering the details behind it, and when you do is a genuine heart breaker. It's no Silent Hill 2 levels of enthralling, but it's a driving force that keeps you going and the game's endings are worth seeing to the end.

    Beyond that, Layers of Fear falls apart. It's riveting in its first dozen or so minutes when the horror is little more than jumpscares and instead are compiled of visual effects that are unseen and quite extraordinary, showing what the Unity Engine is truly capable of. You might think this is where the game shifts gear into another level, but that other level is sadly headed for rock bottom. Not every game needs to be subtle, having some obvious scares or clues are quite okay, but when your whole game is just trying to throw a brick at your face that says 'boo!', expect diminishing returns. When you’re playing a horror game, you already know something scary is going to happen. The best ones are able to frighten you despite the fact that you are expecting the attempt – something that requires a subtle balance between tension and surprise. Unfortunately, Layers of Fear is not so deft. Instead of carefully and deliberately hitting the right atmospheric notes, this experience just bangs on the keys loudly and frequently. The problem is Layers of Fear shows no restraint. After a scary moment, it doesn’t allow players enough breathing room, because the next one is always immediately around the corner. Every time you enter a room or a hallway, something happens. An object falls. A painting melts. Something jumps out at you. This inevitability results in a boring and predictable rhythm, making it impossible for a sense of dread to take hold and becomes the game's biggest fault.

    While the scares are of no real value, the visuals are quite a looker. The Unity Engine has never looked better, the amount of detail and visual effects are definitely of a high order, despite the game reusing much of its assets through its short length. However, this comes at a cost, the Xbox One version constantly stutters, dropping below the 30fps mark whether out of lack of optimization or lack of power, it certainly never fails to make my eyes strain. The sound design is a mixed bag, while they are of a high quality, they aren't exactly scary since they are used in the variety of either loud noises to startle you or generic horror noises. The score is hardly noticeable, but is appropriate for the most part.

    Layers of Fear's intent is right from the start is clearly to be Youtuber bait, but even they would notice how shallow the horror is. Even with this, there is still an okay atmosphere and decent story to experience in addition to the 3 endings, which you're better off just watching online. In its title, Layers of Fear implies an ability to inspire multi-faceted terror. Unfortunately, it only succeeds on the surface level: Sometimes I got pretty surprised when something creepy happened (invariably accompanied by a loud noise), but even that layer eroded over time, replaced by an ever growing feeling of boredom and eye rolling at its attempts to scare me. Despite some creative visual tricks, Layers of Fear doesn’t have sharp enough teeth to maintain its bite.    … Expand
  2. 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 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    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 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.    … Expand
  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 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    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 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    … Expand
  4. Xerogamer
    Feb 22, 2016
    9
    Fantastic. One of the best horror games I have had the pleasure of playing. Stunning visuals, captivating story and above all the level design in truly breathtaking! The game may be short and there are some lengthy load times, but length should not be the final judge of what makes a game great, story and game play make a game great. And Bloober Team's Layers of Fear does not fail toFantastic. One of the best horror games I have had the pleasure of playing. Stunning visuals, captivating story and above all the level design in truly breathtaking! The game may be short and there are some lengthy load times, but length should not be the final judge of what makes a game great, story and game play make a game great. And Bloober Team's Layers of Fear does not fail to disappoint. I am looking forward to what this game studio has in story for us next!… Expand
  5. 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. 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 justA 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.… Expand
  6. SuperkenGaming
    Feb 16, 2016
    9
    Layers of Fear
    A story of obsession and loss
    There’s a lot to wrap your head around in layers of fear I’m still not even sure exactly what happened This is an adventure horror game where you play as an obsessed artist working on finishing his latest painting The game start out with you in your home, after walking around a bit you notice notes that set you on a journey of uncovering    Layers of Fear
    A story of obsession and loss
    There’s a lot to wrap your head around in layers of fear
    I’m still not even sure exactly what happened
    This is an adventure horror game where you play as an obsessed artist working on finishing his latest painting
    The game start out with you in your home, after walking around a bit you notice notes that set you on a journey of uncovering just exactly what’s going on or what went on
    This game is about 4 hours long if you take your time to uncover all of the mysteries, I even missed some.
    You’ll get a vague idea of the story if you did choose to rush through, but you’ll have a much better overall experience if you open all the drawers and read all of the letters and newspaper clippings... at least story wise...gameplay wise I’m not all too sure
    this game is creepy, exploring this house is unsettling, but I wouldn’t necessarily call this game scary
    There are plenty of jump scares, and it is possible to die, but it all feels inconsequential, I was never afraid to progress, maybe this is a personal courage thing, but I felt no anxiety while pushing through, it could be that I felt unthreatened while playing or it could actually come down to how the developers chose to deliver the story … Like I said earlier, if you want the full story you have to look through all the drawers and all of the cabinets, this kind of takes your attention away from the creepy experience going on around you.. instead of being immersed in the fancy tricks, and constantly changing rooms… you find yourself immersed in a drawer and looking for non-story doors to interact with
    I feel like this could’ve been fixed by telling the story with brief flashback style cutcenes attached to mandatory collectibles instead of optional collectibles…
    Or keeping them more as a well-hidden interactive secret, which they actually did for a handful of them...
    But ultimately I feel like the story and experience is delivered from eye level, so it’s such a massive design flaw to have interactive items below or above your line sight... you can’t really interact with objects in layers of fear, so having china cabinets to go through around every corner was unnecessary, and hurt the experience more than it helped,
    Especially for the ocd type that have to check everything
    Another complaint with collectibles is that the chapter select doesn’t tell you if you missed any, so if you want to uncover more of the story, you have to replay sections you might have scrubbed clean
    The overall story delivery is just a small hiccup though, because it’s still good
    but everything else layers of fear has going on for it in comparison is great
    I was really impressed with how frequently things would change around me out of nowhere, I would turn around and there would be a door that wasn’t there before, or a hallway I just walked down is now a wall, maybe a creepy painting or a doll, every time you walked through a door you would be somewhere new, there is no back tracking in this game, its constantly taking you forward which is very appreciated and is ultimately what will get its hooks in you
    the constant switching is hands down the highlight of the entire game for me, I’ve never seen anything like it, at least not at the level that its at here
    While I could’ve done without feeling like I’m Sherlock Holmes the whole time,
    I still feel like layers of fear delivers a creepily impressive and immersive experience well worth your time
    and maybe some of your hair, and blood, perhaps an eye
    I give Layers of Fear an 8.5/10    … Expand
  7. osprey
    Feb 16, 2016
    10
    Awesome game. Beautiful music, stunning atmosphere, haunting and captivating. This is a rare and special gem of a game. A true bargain, I bought it before I even knew they would finish it because it was that special. Buy it and play it today. Well done team! What a treat for gamers!
  8. Grain_Of_Salt
    Mar 2, 2016
    10
    Unbelievable game! Amazing atmosphere and sound which is the hallmark of a great horror game. It perfectly walks the difficult line of not showing too much and letting the player use their own imagination as the fear platform. Just heard a baby crying? Yea, you have to walk toward that sound. Scared of that dark shadow around the corner? Yea, you have walk that way too. And whatever youUnbelievable game! Amazing atmosphere and sound which is the hallmark of a great horror game. It perfectly walks the difficult line of not showing too much and letting the player use their own imagination as the fear platform. Just heard a baby crying? Yea, you have to walk toward that sound. Scared of that dark shadow around the corner? Yea, you have walk that way too. And whatever you think you just saw will get twisted in some weird, strange way.
    The game is described as "psychedelic horror. Couldn't describe it better myself.    … Expand
  9. fishy123yu
    Mar 21, 2016
    9
    Well I am gonna be the first person to say this: while Layers of Fear is a great game under normal circumstances, it is on a whole new level when you play it while getting high. Playing this game while high is like discovering atlantis for me. It is just a sensational experience. I believe the makers knew this when they made the game. It is just so trippy. The only issue I have is with theWell I am gonna be the first person to say this: while Layers of Fear is a great game under normal circumstances, it is on a whole new level when you play it while getting high. Playing this game while high is like discovering atlantis for me. It is just a sensational experience. I believe the makers knew this when they made the game. It is just so trippy. The only issue I have is with the frame rate. But this is probably an xbox issue.… Expand
  10. xxSolidifyedxx
    May 6, 2016
    9
    Fantastic game that is worth every penny! Turn out the lights, put on your headphones, and buckle up! This game is like a nightmare that you can't wake up from!
  11. TheGameAddict
    Dec 19, 2017
    1
    Layers of Fear is easily the worst game I've ever played and I'm going to explain why.

    Horror: This game is advertised as an "immersive psychological horror game" yet there is nothing to be scared of. There is no threat to the player at all and the only intimidating entity you'll encounter must be ran at to progress. There is nothing to be scared of at all unless you're 6 and are afraid    Layers of Fear is easily the worst game I've ever played and I'm going to explain why.

    Horror: This game is advertised as an "immersive psychological horror game" yet there is nothing to be scared of. There is no threat to the player at all and the only intimidating entity you'll encounter must be ran at to progress. There is nothing to be scared of at all unless you're 6 and are afraid of your own shadow. The game is filled with jumpscares but none of them leave any lasting impact, it even ends on an awful one. This isn't a horror game, in reality it is an incredibly boring walking sim, nothing more.

    Gameplay: You walk around, open stuff and read notes whilst listening to voice-overs. Occasionally you'll encounter a puzzle but they usually boil down to 'keep looking in different directions until the room changes behind you'. There is no threat, no failure state or challenge to overcome, it's very boring.

    Story: Again, its pretty boring (are you noticing a pattern yet?). It's about some painter who went crazy and is now trying to finish his best painting and then he does and he doesn't like it so he gets a bit spooked (unlike me for the entire game) for some reason and then credits. Boring.

    Performance: This game runs like **** The very first area runs at about 10 FPS with constant dips throughout the game.

    Visuals/Music/Sound: The game looks quite appealing when its running at a stable framerate and there's some decent atmosphere though it never leads to anything. The main menu theme is fantastic but the rest of the soundtrack is a bit mediocre and forgettable. The audio design is very good, everything sounds nice.

    There's nothing here worth your time unless you're a snobby prick that doesn't understand how videogames work. Games have to have challenge. You must be able to lose somehow. This goes for ANY game be it a videogame, board game or even a sport. Horror games NEED something threatening or else there's nothing to stop the player from simply running through it like a **** lunatic. This game is bad because it's boring. It's a three hour long game that took me FIVE sessions with me trying my hardest to put myself through it to beat because it was so boring and nonthreatening that I had to stop to cleanse my palette with something good. it's an absolute snorefest    … Expand
  12. Broyax
    Sep 22, 2017
    0
    Un FPS horrifique qui est censé faire peur mais dans lequel on baille à s'en décrocher la mâchoire. En fait, on ouvre et on ferme des tiroirs. Et on ouvre des portes aussi. Et on claudique à 0,5 à l'heure comme un boîteux de Parkinson dans cette baraque de merde.

    Programmé (?) avec Unity, ce pseudo-jeu sans goût et de mauvais goût lorsqu'il y en a, tourne comme une patate sur console,    Un FPS horrifique qui est censé faire peur mais dans lequel on baille à s'en décrocher la mâchoire. En fait, on ouvre et on ferme des tiroirs. Et on ouvre des portes aussi. Et on claudique à 0,5 à l'heure comme un boîteux de Parkinson dans cette baraque de merde.

    Programmé (?) avec Unity, ce pseudo-jeu sans goût et de mauvais goût lorsqu'il y en a, tourne comme une patate sur console, soit environ 20 im/s avec des pointes à 25. Comment peut-on sortir une telle "chose" aussi bancale affublée qui plus est d'un aliasing qui tyrannise le regard ?

    C'est la "magie" des jeux indés qui peuvent tout se permettre, boulottés par des cons incapables qui osent tout, et il en faut de l'audace et du je-m'en-foutisme pour bricoler et vendre une telle grosse merde !    … Expand
  13. Che3es
    Jan 24, 2019
    0
    One of the worst horror games that you can ever play. JFC IT'S BAD AND UNINSPIRED
  14. TheQuietGamer
    Jan 31, 2018
    9
    A work of both visual and psychological horror. The thing that makes your journey into madness so tense is that you know there's always something waiting to happen around the next corner. An interesting approach for a horror game. Rather than using any sort of build up to keep the momentum going, Layers of Fear just sort of throws jump scares at the player one after the other. This isA work of both visual and psychological horror. The thing that makes your journey into madness so tense is that you know there's always something waiting to happen around the next corner. An interesting approach for a horror game. Rather than using any sort of build up to keep the momentum going, Layers of Fear just sort of throws jump scares at the player one after the other. This is something most survival-horror enthusiasts might balk at. In any other game they would probably be justified in doing so. However, the moments developer Bloober Team crafted here are often deeply unsettling and backed by mind-bending shifts in the world around the player. You'll always know something is coming, but never what it will be.

    Every room and every hallway you explore in Layers of Fear can change in an instant. I never stopped being amazed at the immediacy of things like new paths appearing in the split second it would take me to turn my character's head. The incredibly trippy sights and creepy paintings you'll encounter as you progress give off some very Lovecraftian vibes. There are plenty of hauntingly memorable moments in store. There are some lamer scare attempts to be found throughout like falling objects and such, but for the most part the game is very inventive in finding ways to get under your skin. If only the narrative held up.

    You play as a struggling artist that's trying to complete his magnum opus. Each level consists of making your way through his mansion and distorted psyche to collect the items needed to finish the painting. As soon as you grab one you'll begin to see that some very dark things happened to get the protagonist to this point. There are various notes and memory objects scattered throughout the game that help fill in some gaps. Personally, I guessed what was happening early on. Something kind of hindered replay value for me. Going through the game a second and third time opens up some new stuff to find which further fleshes out the story, and despite being interested in seeing the other endings, I just wasn't compelled enough to give it a second go. A few minor differences wouldn't make up for going through the same scares again. At least not right away.

    For many this is going to be a one-and-done experience. Especially given that the gameplay largely consists of just walking forward. There are a few clever puzzles though, and it's style is perfectly suited for it's length. So don't let what I've said about the story and gameplay scare you away from Layers of Fear. It's a pretty incredible game in spite of it's weaknesses. It's unique approach to horror that has you questioning your perceptions of reality makes for one of the most memorable, creative, and downright freaky games out there.    … Expand
  15. jthegamer96
    Mar 8, 2017
    7
    Layers of fear is a well designed experience, in terms of it's visual effects and it's sound design. The game is a creepy experience that messes with your head and has an atmosphere that seems unnerving. The story is intriguing, and barring a few minor glitches, the game's visuals are nearly flawless. If you buy the game as a once through narrative, then the game is an easy sell as a 9/10Layers of fear is a well designed experience, in terms of it's visual effects and it's sound design. The game is a creepy experience that messes with your head and has an atmosphere that seems unnerving. The story is intriguing, and barring a few minor glitches, the game's visuals are nearly flawless. If you buy the game as a once through narrative, then the game is an easy sell as a 9/10

    However, the problems arise when you start going for completing the game by experiencing all of the endings and getting all of the collectables

    However, the collectables make the game tedious and repetitive, and shows how little variance the game actually has. A majority of the collectables are hidden inside drawers and cabinets, (which the game has plenty of, and are usually empty), and the way to find them is not interesting. Only a few of the collectables actually setup a mini-puzzle to solve and required multiple rooms to find, creating a satisfying challenge.

    The more you find out about the story, the more confusing it gets. You have two versions of the protagonist, and two versions of the wife presented through the game and the collectables. Each version of both characters contradicts with each other as you try to piece the story together. Each version examined separately have interesting ideas and could actually make great stories by themselves (although not all of them would be good for horror).

    Piecing together the story also affects how you view the endings. If you have bits and pieces of it, then all of the endings work, but if you have the whole story in front of you, then (to me at least) only one of the endings make sense, as the other two don't line up with how the characters are presented through the collectables.

    The game would had been just fine without any of the collectables. The story and the interactions with the game alone are fascinating to experience for the first time. Adding in collectables unnecessarily extends it's playtime, complicates the narrative to being conflicting with itself, and requires tedious searching that is honestly not worth it.

    That's why the game gets knocked down a couple of points to a 7/10 for me.    … Expand
  16. kvnd
    Jul 29, 2019
    6
    Layers of Fear really doesn't have too many layers, I think the game jump scared me twice at most, but hey maybe I'm just dead inside. The atmosphere Bloober Team created is really good though, as well as the unique way they warp and contort space around the player to make them feel extra uneasy. Unfortunately after the first couple of times it does get old and you're mostly left withLayers of Fear really doesn't have too many layers, I think the game jump scared me twice at most, but hey maybe I'm just dead inside. The atmosphere Bloober Team created is really good though, as well as the unique way they warp and contort space around the player to make them feel extra uneasy. Unfortunately after the first couple of times it does get old and you're mostly left with repetition, horror cliches/tropes and some basic puzzles which aren't much fun to solve. Props have to be given for the Victorian setting and vibe of the game being so fully realized, including the graphics. For a game that's only a few hours long I just wish it kept things fresh and interesting throughout the whole story instead of exhausting most of the cool ideas.… Expand
  17. Locke_Cole
    May 9, 2017
    7
    Una experiencia de horror única en el sector en términos de narración y diseño audiovisual. La forma en que la historia se narra mediante objetos y la interacción con el escenario "a los Dark Souls" le viene muy bien al ambiente generado en éste juego. Es muy recomendable como experiencia de horror y en general la elección de escenarios es muy buena. Tengo sólo dos problemas con ésteUna experiencia de horror única en el sector en términos de narración y diseño audiovisual. La forma en que la historia se narra mediante objetos y la interacción con el escenario "a los Dark Souls" le viene muy bien al ambiente generado en éste juego. Es muy recomendable como experiencia de horror y en general la elección de escenarios es muy buena. Tengo sólo dos problemas con éste juego, el primero es que el rendimiento en Xbox One es regular, y eso influye sobre todo en una experiencia tan sensitiva como esta, si el framerate sufre nuestra percepcion del ambiente también, por eso es problemático. Lo segundo es que siento algunos puzzles demasiado forzados, hubiera preferido que fuera sólo un walking simulator, pues la resolución de éstos no aportada nada narrativamente hablando.… Expand
  18. zNeverSleeping
    Nov 1, 2020
    8
    ---{Graphics}---
    ☐ Beautiful
    X Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ---{Gameplay}--- ☐ Addictive X Good ☐ Mediocre ☐ Mehh ☐ Irresponsible ---{Audio}--- ☐ Very good X Good ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{Audience}--- ☐ Kids X Teens X Adults ☐ All ---{Difficulity}--- ☐ Easy X Significant brain usage ☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☐ Difficult    ---{Graphics}---
    ☐ Beautiful
    X Good
    ☐ Decent
    ☐ Bad
    ☐ Don‘t look too long at it

    ---{Gameplay}---
    ☐ Addictive
    X Good
    ☐ Mediocre
    ☐ Mehh
    ☐ Irresponsible

    ---{Audio}---
    ☐ Very good
    X Good
    ☐ Bad
    ☐ I'm now deaf

    ---{Audience}---
    ☐ Kids
    X Teens
    X Adults
    ☐ All

    ---{Difficulity}---
    ☐ Easy
    X Significant brain usage
    ☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
    ☐ Difficult

    --{Story}---
    ☐ No Story
    X Some lore
    ☐ Average
    ☐ Good
    ☐ Lovely
    ☐ It‘ll replace your life

    ---{Game Time}---
    ☐ Short
    X Average
    ☐ Long
    ☐ To infinity and beyond

    ---{Price}---
    ☐ It’s free [or i get free]
    X Worth the price
    ☐ Worth it in a promo
    ☐ If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ---{Bugs}--- X Never heard of ☐ Minor bugs ☐ Can get annoying ☐ ARK: Survival Evolved    … Expand
  19. WalrusBruh
    Oct 18, 2019
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Love the different endings and the way the environment tells the story. Not too scary compared to most other horror titles,but the story is outstanding.… Expand
  20. Nikitos_Sen
    Mar 3, 2022
    0
    Всегда считал, что игры вне политики! Не ожидал от игровой студии, которая должна ориентироваться на обычных игроков и то, чтобы дарить людям хорошие эмоции…что студия будет наказывать обычных людей за решения принятые правительством! Раз игровая студия решила вмешаться в политику, то и оценку она получит не за игру!Всегда считал, что игры вне политики! Не ожидал от игровой студии, которая должна ориентироваться на обычных игроков и то, чтобы дарить людям хорошие эмоции…что студия будет наказывать обычных людей за решения принятые правительством! Раз игровая студия решила вмешаться в политику, то и оценку она получит не за игру!
  21. SenorKoquonfaes
    Dec 19, 2019
    4
    The best way to describe Layers of Fear is that it's akin to riding the haunted house ride at any amusement park or county fair that you've ever been to: get railroaded down a linear path full of scary and/or horrifying set pieces, it's dark a lot of the time, get jumpscared several times and then the ride is over.

    You play as a tortured artist who returns home to complete his    The best way to describe Layers of Fear is that it's akin to riding the haunted house ride at any amusement park or county fair that you've ever been to: get railroaded down a linear path full of scary and/or horrifying set pieces, it's dark a lot of the time, get jumpscared several times and then the ride is over.

    You play as a tortured artist who returns home to complete his masterpiece. He enters his studio, paints the first layer of the painting and then begins to suffer from hallucinations. As you explore the artist's home, you unveil horrifying secrets about the artist's life. As you discover more secrets and clues about the him, you begin experiencing more twisted and dark hallucinations. You eventually learn that the artist was once a loving father and husband but his relationship with his family deteriorated over time when he distanced himself from his wife and daughter to focus more on his paintings as well as developing a drinking problem.

    The game's art direction nails the "horror" aspect rather well, particularly the final painting that I got at the end of my playthrough as well as the discovery of certain clues and the narrations that came with them. Some of the environments in the game's last half hour or so also nailed the "horror" aspect really well. The one thing I wish the developers would've done is to create some sort of cutscene for the clues you uncover, even if it was only a slide show of a few still images, because there was some REAL potential to create some **** hard-to-watch moments out of those. This is likely why the game's story wasn't really capturing me since it's given to you in short voice over segments and flavour text that break up the tediousness and repetitiveness of explore dark corridors and rooms.

    The game's frame rate is terrible; plenty of stuttering, streaming and lag issues at various points throughout the game. It's a shame because the game's environments are well rendered but trying to pan across to look around while dropping frames kind of kills it for me.

    Gameplay tip: turn head bobbing off because my god is obnoxious! I had to disable that option after about 20 mins of gameplay because I felt like I was going to be sick.

    Layers of Fear does some things well with it's great horror set pieces and general art direction but it's story wasn't really grabbing me because it was mostly fed to me through narrations and text dumps, the game's pace felt like a bit of slog and it relies a bit too much on jumpscares for it's "scariness".

    It also reminded me that it was such a shame that Silent Hills got canceled, since Layers of Fear's gameplay borrows heavily from it's teaser.

    Overall, I'm not convinced that Layers of Fear is the type of game for me and as such, I have a hard time giving it my recommendation.    … Expand
  22. Filmanwalt
    May 7, 2021
    8
    Good horror story game from Bloober Team, which I played through in 5 hours.

    For me, a very atmospheric, creative horror experience, in which almost every Jumpscare caught me. I'm not really vulnerable at all, but I didn't stand a chance in this game. In addition, there is constant discomfort, always goose bumps, really well done. In terms of gameplay, it's just quite lame, but you    Good horror story game from Bloober Team, which I played through in 5 hours.

    For me, a very atmospheric, creative horror experience, in which almost every Jumpscare caught me. I'm not really vulnerable at all, but I didn't stand a chance in this game. In addition, there is constant discomfort, always goose bumps, really well done.

    In terms of gameplay, it's just quite lame, but you know that from these games, so I had no problem with it. I just enjoyed the completely crazy staging and let the atmosphere patter down on me.

    The story about the artist's story and what was happening in the house was interesting enough and added to the overall picture.

    What I did not understand at all, whether the woman kills you if you get too close or not. At least it always put you at a different point, so that I always avoided the howling. Sometimes it felt like a "chase" but never really put it into perspective. That irritated me rather a bit than it would have driven the atmosphere forward in a profitable way.

    The music and the sound in general were also perfectly integrated.

    Conclusion

    The look is very unique, creative and atmospheric, mixed with a good sound and a solid story. The game doesn't completely knock me off my feet (I thought The Medium was better overall, but you have to keep in mind that Layers was also released a lot earlier), but it clearly surprised me in a very positive way. Entertaining but making full use of the time, for me there are 8/10 paintings.    … Expand
  23. CarterJeff
    Aug 14, 2020
    4
    Lawyers of Fear sucks. LaWyers of Fear sucks. LaWyErs of Fear sucks. LaWyErS of Fear sucks.
  24. zezeljmare
    Jul 3, 2021
    8
    EN:
    An interesting story and quite a tense and scary atmosphere. Minus for a short story. Definitely one of the best horror games of recent times.

    SRP:
    Zanimljiva priča i dosta napeta i strašna atmosfera. Zamerka za kratku priču. Defintivno jedna od najboljih horor igara iz novijeg perioda.
  25. kamiskam
    Feb 24, 2023
    6
    Creative use of space and camera work - some really inspiring mechanics. But the overall story and theme execution feels unfortunately a bit forgettable.

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

Critic Reviews

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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. 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.
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  2. 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.
    Read full review
  3. 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]
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