PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Happy October, everyone! With this, the spookiest of months, gamers appreciate scary games just a little bit more than usual. While some of the most popular are the A-listers like Resident Evil, The Evil Within, Amnesia and Outlast, there are indie games that are far more terrifying. The development team behind the game Layers of Fear just released a bundle of Layers of Fear and Observer, and if you haven’t played those games, you have no idea what you are missing.
I got the chance to play Layers of Fear. This terrifying game was developed by Bloober Team and published by Aspyr Media. This first-person psychological horror game is simple in its mechanics, but it is easily one of the scariest games I have played in a very long time. I think I may have jumped more playing this than I did playing Resident Evil 7. There are basically two mechanics in this game: walk and interact. Unlike a survival horror where the goal is to hide or even fight, this game simply unravels a story… and yet, it isn’t quite just a narrative game.
Layers of Fear follows an unnamed artist, whom you play. As you start to explore an old, rundown home, you find his studio. There, a blank canvas awaits, and it is your duty to make your masterpiece. As you make your way through the dilapidated house, you begin to piece together what initially brought the main character back to that place. There are six pieces to the puzzle for you to uncover, and those six pieces paint a story of neglect, abuse, mental decline, and death. Because the story is the biggest part of the game, I want to keep most of it secret so you fine readers can discover it on your own.
There are three endings to this game: a good ending, a bad ending and a neutral ending. I got the bad ending, and I have a suspicion why. While most of the puzzles needed to make it to the end are the same, the way to get there can be different. When you hear whispers in the game, that means there is an object with an important piece of story nearby that you must find. Because I didn’t realize that until later in the game, I missed several objects that affected my knowledge of the complete story. So, when you hear whispers, take your time and look around.
To open and interact with doors and drawers, you must hold the interact button and pull which makes you feel the weight of the object you are opening. It can make Layers of Fear feel more realistic and more anxiety-inducing in times of panic. Speaking of panic, there are quick time events of sorts that, if done wrong, propel you forward instead of finishing an extra piece of the puzzle you would have otherwise completed. The difficult part is, you don’t know what these are until you’ve failed them. There are pictures to collect through the game and an album that keeps them even when a new game plus is started. Also, there is a hidden developer’s book at the end of the game. It is worth it to find as it is so creative and fun.
Because the psychological aspect weighs so heavy on the gameplay, the room transitions are so seamless and give players a terrifying peek into the mind of someone who is losing touch with reality and having his past come back to haunt him. At times, it got so frightening, I recall myself stopping in front of a room where I KNEW some shit was about to go down and saying, “Well, I guess I’ll just never finish this game, then.” I had to force myself to move forward and face my fears.
All in all, Layers of Fear was SO much fun and so intensely scary. I easily will give this game a 9 or 9.5 out of 10 and I will be playing it through again to earn more trophies, learn more secrets and try to get those quick events under my belt. Maybe I won’t jump as much the next time around.
