Layers of Fear (2023) review – A representation of both the best and worst of Bloober Team
Layers of Fear (2023) brings together the stories of Layers of Fear (2016) and Layers of Fear 2 (2019), remastering the two horror titles in Unreal Engine 5 to deliver a seamless, puzzling trip into the psyche of creatives-gone-mad. Sadly, this remake represents the best and worst of Bloober Team.
This time around you’ll start out as The Writer, a new character destined to pen the disturbing tales of The Artist and The Actor, while encountering your own unusual goings-on in the Lighthouse you’re holed up in. After having won a competition to write a book about ‘one of the most mysterious and tragic figures in the history of modern art,’ you’ll be exploring winding corridors and tending to a ringing phone that is eerily reminiscent of that in the game’s inspiration, P.T.
Soon, you’re whisked into the grandiose home of The Painter and his family, and things begin to look familiar again. A home in complete disarray, burning candles and dimly lit lamps in each room, even the letter from pest control threatening us with lawyers if we contact them again, are still here. The only stark difference is in quality; built in Unreal Engine 5, Layers of Fear (2023) looks ridiculously good, at the best of times, anyway.
Read more
