

While being on edge constantly is stressful, it was always compelling to find out how the game will terrorize next. With linear hallways and small rooms, it is easy to control the situation, but credit must be given to the timing, duration and placement of scares. Most are successful in their intent to cause sharp distress. The variety and quality of the scares is worth praising. The most interesting aspect comes from the walls or paintings that change or blend. There are human apparitions and a hefty supply of creepy dolls.
#Layers of fear game review windows#
Doors slam, shadows appear, and windows blow open from the wind. As the adventure progresses, these changes become more bizarre and comprehensive.īetter scares are reserved for more traditional horror clichés. Some of these events are part of the progression, taking you to a new section, while others are used more specifically to give you the creeps. It is not just the rooms that change, furniture moves or disappears entirely. Another change occurs upon reaching a locked door, whereby turning around reveals a wall right where a corridor was just seconds ago. There might be a square room with four doors, each of them blocked with bricks, and one-by-one they vanish when out of view. Abrupt changes to the layout occur when you are not looking. The changing mansion is a vital component when it comes to scaring the player. The incomplete painting looks pretty freaky, it gets worse As you open doors and find keys, you access completely new and illogical areas. Side rooms can be explored to locate more story notes, but most of the adventure is a straight line that resembles a walking simulator. It is not a maze because there is almost only one way forward. The horror unfolds in hallways and rooms that bear some resemblance to the original mansion, but the layout is all wrong. Once you leave the studio, all bets are off. Finding the main items is not a scavenger hunt because the adventure is linear and will take you directly to each and then back to the painting. This painting tracks progress, along with other collectibles stored inside the studio.

No artistic talent is required, instead you scour the altered mansion for specific items that progress the painting to the next stage. What exactly you are painting and why you are painting it are questions that will be answered in due time. With a blank canvas in front of you, your task is to complete the painting. The mansion, as you know it, will become a very different place-a twisted adventure with a scare around every corner. After a bit of exploring, you gain access to the painting studio that is central to the adventure. Even doors need to be pulled or pushed to find out what, or who, lies behind. Many of these sundries are found inside drawers, which you manually slide open by ‘grabbing’ them with the mouse. Interactivity within the house is minimal, but notes can be read, and photos browsed, should you come across them. The mansion appears fairly normal, apart from some rats scurrying around the basement and a few locked doors. Layers of Fear takes place in a Victorian-era mansion, and you play as a painter who must finish his latest creation. Nothing could possibly go wrong in this child's room
