Blooper Team have since 2016 been a force to be reckoned with, with hard hitters such as Observer, Layers of Fear, The Medium and the upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake. As a leading independent studio, they have quite a robust portfolio of horror games, and whether you love them or hate them, you can’t deny the talent and creative force there. This is why they were picked for the Silent Hill 2 remake of course, and to pass the time till then, we have a full remake of not one, but two of their previous games, with extra content on the side. But is it worth venturing through the games that put them in the gaming circles, or should they be left in the dark?
What is Layers of Fear (2023) 
You might be confused as to what Layers of Fear 2023 is, whether it’s a full remake like the RE Remakes? Is it a reimagining/reboot? Or a sequel? Well, it’s kind of everything above. This is a complete package of all previous games, including additional chapters which were DLC, along with a new, be it short new mini-campaign that ties everything together. The main two games and their DLC counterparts have been fully remade in Unreal Engine 5, and pretty much preserved as they were previously (Much akin to the recent The Last of Us remake), but with some quality-of-life changes, and small additions to flesh the main games out a little more.
For those of you who may not be familiar with the series, the Layers of Fear games are narrative-driven horror adventures, where players take on the roles of struggling artists as they face the cosmos, the unknown horrors of the inner psychic, and the troubles of creating and achieving great art through suffering and neglect. These are indeed hefty games in terms of subject matter, dealing with loss, abuse, and the pressures of great talent when weighted against the fragility of humanity.
The original Layers of Fear was admired by many, due to its visual fidelity and creative set pieces for the time, and was brimming with compelling narrative complexity that would shake you to the core. Layers of Fear 2 met a slightly less warm welcome and was largely forgotten as time passed. Many gamers saw them as glorified walking simulators with little action or fright, and while I massively preferred Observer, I still would say there is plenty of merit to both titles indeed.
But is this package worth picking up?
The horror of artistic genius 
Layers of Fear dives deep into the recessions of the unknown, and the crushing weight a dedicated artist has on their shoulders. If you think about it, being an artist, let alone a great artist, always brings a curse with talent. Many artists from Van Gogh to Hemmingway were incredible creative forces, yet led miserable existences in one way or another, and sadly usually ended in the same path.
Writing about trauma, PTSD, and the effects of mental health on the induvial and people is not easily done, but there is a clear and respectful way to do so. Keeping it simple, and treating those harmed by trauma with respect, can lead to great storytelling which can have a positive message and help those in need. Silent Hill 2 (while not perfect in my opinion) does handle much of its tense subject matter with respect and maturity. Now I will admit that Blooper has a very hit-or-miss track record when it comes to dealing with difficult subject matters, or more so how to resolve them. The Medium, which is a game I did indeed enjoy for the most part, felt very cruel at the end, sending mixed messages on how to deal with certain horrific events and those affected by them. Blair Witch is another game which didn’t handle all well the troubling subject of PTSD. But Observer is handled much better, and Layers of Fear also falls into that same field.
The Layers of Fear games do indeed present the strain of mental illness, and the root causes in a mature manner, that takes time to explore each case scenario. Each story does tackle various elements of mental health whether it’s substance abuse, the pressures of family, the impact of caring for someone, or just the grasping nature of trying to do what you love creatively, yet face obstacles such as creator’s block, or invalid criticism.
Each story breaks down the negativity and the themes by allowing players to explore each environment, take hold of various items that tell a fragment of the story and have an immense visual style that represents the horrors of trauma and the unknown. Both main situations from the painter’s home, turned twisted labyrinth, and the cursed cruise ship of the damn, are fascinating locations for tragic tales of fallen artists. The painter’s home focused on decay, rot, and organic meeting artificiality. So expect walls dripping with paint, a painting coming to life, cosmic horror vibes and striking light delays which will blind you. While the cruise ship focuses on lights, camera and haunted action, with rot and oil being a focal point for its theme on the corruption of the film industry on the fragility of human beings.
Both are striking environments and while the artist’s house is much more visceral and varied, the ship is still incredibly haunting and visually compelling at times, with cool trickery involving film techniques, neat lighting and the presence of Tony Todd’s director making it quite memorable.
What the remake does overall is tightened up much of the visual design, the scares, and the presentation. Visually speaking, this is a phenomenal-looking game, with great dynamic lighting, magnificent attention to detail, and just an amazing sense of creativity when it comes to the horrific visual imagery, which feels much more organic, and smoothly animated. Even looking at the screenshots in this review leaves me a little staggered.
I felt every speckle of fire and every burning ember, I could smell rotting fruit and fish that would rain from the sky. And I was unnerved multiple times by the sheer sight of the scenery melting before my eyes, as the environment became flesh, and that became paint. Weird, trippy stuff and I loved it.
And while there is plenty of great stuff added in or altered to fit the next generation’s power, there were some changes which left me a little disappointed. First, some areas are way too dark, and thus you can miss some excellent little details and scenery very easily. Some (not many, but enough) of the most creative set pieces have been altered quite a bit to change their evocative status entirely, with one of the most exceptional being the Gramophone. In the original, you entered a room and found the Gramophone in the centre. You place a record on it and must crank the handle to play the song. As the song plays the room melts and it’s quite visually stunning (for 2016 anyway). But you can reverse the crank and the room un-melts. It’s cool, as it’s a visual treat, but also a means of testing your nerves as you have to crank and allow the room to decay before you.
The remake just allows you to play the record without much input and the room goes from a burnt ruin, to new. It’s also quite dark to make the most of what’s happening. But still looks pretty good. There are a few of these instances where the set-piece has been changed and feels lesser for it. Yet, there are still plenty of excellent spectacles, and moments of wonderful horror, which look even better in the updated Unreal Engine, and some of the weaker elements which left us laughing (such as Monkey baby face, and child running into a wall) have been altered (even to make fun of these setbacks from the original).
This is to say, while some changes have put a damper on some of the best moments from the original games, there is much more which feels fleshed out for the better. The chase sequences feel much more terrifying, the environments are ever so beautiful and rich in detail, and the dynamic lighting is phenomenal, being some of the best this generation yet.
An Artist’s Turmoil is never over
Layers of Fear takes many inspiring notes from that of the late great P.T. (a tease for the then-upcoming and sadly diminished, Silent Hills), as many other games did and still do to this day. Players will venture through a hostile, while beautifully haunting game world, that is littered with compelling set-pieces, puzzles, exploration, and intense chase sequences. And while many people have criticised Layers of Fear for being a walking sim, I do strongly argue that is not the case, due to the multiple layers of depth there is to the world when it comes to exploration and solving the mystery at hand.
Both main entries to Layers of Fear do have very fascinating worlds which draw you in and have plenty of secrets to discover. You will venture through a multitude of areas, each unique and ever more disturbing than the last, as progressing will show significant signs of the world decaying around you. There are a ton of items to find, whether they’re story-related or key items that will lead you to discover something out of the blue or venture through towards the end. Multiple paths are present and there is a lot you can miss on a first play-through, including set pieces and key items which will influence the ending you get. Simply rushing through is not the intended experience, as Layers of Fear, for the most part, is a slower burning experience that’s all about atmosphere, discovery, and choice, which they do pretty well. More so the first game than the sequel.
Collecting items reveal more of the story for each game, with voiceovers recreating events and reflecting on past events that have led to this very traumatic journey. Unlike some games which stay very vague long after the end credits, Layers of Fear does a good job at mixing up storytelling techniques, with documents, interesting items and various set-pieces that reveal bit, by bit the troubling world around you. I will give credit to Layers of Fear 2 for having Tony Todd (Candy Man, Night of the Living Dead) be the voice of the creepy director who pushes you throughout the haunted cruise ship. His voice alone can send fiery chills right to your core and having him be an antagonist is always a sure thing, and the best thing for Layers of Fear 2.
Alongside the exploration will be various puzzles and chase sequences, which have been bumped up since the original releases. One new dynamic which is quite welcome is the use of a lantern, allowing you to explore dark areas, burn away corruption, which is again a new feature, and fight back against stalkers in the short moments they appear. With the lantern, these chase sequences are much more engaging, being thoroughly frightening and a manic dance of death which requires steel nerves and a cool head. But even if you do get caught by the nasty chasing you, it doesn’t mean the end of days, as Layers of Fears will give you plenty of checkpoints and seamless restarting so you can get back into the action. Plus, you can switch off the fear of death completely, meaning you can run through these sections if you find them too intense.
And the light source further improves Layers of Fear 2, by adding in new lateral elements as the light can trigger creepy mannequins into moving, whether it's to get a key or move them out of the way during a chase.
I will admit that there could have been much more done with the new lantern, especially when it comes to puzzles. It’s all fine, but quite basic for the most part, pointing your light and burning away organic masses is not the most interesting, to begin with, and never evolves throughout two main games and their DLC counterparts. Puzzles in general are nothing akin to that of any great Resident Evil game and remain close to a simple foundation from start to finish. Be it finding a safe code, finding a key, or triggering an event by looking at a painting/finding an item and looking at it.
Layers of Fear is indeed more about the visuals and there are indeed some cool visual tricks and illusions which occur. And with the next-gen hardware, that cut edit is seamless and never noticeable. But after all this time, we’ve seen this done to death, and while still arguably cool from time to time, happens all too often, and is quite easily readable when it does or will happen.
I do wish there was a little more to the lateral elements, such as more complex puzzles that require immense lateral thinking, or that the lantern could be used more dynamically, on a grander scale. Instead of finding an item, placing it somewhere highly recognisable, or looking at various objects and observing some visual trickery until you can progress further in the world. Again, there are some great moments of visual trickery and lots of beautiful touches which make Layers of Fear a visual marvel. But having deeper lateral mechanics would have been nice. Yet there are still some nice additional touches which improve on the original game's biggest flaws.
Forming a horrifying magnum opus? Bringing all this together is the tale of the writer, and I guess the final chapter (possibly) of the series. This ties everything up, and is more narrative-driven, acting as a hub between all the main chapters. The writer’s tale is again, one of sadness and filled with plenty of Lovecraftian-style horror, providing some great performances, immense scares and fleshing out the unknown to give some insight into what drives the Layers of Fear universe, but leaves you with just as many questions. It’s very strong as a framing device and could have been interesting as a full game.
While the writer’s journey is somewhat short-lived, there are plenty of reasons to go back and forth in the other chapters, due to the multiple endings, alternative paths and just the sheer amount of lore to discover and engage with.
Overall? Like a great piece of art, there is potentially always room to improve upon it, reflecting on what is a mistake and what should be left alone. The Layers of Fear series was never perfect yet had plenty to admire and areas it could improve upon. This is by far the ultimate way to play all the games and have a new addition that tied everything together in a meaningful way. Is it now perfect? No, but what has been added are good additions, and overall, the presentation is stellar, building more layers to the terrifying surrealism which captured our attention all those years back. The visuals are fantastic, and the sound design excellent, with a great sense of exploration and even a better understanding of how to execute building tension and unleashing scares. There are indeed some brush strokes here and there which don’t work, but there are pieces of art which still evoke complex emotions and reactions from us, and we still love and admire them. And everything from the Layers of Fear, especially now in this beautiful remake, will be remembered fondly as a work of gaming art.
++ Visually spectacular and oozing in the atmosphere.
+ Highly detailed and interesting environments to explore.
+ Some great set pieces that can scare and be viewed in wonder.
+ Various improvements that absolve previous setbacks.
- Most puzzles could be more stimulating
- Some “improvements” lessen some great moments of the original games
- The writer’s story could have been expanded upon greatly.
A review code for Layers of Fear 2023 was kindly provided by the publisher for this review.
