There’s a very basic fetch quest dynamic to each of the game’s six chapters. All while unraveling an intriguing, and increasingly disturbing, mystery as to the source of the painter’s woes. It’s from here that Layers of Fear sets its stall out as a veritable headfuck machine, as it plays with perspective and that aforementioned fear/dread of what might be over your shoulder. A few brushstrokes in and our tortured artist begins to have some trippy hallucinations that seem to stem from the secrets behind this masterwork. In fact, your first task upon entering his creaking, sprawling homestead, is to seek out the unfinished art and continue it. The plot to this psychological horror game sees you in the paint-specked shoes of a troubled artist who is trying to complete his magnum opus painting. Noting was really expected of Layers of Fear as a result, even if the pitch did sound rather interesting. Layers of Fear comes from Bloober Team, a Polish game developer whose last outing into horror was creating the horrific BRAWL (horrific because it was a terrible game rather than anything upsetting psychologically. The resurgence of horror as a video game genre has been predominantly down to indie developers simplifying the process and taking horror back to the basics whilst using the strength of their interactivity to play on players fears in far more cerebral ways rather than chucking body parts at them, and this game is definitely a part of that. Pretty much every time you look again at something behind you, it’s changed in some way, and while not a bloody or aggressively terrifying horror game, it’s very good at ratcheting up the disorientation and unease. After all, not knowing what might be there when you turn around is an essential tactic for instilling fear and dread, and it means you can load stuff behind the player’s back too!įew games embrace that latter part quite as well as Layers of Fear.
The first-person perspective is a keen favorite for the makers of modern horror video games. “You Should Play This” focuses on modern horror games worth your time and attention.
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