Layers of Fear
Layers of Fear
As much as it pains me, it is time for me to move on from Titan Fall 2... At least until they add some more new content (smirk). Anyway "Layers of Fear" was not a game I planned to play. However, my wife, who is not a gamer, saw it and thought that she would like it, so grabbing the chance to get her addicted to games I figured why not. What followed was... intense.
The Bad:
1) Slow movement. So the main point of the game is that you are an artist who is slowly losing his mind and there is a story that you are trying to figure out and a painting you are trying to finish. However there is only one speed of movement and it's slow.
2) A lot of repeated graphics. I don't know if this is because it was just easier to use the same pictures, if it was part of the psychological aspect of the game, or if they couldn't use other art work for licence reasons, but I don't like that the same pieces where repeated in almost every room of the house.
3) Short. It only takes about 3-4 hours to beat the game. However after we beat it, we googled it and found that there were 2 different endings you could get based on how you interacted with the ghost of his wife. It was not exciting enough for us to want to play through another time or two to get the endings we wanted.
4) No real video cut scenes or movies outside of in game animation. I feel like a video at either the beginning or ending would have helped tell the story a little better.
5) A lot of reading. Not as much as games like Dragon Age, but enough to be a minor annoyance. However the creepiness of everything helps the reading not be excessive.
The Good:
1) Creepy! That is after all the whole point of the game. It definitely builds and provides scares at appropriate times.
2) Floating objects, which are intentional. Normally floating objects in video games are not intentional but here they add suspense and a level of fear, as the rooms are known to change orientation and the items can start lifting off the floor you start looking around for the cause. It's a very nice and very beautiful use to the element.
3) The use of paint and the textures that paint provides really adds to the creepiness and the beauty of the game. Bright rainbow-esk smears of paint on the walls and the floors are beautiful, but creepy as they are used to symbolize blood smears and violent acts.
4) The story references many horror related artists and classic stories like "The Portrait of Dorian Grey". They even manage to take artists that aren't in the horror genre and make their paintings seem scary.
5) I learned to like a new type of game and found something that my wife also enjoyed. Normally I find puzzle/maze games irritating and boring but this was an exciting and fun game. It was also fun to watch my wife squirm, scream, and jump at the scary parts. ;)
The Bad:
1) Slow movement. So the main point of the game is that you are an artist who is slowly losing his mind and there is a story that you are trying to figure out and a painting you are trying to finish. However there is only one speed of movement and it's slow.
2) A lot of repeated graphics. I don't know if this is because it was just easier to use the same pictures, if it was part of the psychological aspect of the game, or if they couldn't use other art work for licence reasons, but I don't like that the same pieces where repeated in almost every room of the house.
3) Short. It only takes about 3-4 hours to beat the game. However after we beat it, we googled it and found that there were 2 different endings you could get based on how you interacted with the ghost of his wife. It was not exciting enough for us to want to play through another time or two to get the endings we wanted.
4) No real video cut scenes or movies outside of in game animation. I feel like a video at either the beginning or ending would have helped tell the story a little better.
5) A lot of reading. Not as much as games like Dragon Age, but enough to be a minor annoyance. However the creepiness of everything helps the reading not be excessive.
The Good:
1) Creepy! That is after all the whole point of the game. It definitely builds and provides scares at appropriate times.
2) Floating objects, which are intentional. Normally floating objects in video games are not intentional but here they add suspense and a level of fear, as the rooms are known to change orientation and the items can start lifting off the floor you start looking around for the cause. It's a very nice and very beautiful use to the element.
3) The use of paint and the textures that paint provides really adds to the creepiness and the beauty of the game. Bright rainbow-esk smears of paint on the walls and the floors are beautiful, but creepy as they are used to symbolize blood smears and violent acts.
4) The story references many horror related artists and classic stories like "The Portrait of Dorian Grey". They even manage to take artists that aren't in the horror genre and make their paintings seem scary.
5) I learned to like a new type of game and found something that my wife also enjoyed. Normally I find puzzle/maze games irritating and boring but this was an exciting and fun game. It was also fun to watch my wife squirm, scream, and jump at the scary parts. ;)
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