Layers of Fear: Remake and Sequel Review - A Haunting Journey Through Madness and Artistry

2023-06-16 21:00:00

Genre	Horror
Publisher	Bloober Team
Developer	Bloober Team, Anshar Studio
Minimum Requirements	Processor Intel Core i5-4690 3.5 GHz / AMD Ryzen 3 1200 3.1 GHz, 8 GB RAM, DirectX 12 graphics card and 3 GB memory, such as NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon RX 580, 20 GB hard disk space , Steam or Epic Games Store account
Recommended Requirements	Processor Intel Core i7-8700K 3.7 GHz / AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz, 12 GB RAM, DirectX 12 graphics card and 8 GB memory, such as NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 / AMD Radeon RX Vega 64
age limit	From 18 years old
release date	June 15, 2023
Localization	Text
Platforms	PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X\|S
Official site

Played on PC

Screenshots for technical reasons taken from Steam and from a selection from the developers

Bloober Team has come a long way from a little-known studio to the developers of a remake of the cult Silent Hill 2. On this thorny path, Layers of Fear has definitely become a turning point. Almost devoid of gameplay, the game offered an intriguing story that could unfold from different sides, depending on the implicit choice. And, of course, the atmosphere of immersion in madness was remembered. The authors kept all this in the updated version, and even added new game mechanics.

⇡#Cursed old house!

While Layers of Fear faithfully reproduces the duology for the most part, the remake starts out very differently. In the role of the Writer, we arrive at a lonely lighthouse, towering above the stormy waves. According to several notes left, it becomes clear that the heroine won a certain competition, in which the main prize is solitude at the lighthouse to write a book and a contract with a publishing house. The place is not the coziest, but we are here to create a masterpiece. And now the fingers were already running over the keys of the typewriter …

Silhouettes will follow you everywhere

We are in the old house. The artist wanders through familiar rooms amidst devastation and desolation. The layout exactly matches the one that was in the original game, but how the environment is now rich in detail – you literally feel the tragedy that these walls with cracked paint and torn wallpaper have absorbed. As if in contrast to the terrible mess, gentle moonlight pours through the windows – it makes you want to swim in it. The Bloober Team showcases what Unreal Engine 5 can do when creating a detailed interior.

In the very workshop of the Artist, a lonely empty canvas is waiting for the last masterpiece. Structurally, Layers of Fear has not changed in any way. Six chapters – six ingredients needed for a great picture. Six pieces of family life, folding into a sad canvas. Each memory appears as a tangle of nightmares in the intricately intertwined walls of the house.

The story didn’t change dramatically. As before, Layers of Fear mostly mocks your sense of orientation in space. We went into the room, looked around – and there was a solid wall instead of a doorway. We looked back, walking along the corridor – and there is not at all the environment that you just passed through. They turned around again – and suddenly ran into a dead end. And these are even the most banal examples.

This house is more complicated than it looks

Some scenes have undergone point changes, somewhere more, somewhere less. We have increased the emphasis on episodes where the player must choose the path where to move on – this affects the interpretation of events that the game will show. In such scenes, the sign of the scales is often woven into the environment, and the authors left more clues for making an informed choice.

The only significant innovation in the gameplay is the lamp. With the new lighting technology, some rooms have become really dark, so a light source is simply indispensable. But most importantly, the focused beam allows you to drive away the ghost that sometimes haunts the Artist. One seemingly banal mechanic completely removes the annoyance of toothless hide-and-seek from the original without sacrificing tension.

In the dark corridors, there is no visibility, and you only hear the monster approaching. You have to constantly look around and disperse the darkness with a saving light – which slowly discharges the lamp. Focusing the beam completely burns the resource in seconds, but they are enough to drive away the evil spirit for a while. The charge is restored automatically – we were not burdened with the search for fuel. And, in the manner of Alan Wake, sometimes only the light shows the true appearance of the environment.

The demon beautifully smolders and bursts in the light of the lamp

Supplement “Legacy” translated to the new engine with virtually no changes. The flashlight was originally here, and it is used only for its intended purpose. The add-on itself is modest in size, with a number of atmospheric scenes, and for the sake of completeness, it is definitely worth going through. But much more interesting is The Last Note – a new chapter that offers a look at a familiar family tragedy from the perspective of a wife who has experienced a terrible trauma.

Although the add-on exploits the same well-known house, in the eyes of a woman it reveals itself from a completely different side. This is a real prison of chains that enveloped both the body and the mind of the heroine. In this image, the notes of a kind of dark version of Silent Hill are especially strong, as if the Bloober Team arranged a small rehearsal for Silent Hill 2. Almost every scene has its own artistic zest, and a personal story adds important touches to the overall picture of family happiness and grief.

With The Last Note, the original Layers of Fear folds into a solid trilogy. The authors skillfully balance between surreal madness and a completely understandable story. Tragedy forever changes a person – both the one with whom the misfortune happened, and his loved ones. Everyone saw the house through the prism of their trauma: an all-consuming obsession, a difficult childhood, grief from an irretrievably lost part of themselves …

Only Pyramid Head is missing at the other end of the corridor.

⇡#Seasickness

In the remake, the story of the Artist is written by the Writer. We will return to her temporary shelter at the lighthouse more than once. At first, this storyline seems quite ordinary, but after just a few episodes it becomes clear that nightmares have not bypassed it either. Either they seep into reality from the written pages, or the work only reflects a gradual immersion in madness.

Additions about the daughter and wife of the creator do not have to go through to find out a new layer in this story. But you will have to return to Layers of Fear 2, because it is the Writer who intertwines the fate of the Artist and the Actor. To uncover the secret of the lighthouse, we’ll once again take a movie cruise and find out just how difficult it is to fit into someone else’s shoes. And in contrast to the original, all the weaknesses of the sequel are especially prominent.

First of all, the sequel did not keep a balance between otherworldly horrors and everyday drama. Layers of Fear 2 is a damn beautiful kaleidoscope of loosely connected scenes. Those few riddles that diluted the first part completely disappeared from the second. Where a player is required to make a choice, it is served head-on. And only the wild imagination of the artists makes this exhibition of horrors go through to the end.

The cinematic scene deserves a place among the most aesthetic scenes in games

Some scenes have been slightly edited, but in general there are fewer changes than in the first part. The introduction at the beginning of each chapter is now spoken by the Writer herself, and not by a nameless speaker. The actor will also get his own flashlight, which brings at least some interactivity to this walk through the virtual exhibition. Light here can temporarily immobilize the faceless monster chasing the protagonist, as well as set in motion frozen mannequins blocking the path. Moreover, their animation imitates old film films with a floating number of frames per second, which looks damn stylish. Otherwise, we still have the same Layers of Fear 2. Which is rather bad than good.

* * *

Layers of Fear of the 2023 model still makes more sense than it seemed at the announcement. The first part was visually transformed and received a dose of high-quality additional content, turning into a memorable and sad story about broken geniuses. The new mechanics with a flashlight came in very handy and added a bit of dynamics to the process. And only the initially weak sequel looks faded against the background of its predecessor, despite the bewitching beauty of individual episodes.

Advantages:

great look with amazing lighting;
a flashlight makes encounters with ghosts much more comfortable;
The Last Note adds a much-needed finishing touch to the first game’s storyline.

Flaws:

against the background of the first part, the sequel looks especially weak.

Graphics	Impeccable.
Sound	Skillful sound design reinforces the unsettling atmosphere.
Single player game	Layers of Fear is still a purely contemplative experience that you have to immerse yourself in and soak up the atmosphere.
Estimated travel time	Twelve hours to get acquainted with the full history of the Artist, Actor and Writer.
Collective game	Not provided.
General impression	The best opportunity to get acquainted with the series for beginners. Yes, and relive the story of broken creators is also worth it – the authors have prepared a number of surprises for veterans.