Layers of Fear VR

The story and treatment of its themes hasn’t aged well, but the shocks land and the sense of being lost in a haunted mansion offers a palpable sense of isolation.

Even with the reduction in graphical fidelity and the controller shortcomings, I still found LoFVR compelling to replay after five years from having played the original. The story is pretty good, but moreover I really liked the ever-changing mansion and Twilight Zone weirdness of it all. That kind of atmosphere and design lend themselves well to VR play, and to that end the game is interesting on PSVR, despite its shortcomings. Plus, at only $20, LoFVR is relatively light on the wallet for a few hours of spooky VR.

I just wish it did a better job of fully realising the possibilities of virtual reality. Layers of Fear VR manages to ramp up the terror and intensity thanks to the sensory overload and isolation inherent in the medium, but it’s held back by awkward controls that serve as a constant distraction and detract from the atmosphere that the original game did such a good job of creating. Layers of Fear is a riveting piece of psychological horror, but the VR version falls short.