Layers of Fear

'Layers of Fear' was built with Unity and looks pretty good on the high setting. Lighting in particular is excellent with the exception of some blotted shadows when it’s very dark. The game in general is similar to a Gothic painting, or perhaps like a Gothic painting that a demon created after he dumped paint everywhere and it turned into a grotesque layer of oily skin. The engine stutters sometimes right before a scare, which is unfortunate.

The score is beautiful, mostly done in haunting piano with the occasional operatic vocalist. Sound design is superb. The house has a life of its own, embodied in the creaks of the floorboards, scuttering of the rats, and banging of the windows from the thunderstorm outside. There is little voice acting besides the main character occasionally reading dialogue during a memory.

'Layers of Fear' is an imaginative and exquisite horror gem, wrapped up in Victorian madness and medieval art. Traits that might normally be denounced in other games, like the length and low interactivity, only serve to accentuate its dread. Bloober has crafted a delightful nightmare.