Layers of Fear 2

The painter had been replaced by an actor, and old mansion morphed into a ship – but the gameplay and scare tactics have changed very little.

The story in Layers of Fear 2 is decent, even if you can see the narrative twist coming, but you need to sit down and analyze the pieces for it to really come together. The same tricks used in the original to distort the environment still work here, as do the jump-scares despite their predictability over time. The longer playtime robs the title of the crispness of its predecessor, while the element of an active pursuer doesn't mix well with the game's need for more involved door and switch mechanics and the precision needed to activate those action spots. It's still worth checking out for fans — but sometime later, as opposed to immediately.

Coming from someone who adored the first Layers of Fear, I was ready to love this sequel. Instead, I was disappointed by the dearth of creativity, an overreliance on ineffective audiologs and documents, and multiple insta-kill chases that frustrated me until the end. I used to considered Bloober Team to be the best up-and-coming horror developer around, but either the horror genre is evolving beyond them, or the last three too-busy years have burnt them out.