It’s a story as outdated as time: The gifted artist versus their turbulent battle with madness has at all times been inextricably linked collectively. From the deeply twisted expressionism and symbolism of Edvard Munch to the daring and vibrant neo-impressionism of Vincent van Gogh, historical past has lengthy painted gifted creatives in a really tortured, troubled mild.

Conceptually and thematically, that is on the coronary heart of Bloober Team‘s newest launch; a remastered double invoice of its first two Layers of Fear titles, replete with all DLC in addition to some further content material to maintain followers busy. However are the duo of first-person horror experiences relics from a bygone period or are they honestly worthy of your time in 2023? Properly, there’s a lot to debate!

Kicking issues off, I feel it’s value mentioning that I performed the primary Layers of Fear sport again in 2016 and was actually enamored with it. Sadly, I skipped the second sport, so enjoying it on this assortment was a primary for me. What I’ll say earlier than actually moving into the meat and drink of this assessment is that I really feel the sport’s debut is undoubtedly of a better caliber than its barely extra bromidic follow-up. However I don’t need to get too forward of my skis. Let’s start with the remake’s narrative.

Picture Supply: Bloober Staff

As alluded to within the intro, gamers assume the position of a handful of gifted creatives excelling in their very own distinct fields. First, we’ve got an completed creator and depressed mom who has received a writing competitors with the reward of a vacay at a distant lighthouse in the midst of nowhere. Hooray for isolation and loneliness, huh? Her story punctuates and bookends the overarching narrative of Layers of Concern (2023), with the meta method of her ostensibly appearing because the creator of the sport’s earlier journeys.

Subsequent up, we’ve got an alcoholic painter hellbent on ending his magnum opus at the price of the lives of his family members. His story includes the primary title within the assortment, and it’s simply essentially the most participating and fascinating of all of the tales inside Layers of Concern. In the meantime, rounding out the solid is a well-known Hollywood technique actor filming his newest challenge aboard a seemingly haunted cruise liner as he follows the directions of an ominous director, which embody the occasions of Layers of Concern 2.

Furthermore, we additionally step into the abused footwear of the painter’s spouse from the primary sport, who’s each a loving mom and a musical virtuoso on the piano. Lastly, it’s good to see the welcome inclusion of the debut title’s Inheritance DLC, which sees you enjoying the position of the aforementioned couple’s daughter. Suffice to say, there are many gifted artists, with loads of trauma and anxiousness for Bloober Staff to faucet into. So, let’s delve somewhat deeper and shine a torch on what Layers of Fears does proper.

Layers of Fears collection review — Picture Supply: Bloober Staff through Twinfinite

Atmospherically, Layers of Fears is remarkably sturdy due to its splendid audio design, mind-bending puzzles and Victorian setting. Among the paintings throughout the sport is completely chic, and there have been a variety of occasions the place I’d simply cease and gawk at a portray for a couple of minutes simply to drink all of it in.

The eerie echo of footsteps on oak, the creaking of a rusty door opening, even a few of the newly added voice work are all value a point out — certain, these parts of audio design could sound fairly routine for a horror sport, however these small particulars are vital for immersion, and I’m joyful to report they’re all largely dealt with with care and a spotlight.

Moreover, a few of the horrific set-pieces are very well-orchestrated and a pair made me really bounce out of my pores and skin a couple of occasions. Nonetheless, the place the title actually shines brightest is in a few of the profoundly disturbing imagery that Bloober Staff has managed to cook dinner up. Particularly, one set-piece involving a projector and a wee acrobat strolling on all fours springs to thoughts from Layers of Concern 2. Belief me, if you get to that part, you’ll perceive!

Layers of Fears review — Picture Supply: Bloober Staff through Twinfinite

Regardless of these constructive attributes, nevertheless, the sport feels as if it’s constructed on wobbly foundations, particularly when checked out by means of a contemporary lens. See, whereas the “Strolling Simulator” moniker is a quite derogatory time period, it’s honest to say that it does assist illustrate what you’ll be doing throughout the title’s second-to-second gameplay. And I’m gonna go on file and simply say it as it’s: the Strolling Simulator sub-genre that was all the fashion throughout the late-noughties/ mid-2010s merely hasn’t aged all that properly. There, I stated it.

However this alone isn’t what sinks Layers of Concern (2023) into extra middling territory. Sadly, the general storytelling throughout the board simply feels overwhelmingly uneven. As you’re drip-fed notes and memos throughout exploration, it shortly turns into clear that the central thriller on the coronary heart of the story is basically at odds with its commendable environment.

Frankly, the disconnected nature of how the narrative is parlayed to the participant is way from perfect, and I misplaced rely of the smorgasbord of anonymous characters who I used to be meant to look after. Positive, I linked on an emotional stage with the myriad central figures I assumed management of, particularly because the thoughtfully designed symbolism of the environments helped to demystify their mysterious backgrounds and origin tales. However, my eyes glazed over by the point I picked up the third letter from the household solicitor, or the fourth memo from the native banker prattling on about funds or different humdrum matters.

Transferring onto the puzzles themselves, and whereas a couple of are creatively designed, you may’t escape the truth that virtually all of them are ponderously repetitive PT-esque trial and error brainteasers that hardly ever make a lick of sense. As an example, I used to be caught in a single locked room for ages, and had explored excessive and low, solely to find that if I’d regarded inside a selected bucket, it will teleport me to the subsequent space. Random or what? Now and again, the tactic of fixing one of many sport’s many conundrums feels utterly and completely bone-crushingly arbitrary.

For these unaware, this up to date remake provides two new tales into the combination — the Painter’s Spouse and the Author — which quantity to round a further three-ish hours of additional content material, in addition to some brand-new gameplay segments. With out spoiling an excessive amount of, there at the moment are a couple of sequences that see you holding off a spooky outdated woman — who appears ripped straight out of Kojima’s aforementioned failed Silent Hill challenge — with the beam of your flashlight. It’s largely a welcome addition, however her appearances do begin to get outdated fairly quick.

In comparison with the 2 principal video games within the assortment, this extra content material doesn’t actually add an enormous quantity of significant lore to the general story, however it does assist flesh out the painter’s spouse, who is unquestionably one of many extra sympathetic characters in the complete mythos of Layers of Concern. Nonetheless, the additional gameplay parts and supplemental content material don’t really feel notably important per se, although your mileage could differ relying on how steeped within the overarching “Rat Queen” lore you might be.

Final of all, I’d be remiss if I didn’t name out the quite a few bugs, frame-rate hitches, and customarily poor technical issues that Layers of Concern (2023) is plagued with. From my expertise, I’d extremely suggest switching to Efficiency mode, however even on this mode, you’re prone to come throughout loads of frame-rate dips, which was fairly disappointing to see.

All informed, when Layers of Concern (2023) is firing on all cylinders, it appears like a genuinely mind-bending thrill journey as pathways behind you twist and contort within the blink of an eye fixed. These qualities are finest exemplified within the lithe and tight debut title. That stated, what really flies within the face of the gathering’s total charms is its uneven storytelling, repetitive puzzles, and buggy technical efficiency. In essence, very similar to the fractured psyches of the artists that kind the soul of those vignettes, Bloober Staff’s newest assortment is concurrently lovely, fascinating, and deeply, profoundly… aggravating.

Reviewer: Dylan Chaundy | Copy supplied by Writer.

Layers of Fear (2023) Review

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Layers of Concern (2023) on PS5

Execs

Cons

Concerning the creator

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