Layers of Fear Reviews

Layers of Fear is ranked in the 60th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
No Recommendation / Blank
Feb 15, 2016

A gloriously ghoulish horror game with some trippy transformations, held back by what it borrows from other releases.

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64 / 100
Feb 14, 2016

Layers of Fear is an intriguing experimental haunted house, but without a proper sense of pacing, it fails to scare.

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IGN
Top Critic
5.8 / 10.0
Feb 14, 2016

Layers of Fear lacks the surprises and subtlety needed to keep things interesting all the way through. It makes a strong first impression, but quickly exhausts its best ideas, making it hard for them to really shine as scary or meaningful moments. It's hard to be terrified when you can see what's coming at the end of every long dark hallway.

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Feb 14, 2016

One of the best horror games ever made, this will scare you in incredibly clever ways and make you question everything you see.

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5 / 10.0
Feb 19, 2016

If you like jump-scares, this is for you. If you like horror titles that effectively establish an atmosphere, this is not for you

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7 / 10
Feb 14, 2016

Colouring your world with intense shades of terror.

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Unscored
Feb 24, 2016

A less linear adventure, or perhaps the addition of something that could actually harm the player would have elevated Layers of Fear into something amazing. If you want a keen haunted house you can wander through at home, the game is worth picking up. If you're looking for a great horror experience, the scares in Layers of Fear won't hold your interest, even with the game's short running time.

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7 / 10.0
Feb 14, 2016

Layers of Fear wasn't as frightening as I thought it would be based on early impressions, but I was still entertained by its mind-bending haunted house even when the jump-scares fell flat.

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Feb 16, 2016

In a game that has a lot of fresh ideas on how to build suspense and let your mind do most of the work, it's disappointing to see frequent usage of those tautologies (it's scary because it's scary).

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TheSixthAxis
Top Critic
8 / 10
Feb 16, 2016

Layers of Fear sits somewhere between the pejoratively classified 'walking simulators' and a full game experience, as for the most part you are simply wandering around and solving the odd puzzle. Despite the clichés and obvious jump scares, I rather enjoyed my time exploring the mansion and I'm looking forward to having another play through to see what I missed the first time round. If you enjoyed the Silent Hills teaser P.T. and want more of the same, then Layers of Fear is well worth a look.

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8 / 10.0
Feb 16, 2016

If you are looking for a nice atmosphere, gashes visions and a clever narrative that unfolds room after room, Layers of Fear is the game for you.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Feb 14, 2016

An excellent horror experience for both seasoned and newbie gamers. Despite some minor shortcomings, Layers of Fear brings some classic elements while adding new depth, creating a unique and fear filled journey that you won't be able to tear yourself away from.

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5.5 / 10.0
Feb 14, 2016

Wonderfully mischievous visual tricks and grim environments can't stop Layers of Fear from falling flat with its hellish pacing, framerate issues and scares you can spot a mile away.

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VideoGamer
Top Critic
7 / 10
Feb 14, 2016

Layers of Fear is a fun ride. If you can live with the poor frame rate you'll find a horror game that relishes the chance to mess with your head.

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5 / 10.0
Feb 19, 2016

Layers of Fear is well made, but commits a potentially greater sin than a game that's simply bad. It's dull. It's dreary. It's got as much bite as a beach ball. Perhaps for those who have only the lightest experience with horror games, it could be seen as authentically and astutely terrifying. For me, it's nothing new at all, and its presentation is so railroaded it might as well have been a ghost train.

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5 / 10.0
Feb 25, 2016

Team Bloober's horror game piles on its attempted shocks so heavily you'll grow numb to them before the adventure is half over

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Unscored
Feb 16, 2016

Layers of Fear is an effective scare 'em up but the sense of dislocation and the lack of character development left me feeling as if I'd enjoyed a thematically messy series of shocks rather than a cohesive horror story. It's a collection of scary things that are tangentially related to the idea of creative blocks and familial cruelty rather than an exploration of the artist or his personality flaws. By the time the credits rolled, I knew very little about this particular painter that I couldn't have learned by reading a brief synopsis.

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90 / 100
Feb 14, 2016

Layers of Fear is an incredible, mind-bending horror game. The gorgeous environments are both detailed and terrifying, and the story will captivate you as you work to unravel all the threads. What it lacks in polish it makes up for in how obsessed you'll become with finishing the masterpiece.

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Feb 15, 2016

Layers of Fear delivers on its promise of a unique vision of gothic horror, but the game leans heavily on cliche genre gimmicks to jump scare players.

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6 / 10
Feb 23, 2016
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