Layers of Fear (2023) Reviews
Layers of Fear shows no sign of creativity or ambition and it delivers a familiar walking simulator experience in horror genre. That being said, if you're a fan of psychological horror games, you're going to love its atmosphere and story.
Review in Persian | Read full review
It is not a remake, it is not a sequel. However, it is a proper bundle of horror experiences. It is one game that actually offers up to 5 of them. Some of them you may already know, others are completely new. Nonetheless, it is something that horror game fans should reach for, even if they have already played the previous Layers of Fear games.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
The new release of Layers of Fear is one of the best and most complete packages in the horror genre; one that improves the first game substantially and takes its story further forward with new DLCs. More work could have been done on the second game, nevertheless, this package is the best way to experience the whole franchise and is definitely recommended to any fan of the genre.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Bloober Team reworks its debut title in the psychological horror landscape with a new awareness. Layers of Fear does not simply re-present, in a modern technical guise, the original title, but rather the entire series (and related DLC) in a new narrative context, for a project somewhere between remaster and remake. A package therefore capable of giving suggestions and thrills, while preserving the extremely reduced gameplay of the original versions. This is precisely the key that could lead you to appreciate (or not) the production: if you love psychological thrills, the project will know how to win you over. If, conversely, you appreciate something more concrete and palpable (both ludically and narratively), the title may miss the mark.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Bloober Team finishes the layers of fear saga in convincing fashion, the story unfolds in a way that is totally unperdicatble leaving our jaws dropped despite the repeatitivness of gameplay mechanics and some minor bugs.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Thankfully, its sequel is a calmer affair. Set aboard an ocean liner, it relies on a more subtle creepiness and is much less reliant on clichéd tropes such as thunderstorms, dolls and toy clowns. Away from the constraints of the first game’s mansion, it presents a more imaginative mise en scène and the path forward is mercifully clearer. Overall, this is a good package with plenty of scares, although at times it can feel a bit much, like being bludgeoned by a haunted fairground ride.
If you're a fan of slower horror movies with an exciting story that will stick in your head for a week after finishing it, this is the one for you. It took me about 14 hours to complete the base game with the added chapters, and I think any psychological horror fan will enjoy it. Of course, provided you know that the game is primarily a walking simulator. But he can handle it really well.
Review in Czech | Read full review
I wanted to like Layers of Fear (2023). I leisurely traversed the haunted house (and ship) for around fifteen hours, but its horror elements never truly left the realm of abstraction. I walked away fascinated by the spaces and objects left behind by the game’s characters. They left a residue of horror. But I left frustrated by how little this residue manifested in truly terrifying, concrete, or meaningful ways.
Layers of Fear is easy to recommend to new players with an affinity for psychological experiences.
Layers of Fear is easily Blooper Team's crowning jewel and the best way to experience these games. Leveraging the power of Unreal Engine 5, the team has delivered their true vision of psychological horror without compromise.
'Layers of Fear' is an improved version of the previously released games. All stories are bundled into one whole and have even more depth than before.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Layers of Fear is a fine choice if you haven't played the first two games, but if you did, it doesn't really offer anything too interesting apart from the two new stories.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
The Layers of Fear experience can be favorably compared to the Ocean House Hotel sequence from Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, with its slow build-up of dread followed by some excellent pay-offs. The gradual reveal of its story and the decaying of the minds of its protagonists is fascinating to experience in real-time, and there are even multiple endings to seek out, should you wish to squeeze more from the runtime, so long as you’re willing to endure all of the chases again.
Despite the slightly confusing name, "Layers of Fear" is a beautiful remake that can be enjoyed by horror fans and series newcomers alike.
With Layers of Fear, Bloober Team reworks their previous horror releases into a single package that’s worth revisiting and getting spooked over again.
The return of Layers of Fear is a welcome one thanks to the power and immersion provided by Unreal Engine 5, meaningfully evolving Layers of Fear in a way you simply won’t ever want to look back from. The environmental details and subtleties are undoubtedly impressive and worthy of kudos. However, save for the overhauled ambience and a decent new chapter, the gameplay remains disappointingly unchanged and overly tedious. Though the atmosphere is suitably spooky, the genuine scares never come. To its credit, it does try to get you when you’re unaware, but it’s hard to feel the jolt of the jump scares on offer because they aren’t set up well enough to surprise you. As a polished reworking of Layers of Fear, this latest entry is aesthetically pleasing, it just needed to be a scarier game.
Layers of Fear is an enticing package for any horror game fan. With several very interesting narratives about the disturbing and neurotic aspects of different artists' lives, visual and sound directions so well achieved, there are not many games that manage to instil a sense of tension as well as this remake. It's just a shame some aspects of the gameplay continue to leave something to be desired. But don't be fooled: Layers of Fear is one of the best horror series on the market.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The changes made in Layers of Fear 2023 have mostly damaged the overall experience of the original games. And the new additional content does not add anything meaningful to this package, whether story-wise or gameplay-wise. We recommend that instead of this buggy remake, you would play the original Layers of Fear 1 & Layers of Fear 2.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Layers of Fear is an enjoyable walk through a hall of mirrors that reflects your inner nightmares, but there isn't much to hold on to outside of the cheap thrills and flashing lights.
Layers of Fear is a very fun experience for fans of the survival horror genre. It is also an improvement from either of the two original games and the DLCs. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t quite live up to other remakes of late such as Resident Evil 4 Remake or Dead Space. Although, the addition of an entirely new story is a welcome one in the story. If you have never played the originals this version of the game is the version you should pick up. It is graphically fantastic and the combat adds a welcome change to the gameplay.