![]() Other times it was accompanied by a cryptic clue and I was required to work a bit for the solution. Sometimes the answer was right in front of me, as simple as remembering three digits scrawled in paint. Each of the six chapters has a puzzle or two hidden in its rooms. Literally too, as I would walk around a perpetual hallway several times while the game proclaimed "GOING IN CIRCLES" on the walls in mocking handwriting. The horror works pretty well, but the eternal hallways of the mansion can become circular over time. Of course I’m not going to look back, I’m going to dash through that door and close it behind me as fast as I can. In fact, it sometimes gave me very specific instructions on what to do, such as when I was approaching a door that read "DON’T LOOK BACK" above it in blood. This isn’t the kind of game where twitchy ghosts run down the corridor and kill the player whenever they make a wrong turn. Game overs are possible, but I had to work to find them. My actions were limited to walking, quickly walking, and picking things up. In terms of gameplay, it’s a spartan experience. ![]() ![]() 'Layers of Fear' has that same complexity, in spades. ![]() It was so successful because it put the burden of fear on the player’s mind instead of overt shock or gore. In that very short game, the player plodded through a C-shaped corridor for what seemed like an eternity, but every playthrough garnered more tidbits like phone recordings, ghostly sightings, and other spooky occurrences. It builds on the somewhat repetitive but still very effective scares of 'P.T.' ('Playable Teaser'), the genius of a demo for the cancelled 'Silent Hill' sequel. There are jump scares to be sure, but the game is more than another haunted house. Bloober is happy to let my imagination run wild with the horrible possibilities of their meaning, as is common for good horror. There are only whiffs of exposition, tantalizing bits of knowledge tucked away in the memories. Interacting with these objects initiates memories for the painter, and slowly I pieced together what had happened to the family and the house. A child’s drawing, a love letter, a hastily scribbled doodle. You see, his wife and young daughter, who normally live with him in the mansion, are nowhere to be found, but there are traces of them everywhere. What he discovers along the way is vague, suggestive, and eventually very dark. ![]() The nameless protagonist is a painter working on his magnum opus, and explores the house to find six important ingredients for his work (hint: they’re not paint). The game takes place sometime in the late 19th century in a mansion that has serious lighting problems. Both versions were scary, and both were different in subtle ways. More than once, kind of - the press kit was so creepy that I missed the instructions and played through all four chapters of the early access version before running through it again on full release. In the case of 'Layers of Fear', I was so intrigued by the story and what was behind the next door that I played it through in one sitting, despite my terror. I love them, no matter how abusive they are to my psyche, but I usually have to take a break every so often for the sake of my nerves. I’m a bit of a ninny when it comes to playing horror games. ![]()
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