Bright and dark colors and lights flash, the protagonist spins with intense fervor a few times, and the motion of certain situations finds the character’s vision to shake and blur. And this brings me to my biggest complaint about Layers of Fear: people who suffer from vertigo, epilepsy, or any sort of motion sickness may want to avoid Layers of Fear – especially the end. What helps the gameplay, however, is the immersive and dreadful soundtrack, the various puzzles, and the dizzying insanity of a few of the rooms/experiences. L2 lets the player sprint limp, while R2 lets the player grab or open items or drawers. The left joystick moves the protagonist, while the right joystick allows the player to look around. Gameplay in Layers of Fear is very standard.
No, I’m (probably) not slipping into a mental decline what I mean is that Layers of Fear created such an immersive environment and atmosphere that I felt what the character felt – which can get pretty damn dark, as you progress through the tale. Now, taking a step back for a moment, I understand how weird that sounds.
The protagonist’s struggles became, in part, my own, and his world felt and looked so real as to disorient my state of mind. I like to think I’m a fairly stoic horror guy, but moments in Layers of Fear truly unnerved me. I can say that the game thoroughly baffled my mind, and I often felt trapped anxiety, even, crept up on me a few times during the course of the game. In creating such a simple premise – finding inspiration to finish your masterpiece while exploring your home – developer Bloober Team was able to focus on the degradation of the mind and how it affected the protagonist and the player. Psychological horror has really never been done better than in Layers of Fear.
#LAYERS OF FEAR CHECKERBOARD FREE#
Once I decided I had investigated my mysteriously quiet house to my own preference, I yanked free the cover on the canvas – and my story began. An easel and a canvas sit, covered, in the center of the area. Eventually, I found myself with a key (thanks to a note from the butler) and entered into the infamous painting room. Still, the architecture of the house piqued my interest, so I examined every room and corner and opened every shelf. Notes from your wife and butler are posted around the sprawling manor, and, from nearly your first footstep into the house, something feels off. The opening of the game has you walking through the mud room of your mansion, and it allows you to explore the entirety of your home. Layers of Fear tells the tale of a once brilliant painter. But if you go into Layers of Fear in hopes of an interesting tale, creepy atmosphere, and look into the degrading mind of a genius artist, you’ll probably enjoy this indie developed game. If you go into Layers of Fear expecting a first person horror experience like Amnesia or Outlast, you’ll most likely end up rather disappointed.
So what does that mean? Layers of Fear draws a fine line between visual storytelling and survival horror. Layers of Fear is perhaps one of the more unique experiences of the aforementioned titles. In all, however, the genre still inspires and awes me. At the same time, I’ve been scared witless by meaningless games like Emily Wants to Play. I’ve also suffered through bad horror titles, or ones that really don’t ‘reach’ me, like Resident Evil 4, 5, or 6 and Slenderman. I’ve played intense but rewarding horror titles like Outlast, F.E.A.R., and Silent Hill ( 3 is my favorite). Sure, hack-and-slash films and tasteless gratuity can limit the potential an experience can deliver, but the same intense scenes can positively impact another piece (take the wonderful Sinister and compare it to, say, Freddy vs. Whether it be in the form of film, television, games, fiction, etc., I tend to enjoy a good scare.
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