You might know Polish studioBloober Teamfor its latest horror adventure,The Medium, or its upcoming remake of the genre classic Silent Hill 2. However, the studio first began making a name for itself with its series of first-person psychological horror games calledLayers of Fear.
In these titles, you play as a tormented artist — a painter in the first one, an actor in the sequel — who each have an obsession with the work they are trying to create. As you explore both scenarios, you begin to notice that there are a few things wrong with the protagonist, and you must soon discover the real story behind what happened to them.
Related:A Ruined Mind: The Ingenious Instability In Layers Of Fear
Layers of Fear 2023, previously called Layers of Fears, seems like a remake of the first two titles with their DLC and some new content collated into a single package. However, the studio insists that it’s a bit more than that. It is labeling this new release as “the series’ crowning work,” or “a reimagination,” and it isn’t working alone on it this time around. Bloober Team has got together with Polish studio Anshar Studio, which already helped develop the excellentObserver System Reduxa couple years back.
Earlier this week, I attended a hands-off preview of Layers of Fear 2023, featuring a new lantern mechanic, levels made from scratch in Unreal Engine 5, and a few minutes of an entirely new story called The Lighthouse, which focuses on an isolated female writer.
The event started with a brief showcase of what looked like the beginning of the new story, with The Writer reading a letter of congratulations for winning a competition and moving to her typewriter. Before she gets a chance to write anything though, she hears a strange noise and stands up to investigate the source.
The slow movement, dark hallways, detailed sound design, and a painting that changes when you look at it indicate the obvious: this is the Layers of Fear you know. This first clip didn’t show much more, apart from a brief phone dialogue between the protagonist and her son, who seems to be ill. This might be one of the topics (or distractions) of the whole experience, which also will try to connect the previous entries and provide closure for the series' mythology, according to creative director Damian Kocurek.
The second clip is much more interesting. You can see an early section of the first title completely remade, maintaining the original idea but with improved texture quality and advanced dynamic lighting. The flames below the floor and the particles you can see really revitalize a game that looked fine enough but was always carried by its artistic design. Now both elements will catch your eye.
The use of Unreal Engine 5 is key in making the game “more immersive and a more visceral experience,” explains Kocurek. Apart from the jump to 4K, HDR, and Ray-Tracing, all elements absent in the originals, he adds that the Lumen system in UE5 feels like “the next step,” and how the dynamic lighting works with the lantern is an essential part of the horror.
The lantern works how you would expect it to, bringing some light to the environment while also helping to uncover hidden messages and interacting with a strange black substance dotted about the place.
In the third clip, the lantern is also revealed as a new weapon you’re able to use against enemies to temporarily incapacitate them. Be warned though, it comes equipped with a gauge that will fill itself as you use it, and will overheat if you’re a little too greedy. You’ll have to use it wisely to both solve new puzzles and deal with the abhorrent beings following you.
According to Kocurek, the game is still “a psychological horror game, focused on narrative,” and this won’t change because of the new mechanic. Its effect is only temporary, so it’s only an extra tool in your inventory. In fact, there are a lot of level design changes, not only because of the lantern, but also “to have a better horror intensity curve, to build better scares and atmosphere,” says the creative director. “We expanded the AI of the enemies, their behaviors, and what they do.”
Both Layers of Fears (as well as the rest of Bloober Team’s catalog) are games that use mental health as their main themes, although we can arguehow well they are portrayed. This new title seems to follow the same line of the ‘suffering artist’s downward spiral.’
When asked about this, Kocurek explained that, “we prepare as best as we can. We know [mental health] is a sensitive subject and a tough one to prepare, but we also wanted to tell a good story, a very dark story as often psychological horror stories are.” He goes on to explain how the team did a lot of research and worked with “external partners” to handle the topics in the best way possible.
Bloober Team PR Laura Bernas, perhaps echoing some of the negative criticism that The Medium received in this regard, added that “we also listen very carefully to the feedback of the players and from the community. “We really see [their comments and opinions].”
Layers of Fear will launch in June on Steam, Epic Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
