One of the biggest announcements made during Summer Game Fest was for Layers of Fears, which is a remake compilation of the games in the first-person psychedelic horror series, with some new content added in. The game is being developed by Bloober Team and Anshar Studios, though the footage of the game with the Bloober logo was briefly reminiscent of the new Silent Hill rumors and leaks that have been spreading.
The Layers of Fear series combine horror and puzzle-solving, as the player enters the broken minds of the protagonists, and must piece together their memories and personality, which are hidden by disturbing and frightening imagery. The first entry in the series involves an artist, who is trying to reconcile his memories onto the canvas. Layers of Fear received an expansion, called Inheritance, which starred the artist’s daughter. The most recent entry in the series was Layers of Fear 2, which was released in 2019. Layers of Fear 2 involves an actor who is trapped aboard an abandoned ship and is being contacted by a mysterious director, who wants them to perform tasks.
Bloober Team revealed that it was returning to the Layers of Fear franchise, with an entry that will arrive in 2022. It was revealed during Summer Game Fest that Layers of Fears is being developed for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. The trailer can be seen on the official The Game Awards YouTube channel. It seems that the game has been hit with a real-life curse, as it’s one of many games that will now launch in 2023.
The confusingly titled Layers of Fears contains remakes of Layers of Fear, the Inheritance DLC for Layers of Fear, and Layers of Fear 2. The visuals of the games have been overhauled, as it has been built in Unreal Engine 5, and it’s using the power of the current-gen systems, with some amazing lighting effects thrown in. The game will also include an expanded plotline and gameplay direction, which means that the familiar stories that fans will recognize can now play out in a different way. This likely means that the Layers of Fear games will have new endings, alongside the originals.
Layers of Fears wasn’t the only remake announced during Summer Game Fest, as the show closed out with the reveal for The Last of Us Part 1. The Layers of Fear games arguably need the remake treatment more, as the many shades of brown in The Last of Us world scarcely need high-tech hardware to create, while the Layers of Fear games could use that extra polish and the better technology to help create their terrifying worlds. The visuals in the Layers of Fears trailer are impressive, and Bloober Team already has experience working with the current-gen hardware, thanks to 2021’s The Medium on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. It will be interesting to see how the story of these games has changed in the transition to Layers of Fears.
Layers of Fear will be released for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S in early 2023.
