Layers of Fear (2016)
Intense overall intensityWhat's in it
The story dwells on alcoholism, domestic strife, a spouse's fiery disfigurement, a neglected child, grief, and mental collapse.
Sustained psychological horror built on a constantly shifting mansion, dread, distorted reality, and frequent jump scares.
Bloody and grotesque imagery appears in the environment (smeared paint, wounds, a disfigured figure), but there is no combat or fighting.
Some of the painter's canvases and portraits show partial, artistic nude figures.
The painter is a heavy drinker; liquor bottles litter the mansion and drinking is shown as central to his decline.
Body-horror imagery and the wife's severe burn disfigurement are shown and referenced within the visions.
Self-destruction and implied suicide surface in the narrative around the wife's death and the painter's ruin.
Occasional mild profanity in scrawled notes and the painter's muttered ramblings.
Who can reach your kid
What it is
Layers of Fear is a first-person psychological horror game in which you play a troubled Victorian-era painter wandering an ever-shifting mansion while trying to finish his masterpiece as his grip on reality falls apart. There is no combat and you cannot really be killed; the fear comes from the environment warping around you, disturbing and grotesque imagery, distorted paintings, and frequent jump scares. The underlying story deals with heavy adult subject matter: alcoholism, mental illness, a family destroyed by fire and disfigurement, child neglect, grief, and self-destruction. Alcohol use by the main character is a recurring element, and some visions include unsettling body-horror and partly nude artistic figures. It is a single-player, story-driven experience with no online play or purchases.
How it's framed
The game frames its content as a descent into one man's guilt and madness, presenting his addiction, abuse, and the ruin of his family as tragedy and consequence rather than something glamorized or rewarded; the horror is atmospheric and interpretive, leaving the player to piece together what happened.
Details
- Developer
- Bloober Team SA
- Publisher
- Bloober Team SA
- Released
- Feb 15, 2016
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