When the "Layers of Fear" remake was first announced, it was hard to understand the need for it. Especially since the developer and publisher, Bloober Team, has already begun work on the more anticipated remake, "Silent Hill 2." Having said that, when I actually played the game, I thought, I get it. I could see why the developers felt they had to remake it, and why they felt it was important to do so now.

"Layers of Fear 2023" is, confusingly, a remake of the original "Layers of Fear" released in 2016 and a remake of "Layers of Fear 2" released in 2019. The original game was heavily inspired by 2014's "PT" (a demo of the now-defunct "Silent Hills"), but gameplay-wise it has more in common with the "Amnesia" series. You will spend the majority of your time carefully sneaking around a number of haunted locations, collecting clues, solving puzzles, and doing your best not to piss your pants while being chased by various monsters.

Each story focuses on a different silent protagonist, but the most important are the "painter," a man obsessed with painting the perfect portrait, and the disgraced actor who has been tapped to play the lead in a new feature film. Each story takes you to a unique (and haunted) place: an abandoned lighthouse, a dilapidated family home, and a movie set on a cruise ship. As each story unravels, a bigger picture gradually emerges about how the obsession with artistic perfection has damaged the lives of those around them, and about the possibility that the thematically appropriate hauntings are the result of their own misdeeds.

The main change that distinguishes the 2023 release of Layers of Fear from the original two films is the introduction of an entirely new story, "The Writer," which serves to tie together all of the original stories present in the first two films. This introduction re-contextualizes the previous two films and makes both films part of a larger narrative, giving the entire game a Twilight Zone-style horror anthology feel.

Within the individual stories, there are many subtle changes and improvements to the original game, far from being a straight one-on-one remake. Fans of the original Layers of Fear will notice that many of the scares have been tweaked in ways that defy expectations and keep the scares fresh. Also, the clever use of Unreal Engine 5 has turned the photorealistic scares up elevenfold.

But for those who have never played the original game, there is even greater fun to be had with four different storylines and multiple endings to choose from in each. There is also an emphasis on improving the overall quality of life, with the introduction of accessibility options not present in the previous title, and the addition of fully voiced dialogue for all notes and collectibles, etc. Given the price of $30/£25, Layers of Fear is an feels like an absolute bargain for a title of its quality and length. It took me roughly 30 hours to play through the entire story and accomplish all the endings.

I played "Layers of Fear" on two slightly underpowered builds (i7-7820X, GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, 16GB RAM) and a slightly overpowered build (Ryzen 9 5900X, RTX 4080, 64GB RAM). Both builds had extremely stable frames. Both builds played the game at extremely stable frame rates and did not experience a single crash during play, and the i7-7820X build performed very well considering the age of the hardware, especially considering the visual impression of Layers of Fear. We were impressed.

We did encounter a few bugs, but nothing that detracted from the overall experience. Once, I clipped myself out of range and soft-locked myself, but this was resolved by a quick reload and only lost about 30 seconds of progress. Also, on several occasions, picking up an item would temporarily tear through the scenery, and reading a note at the wrong time would often interrupt the dialog.

My biggest criticism of Layers of Fear is that the longer you play, the less scary it becomes. Especially when one realizes how little impact death has and how generous the checkpoint system is. It is also fair to say that the updates to "Layers of Fear 2," when compared to the original, are somewhat less impressive, given that the game is four years old. That said, the areas carried over from the first game are definitely prominent, but this contrast is thankfully offset by the introduction of an entirely new storyline that ties the second game and its DLC content together.

It is difficult not to see the story of Layers of Fear as a metaphor for the existence of the remake. All of the stories, including the new ones made exclusively for the remake, deal with themes of perfectionism and art criticism in some way, and remaking these titles gives Bloober Team, in collaboration with Anshar Studios, the opportunity to show everyone how far Bloober Team has come since 2016

"L'Art de la Critique.

"Layers of Fear 2023" doesn't feel like a simple fundraising remake or a late-breaking remake for a studio short on ideas, but rather a statement of intent. It is the best game Bloober Team has ever put out, and its existence serves to show everyone why they believe they are the right people to helm the "Silent Hill 2" remake. As such, I went from being ambivalent about Silent Hill 2 to cautiously optimistic.