We reviewed Layers of Fear

Driftwood
Monday, February 15, 2016 | 6:15 PM
5 comments

GSY Review PC PS4 Xbox One

Layers of Fear will finally be available on PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4 tomorrow, and after completing the final version, we can now tell you a bit more about our experience. Inside, you'll find our verdict, a couple of gameplay videos of the PC version and images (including some of the incredibly creepy press kit we were sent last week). Enjoy!

Verdict

Bloober Team's title is not as scary as we expected, though it might be more depending on who's playing it, but it still has its share of very effective jump scares and it is disturbingly atmospheric. Being a very linear experience similar to the Playable Teaser Konami will never transform into a real game, Layers of Fear is a scripted experience. In fact, playing it is pretty much like exploring the haunted house of a funfair, you move forward trying to expect the next scare and you're never fully prepared in the end. That being said, if you really want to understand the story, you'll have to explore the house very carefully, looking for documents to learn more about the main character's past. Layers of Fear is obviously not a very long game, but it wouldn't especially benefit from a lengthier adventure, quite the contrary. Blooper Team managed to create a particularly entertaining title and we had a very good time playing it despite some technical issues. We can't wait to see what the studio will do next.

On the plus side
Very atmospheric
A slow descent into madness
Art style is great
Nice visuals (PC)
Sotry is compelling
The hidden documents fill in the blanks
The few jump scares are pretty varied
A full version of P.T with all its promises

On the down side
Performance issues, even on PC
Controls lack precision with a controller
So dark you can barely see at times
Short

30 Gamersyde images (Steam)

Commented on 2016-02-15 21:36:31

I watched it. Great atmosphere, super visuals.

In reply to

Zat

Commented on 2016-02-16 20:10:53

Looks great. On down side, there is a thing with the bad precision with a controller. God, who plays first-person game on PC with a controller??? Now that´s bizzare.

gonzax

Commented on 2016-02-17 13:57:57

I always play first person pc games with a controller, I play sitting on my couch and that is the only way I want to play them. There is no excuse for bad precision, though, the controller is not the problem but the programming.

Driftwood

Commented on 2016-02-17 14:09:05 In reply to gonzax

I agree, I'm also a couch guy, and there is no one to shoot in this game anyway so why use a mouse? (also I hate playing with a keyboard, it reminds me of the time when I had no choice on my PC 1512 :p²)

The gamepad controls are ok overall though, they could be more precise it's true but it works good enough not to ruin the experience.