These days, with the number of titles being released on a daily basis, it seems that a game can take place pretty much anywhere, from a far flung artificial planet such as Halo to a local high school in Life Is Strange. However, one place that games generally don’t take place is on a cruise ship during the early part of the Golden Age of Hollywood. That is, of course, exactly where and when Layers of Fear 2 is based.
Layers of Fear 2 thrusts you into the role of an unidentified actor during the early part of the 20th Century. You are taking on a role for a rather demanding director who is mysteriously absent. Oddly enough, the entire ship you’re supposed to film on is vacant, save for some mannequins and a plethora of notes, clues and movie posters. But where does the fear come from? What’s happening? Why are things on the ship not quite as they initially seem? Let’s take a look into the world of Layers of Fear 2.
One of the big issues I had with Layers of Fear 2 is that it’s incredibly subtle. Subtlety works in many areas but gaming is rarely one of them. Strolling through the bowels of a huge ship sounds fun, but with no real purpose it’s not particularly exciting. Piecing together clues quickly becomes frustrating as you find yourself no closer to a solution or a cohesive storyline. There’s a lot of nuance and innuendo in the dialogue and items you do find, but it’s not particularly easy to assemble the narrative. As a storytelling mechanism in a game, subtlety just doesn’t flow very well, and that’s particularly true here.
In addition to the story, you also quickly find that the backdrop for the game is somewhat obtuse as well. Not too many people are intimately familiar with Hollywood in its original heyday anymore, and often those that are do not play video games. In trying to use this theme, Bloober Studios relied so heavily on it that most gamers will have no idea what movies are even represented. I got the occasional vibe of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, but I can tell I’m missing a ton of movie references to movies I’ve never seen and likely never heard of. I’m a pretty well-versed guy in terms of movies, but not back that far, and that’s definitely a downfall of Layers of Fear 2. Many gamers won’t get it. I know I didn’t. And when the theme leaves you wanting and the dialogue is so obscure that you’re not sure quite what’s going on in the story, the game itself is left wanting.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a gorgeous game, the gameplay is smooth, the framerate is excellent on the PS4, and the controls are pleasantly fluid. But it’s just not that fun. Or scary. It seems like a game called Layers of Fear 2 should be at least a little frightening. Even with abruptly appearing mannequins however, there’s just not much in the way of scares. Sure, a weird puppet thing chases you and mops the floor with you repeatedly. But even that honestly doesn’t come off as terrifying, more just mildly creepy and irritating. Chase sequences follow a very repetitive die, reload, die formula. Sure some things happen and they try to scare you a bit. But overall it’s simply a slow, slow burn.
I did thoroughly enjoy the visuals in Layers of Fear 2. The hidden grotesqueries in the filmstrips, the beautiful nautical feel that evokes images of the Titanic and other majestic oceangoing vehicles of yore, and even the monsters and mannequins that occasionally pop up when you least expect it. There’s a lot to unpack visually in the game, but you’re not otherwise rewarded for exploration, so all you’re really doing is slowing down your progress in a game that will likely run you around 10 hours of playtime.
Gameplay itself is so linear that you feel like you’re simply moving through a movie by rote rather than playing a game, and the choices involved at various points feel so random and unconnected that it’s hard to guess that they affect which ending the game gives. This style of handholding is utterly unappealing. With very little to do other than proceed in one direction, you’re quickly reduced to not caring what happens or what’s going on. There’s no real impetus to continue, and unless you’re utterly entranced by the snippets of leading dialogue that are occasionally dropped, it’s tough to focus at all on what’s happening. A curious side note: I thought I recognized the director’s unique voice while playing and it turns out that it’s Tony Todd, most well-known for his role as Candyman in the 1992 movie. That bit was definitely a treat!
What you’re getting with Layers of Fear 2 is an interactive experience that borders more on art than gaming. Areas are gorgeous and well-decorated, and some sections of the game shift to black and white with excellent blending techniques, smoothly transitioning to new art styles and back. It’s all an obvious labor of love from a team that brought you the creeping madness that is the first Layers of Fear. But this isn’t a game for everyone. It’s definitely something specifically for gamers that also love early Hollywood movies and have a lot of patience but don’t want to be scared much. That’s a pretty small crowd. Layers of Fear 2 is a unique title that definitely warrants a look, but will turn most people off with its oblique references and glacial pacing. For the people that are interested in it, it will likely be incredibly compelling, but those people aren’t your average gamers. If subtle, nuanced, horror-adjacent gaming with noticeably vintage movie references is in your wheelhouse though, then this is definitely the title for you! You know who you are.
This review was written based on a digital copy of Layers of Fear 2 provided by the publisher. It was played on a PS4 Pro using a 55” 1080p Sony TV.