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
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