The tortured and twisted mind of an artist driven mad by loss. There you have it, Layers of Fear in one line. But let's explore it a bit and see how just deep the vein runs.
On it's face...
...This is a story about an artist trying to create his masterpiece but is slowly driven insane in the process. Underneath, it's a story of love, loss, and regret and we get to experience this morbidly beautiful work of art in and of itself through the schizophrenic mind of a broken man.
Storytelling in Layers of Fear is done visually with walls literally melting away and paintings that may change their faces as you walk by. 
A spot or two here and there of written information will help affirm what it is you'll suspect is going on. I actually really enjoyed seeking information to flesh out the characters involved. Opening drawers and cabinets can yield a snippet of back story and perhaps a key to that locked door down the hall that you couldn't open. Maybe you don't want to. Either way eventually you'll end up back in your art studio to put the next touch on your magnum opus.
You'll spend the entire time in the home of the main character and every corner has some way of scaring you. Atmosphere is perfectly wrought by the beautifully composed music and ambient noise. Floors creak, piano keys "tink", voices flit from surprising directions, weird scratching noises come from the rats that may or may not be there and even your prosthetic leg thumps against the floorboards; dull and heavy as you amble along. Sounds can at times even provide you with hints at how to proceed. The game takes place at night during a thunder storm (what else would you expect?) and the artist's old Victorian home has a special way of making you question whether or not you're even really there. Every step taken filled my mind with trepidation and managed to make me jump every time something happened, even when I knew it must be coming.
Progression...
...Is a pretty simple concept in this game. As the artist, your goal is to find a few objects that spark your creativity so you can complete the painting in your studio. So you'll wander the hallways in your home to seek them out and uncover memories of a recent past while you do. There isn't an inventory to manage, you'll just see items accumulate in the lower right hand corner of the screen and if you happen to find what they interact with then the object is used. Traversal through the artist's home is more or less on rails, but the game does a good job at making you feel otherwise as you push ever forward exactly where you're being directed.
The house itself will try to confuse you by changing its own corridors, leading you in circles and never ending twists and turns. I remember at one point walking down a hallway toward a door: Behind me there was a noise so I turned around to see nothing, and turning back the door was replaced by a window. As I drew closer to the window I began to realize that there was no way for me to pass, so I moved to turn around again, and when I did I suddenly found myself on the other side of that window looking back at where I was just standing. This kind of thing happens from time to time and it's a wonderful mechanic that helps things feel pretty fresh when you start getting used to being scared.
One of the more interesting things...
...About this game is that you never really feel threatened by anything; unsafe, yes but not threatened. It's more like an ever present feeling of dread, of being unsettled and disturbed by events taking place in your home, your mind. It's not survival. You're not running helplessly from anything. It's just scary. The downside is that there's very little time for suspense to build between happenings, it's kind of one thing after another. Of course you as the player can take your time, move slow and help supplement that suspense to a point. But it would be nice to move through an area with a little quiet time once in a while to make the next surprise really hit that last nerve.
It becomes very clear as you play that the artist is insane. Not just because the game tells you so, but also because of the visual information that is all around you. This feels like much more than just a typical haunted house. It's like a trip through the damaged psyche of a man who has had so many traumatic experiences that he can't tell what's real or not any more. As if he's trapped in his own mind until he completes this painting at any cost. In one beautifully illustrated scene, the symbology of the game seemed to rear it's head in the form of an open window. Like maybe it was first time in quite a while that the artist could clearly see. Then he's quickly shut out by the window frame slamming closed and is thrust back into madness. Brilliant.
Graphically...
...Layers of Fear is quite pretty. Built using the Unity Engine, details are pretty spectacular. There are points where edges and decals can look a little fuzzy, kind of like a bad stereoscopic recording. I feel like this is probably due to some depth of field action but there's no way to turn it off or adjust it so I can't say. Textures look great, and on the whole the entire world build is impressive. Lighting is very good as well and brings life to even pitch black environments. Everything just comes together to immerse you in the scene. All this on top of great performance; on maximum settings I noticed very few frame drops and the ones I had were brief, lasting only a second or two. I'll post my own system specs at the end of this review for some comparison.
Conclusion
I had been very excited for Layers of Fear since I started hearing about it some months back and it didn't disappoint. It's been quite a long time since I played a horror title that managed to make me feel all of the things that this one did. I used to oil paint quite a lot and I can sort of relate to getting lost in it. Nothing like the artist in Layers of course but perhaps it gave me a way to relate to the subject at hand.
This title is another one of those very rare and wonderful times where Steam's Early Access program wasn't a dismal failure. If you're into horror games you'll most likely enjoy this one. Layers is a title that puts you squarely in the shoes of a psycologically flawed individual and brings real discomfort and uneasiness through sound and vision. My play through took about five hours, but I imagine one could probably rush through in around four. And I'll say that even though I'm not usually a fan of short titles, Layers of Fear being longer would likely remove fear from the equation since you'd be so used to it's methods that it would become boring. It's $19.99 and fully released on Steam.
System requirements for Layers of Fear are as follows
Windows
MINIMUM:
OS: Windows 7
Processor: Intel Core2 Quad Q8400
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 1GB / Radeon R7 250X 1GB
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 5 GB available space
Additional Notes: Supported Gamepads: Microsoft Xbox 360 Games for Windows (Wired), Microsoft Xbox One Controller (Wired), Sony PS4 DualShock 4 controller (wired), Steam Controller
Mac
MINIMUM:
OS: OS X 10.10 or 10.11
Processor: 2.3GHz Intel Core i5
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB VRAM / Nvidia GeForce 750M / Intel HD 6100
Storage: 5 GB available space
Additional Notes: Supported Gamepads: Xbox 360 for Windows controller (wired) and the Xbox One controller (wired)
SteamOS +Linux
MINIMUM:
OS: Steam OS, Ubuntu 14.04 and 15.10
Processor: Intel Core i5 3470
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB
Storage: 5 GB available space
Additional Notes: Supported Gamepads: Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller for Windows (Wired), Steam Controller
My Own System Specs
Processor: AMD FX-8370 8 core
RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance at 1600 MHZ
Graphics: AMD/XFX R9-280X with 3GB VRAM
This one is high on my list of titles to buy soon. I’m a sucker for creepy games, especially if they don’t cause so much panic I completely quit playing after a few hours. Yes, I’m looking at you, Alien Isolation.
I’m still waiting for a good quiet night where im totally alone and can just sit in front of that game with a pair of headphones and be fucking terrified.
I love tracking the trajectory of the horror genre. When combat was passed off as a lost cause it was removed. When inventory was passed of as a lost cause it was streamlined. When jump scares were deemed too predictable and cheap they were lampshaded. When puzzles became routine they were dumbed down. This has resulted in a new design document for horror. Weird environment and idiosyncratic storytelling in first person. While they are just as formulaic as their forebears they are somehow more forgivable for being meaningful. Creepiness has always been a matter of player individuality. Nothing hits home for everyone. And that’s exactly why I don’t bother with these non-combat horror games. If the horror is a miss and there’s no gameplay to fall back on then it was a waste of time and money. The key has always been balance of exploration and combat but the modern attempts at horror (that games like this are a knee jerk reaction to) have skewed more towards combat. I’m rambling. Sorry.
Rambling is good, don’t apologize.
I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by this one. My issue with combat horror was always becoming desensitized within a few hours and the combat felt more like a chore. A good example would be Dead Space. Very suspenseful in a truly scary environment attached to a sense of urgency because there are these awful creatures chasing you constantly. But pretty soon those creatures are just an obstacle to get through and it takes away from the overall fear factor.
Layers has jump scares, but it mostly focuses on mental stability. I felt like the devs a great job at putting me, the player, in the role of this crazy person. I had a pretty constant feeling of apprehension because I was pretty sure whatever was behind that door over there wasn’t a good thing. And the further you get the more the artist spirals toward inescapable madness.
But yes for sure you’re right, not everything hits home for everyone. Still I’d recommend it, at least on a good sale if you’re questioning it.
My issue with titles like this are really the saem issue I had with Amnesia and Soma, and that’s when I’m scared in a game, I can normally do something about it. I can fight back. You can’t do that in a horror film or novel, this is the one medium where you can get the shit scared out of you and then throw poo at the scary monster. But when you tell me, nah just go shit yourself, I need a damn good narrative to back it up. Though it sounds like this one at least has something unique to tell on that front.
Yeah really true. Games like Amnesia where all you can do is run away make it feel more like an interactive film. But folks liked that because they felt like they were a part of it, which is great.
Alien Isolation (mentioned below by Tim Chesson) twists that a bit by giving you ways to fight back, except that none of those ways matter. There is absolutely nothing you can do to fight the alien except escape; at least until you get ahold of a flame thrower. Even then all you can do is scare it away for a few moments. And any attempt to defend yourself from other entities in the game will only draw the alien to you. It certainly didn’t stop me from liking Isolation. Afterall the aliens in the movies were tough nuts to crack so it made perfect sense that one person with a pistol or a big heavy wrench wasn’t going to hurt the thing. And man it’s super scary having that thing track you through the walls and drop out of vents here and there. I actually found myself whispering things like “ok just sit here a second and it’ll pass”. The atmosphere is great.
“I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by this one. My issue with combat horror was always becoming desensitized within a few hours and the combat felt more like a chore. A good example would be Dead Space. Very suspenseful in a truly scary environment attached to a sense of urgency because there are these awful creatures chasing you constantly. But pretty soon those creatures are just an obstacle to get through and it takes away from the overall fear factor.”
Don’t panic. I’m not about to go all comments section vendetta on you. The scenario you described above is exactly what I mean by “player individuality”. Dead Space played out in a similar way for me but it was the combat that saved the game, hold on, don’t leave, I’m not just being contrarian.
Dead Space was the best horror game to hit my hands since Resident Evil 4 (not having that debate today but we can later) for many of the same reasons. The core reason is that after desensitization to the “horror” kicks in I was left with a entertaining action game. Think about Resident Evil 4 (forgive me if you haven’t played it I’ll make this accessible just in case), it isn’t a brief experience but the feeling of dread is frequently renewed. As you fight the variety of bad things, you’ll adapt to their attacks and behaviors and then the experience shifts from “what is that thing?!” to “kill it quick before it hits me with that one move”. Combatless games don’t have the same shift. It is “what is that?!” to “this asshole again?! time to run and wait”. Now, interestingly enough, the game you reviewed embodies another mutation (based on my understanding of what you wrote). Layers dodges the previously mentioned bullet by removing the “opposition” completely. The result is likely a horror themed adventure game focused on narrative and light puzzle solving. By doing that it becomes a different type of experience altogether and the point of comparison becomes somewhat moot.
So, what’s the point of my rambling this time? It’s a bit broad but think of it like this, horror isn’t a genre of video game but rather a theme or style. It just goes to show that our categorization of video games is incredibly complicated and simultaneously inadequate (or maybe even unnecessary). Just thoughts.
haha Well I think my wording was out of place there. I meant to imply that you might be pleasantly surprised by Layers of Fear. Not by my comment about Dead Space. That’s my fault though for bad context.
I agree Dead Space is one of the best horror games to come out in a long time. I played one and two and really loved them. I might even give three a shot some day, but from what I understand it really jumped the shark.
Anyway, I’m sorry if I came off as defensive. I only noticed my mistake in paragraph structure looking at it here and now.
I understood you. I’m sure Layers might be worth a look but what you mentioned about Dead Space is a more interesting conversation.
So, forget about Layers of Fear for a moment and let me clarify why I pulled that paragraph.
Speaking about Dead Space; we both experienced a similar phenomenon. You grew desensitized to the horror of combat and found it to be a slog. I grew desensitized to the horror of the scenario (the atmosphere, the environment, the sound design). While you found the combat distracting, I found it redeeming. It was combat that kept me engaged and entertained in Dead Space. Without something to fight, the game would have become dull. That’s what I mean by individual differences. See how radically different our views on that facet of the experience are?
Don’t bother with 3. The combat and level design isn’t nearly as tightto compensate for the game’s superfluous build-a-gun system and co-op. Removing limbs isn’t as necessary (or possible) because of the focus on traditional weapons. The co-op is fun but that’s not saying much as even the most mundane and monotonous tasks are enhanced with camaraderie (this is why having like-minded people at work to talk to makes a workplace “fun”).