Layers of Fear 2

Last updated

Layers of Fear 2
Layers of Fear 2 cover.jpg
Developer(s) Bloober Team
Publisher(s) Gun Media
Designer(s)
  • Michał Król
  • Paweł Niezabitowski
Programmer(s)
  • Eryk Dykiel
  • Mariusz Szaflik
Writer(s) Andrzej Mądrzak
Composer(s) Arkadiusz Reikowski
Engine Unreal Engine 4
Platform(s)
Release
  • Windows, PS4, Xbox One
  • 28 May 2019
  • Nintendo Switch
  • 20 May 2021
Genre(s) Psychological horror
Mode(s) Single-player

Layers of Fear 2 is a psychological horror video game developed by Bloober Team. It was released for Linux, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2019, and for the Nintendo Switch in 2021. It is a sequel to Layers of Fear .

Contents

In Layers of Fear 2, the player controls an actor on board a ship following instructions of an unseen director. The gameplay, presented in first-person perspective, is story-driven and revolves around puzzle-solving and exploration. A sequel titled Layers of Fear was released on 15 June 2023. [1] [2]

Gameplay

The player takes control of an actor aboard a ship. As the player explores the ship, he comes across reels of film and camera equipment, as well as various built sets. The voice of the film's director appears to be piped in at certain points, when the actor is expected to complete a certain task. Whether or not the player complies with the director's instructions influences the dialogue and ending of the game.

Plot

The game begins with an actor awakening and walking through a damaged, dilapidated area resembling the hallways of a cruise ship, encountering a deformed female figure who mocks them, stating that they "almost had it". The game begins on a cruise ship after an actor boards it in a special suite, as their agent convinced them to meet with a mysterious, eccentric director. They are contacted by the director by a speaker, and is tasked with "building the character"; the actor must traverse an area of the ship sectioned off from the guests and crew. Throughout the many corridors and rooms of the ship, they encounter many strange occurrences and seemingly supernatural happenings as the director speaks to them, with them having various flashbacks, with the various visions and hallucinations changing to match. The actor obtains different film reels that lead across four main acts, with each having puzzles, obstacles and important decisions that the player must make.

The story that is unfurled begins with a young brother, James Burns, and his older sister Lily. Both are left alone with their abusive, alcoholic father, who was left without an eye after his time in military service. He resents James, due to his wife dying after he is born, and frequently abuses him. Lily tries to lift his spirits by often playing pretend, inspired by a pirate film they secretly watch in their father's movie theater. One time, Lily falls and hit her head, and after waking when momentarily passed out, Lily says that the old her is dead, calling herself "Captain". Both siblings run away after the movie theater burns down, killing their father (it is possibly implied that Lily was responsible for it herself somehow). They later find and board onto a ship as stowaways, though they must hide from the crew members and search for food. After James almost gets them caught one time, Lily goes out to search alone. James, scared of being alone, is reminded that if he stops and listens, he can hear his sister speaking from within him. Later Lily returns, but is visibly angered and distressed; it is implied by various voices and visualizations that she was sexually assaulted by a passenger, who she then proceeded to kill. Lily, unable to handle her trauma, lashes out at James. Shortly thereafter, a fire breaks out during a storm, and James and Lily are separated, with Lily promising that she will find him. However, James lives as he escapes on a boat, while Lily dies on the ship. Years later, James is later discovered by an actor, who introduces him into the profession, leading to the events of the game.

The game ends with the actor arriving at a stage with a small boy, where they end a performance in front of a crowd. The actor then looks at themself in their room, with the actor revealed to be male or female, depending on their choices. The screen cuts to black after they turn to see a chest trembling and bursting open.

The game takes place within James' mind, who was left empty and vacant by Lily's death; the director is hinted to be his inner conscience. James is caught in an inner struggle, as he attempts to reconstruct the consciousness of his deceased sister to bring her back. His unconscious, taking the form of the director, drives him to prevent this, instead rejecting his alter-ego's attempts to overtake him. James continuously flees from a deformed, shapeless monster that represents his indecision and lack of identity. The deformed women, known as the "Rat Queen", is a mysterious entity that appears to be guiding James; in the third ending where the decisions are made in equal measure, she appears and reprimands James, and the cycle starts again as the events of the game reset. In the fifth and final act, James traverses the center of his mind within the degraded, submerged recreation of the ship, with him emerging as "Lily" or himself, with the director parting ways with him (for a time, if the third ending takes place). There is hinted to be a supernatural element to this, as Lily's voice tells him that he called out for her soul, but "something else answered", possibly referring to the Rat Queen, who might be a being aiding in finalizing his choice of who he is; this is also why some people don't completely recognize him, and no camera or writings can ascertain his appearance or his name. As for the final scene, for "Lily" it symbolizes her taking over Jacob as his sense of self is dissolved, though James' underlying knowledge will forever follow him; for the true James, it represents his acceptance and living with of his past trauma, guilt and regrets and moving on with his life, building his own personal character rather than living off another's.

Development

Reception

Layers of Fear 2's received "mixed or average reviews". Steve Petite with IGN called it "the most stunning horror game of this generation" and lauded its "hauntingly beautiful writing." [10]

Related Research Articles

<i>Enter the Matrix</i> 2003 video game

Enter the Matrix is a 2003 action-adventure video game developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Infogrames under the Atari brand name. It was the first game based on The Matrix film series. Its story is concurrent with that of the film The Matrix Reloaded and features over an hour of original footage, written and directed by the Wachowskis and starring the cast of the films, produced for the game.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is a series of stealth action-adventure video games, the first of which was released in 2002, and their tie-in novels that were endorsed by Tom Clancy. The series follows Sam Fisher, a highly trained agent of a fictional black-ops sub-division within the NSA, dubbed "Third Echelon", as he overcomes his adversaries. Levels are created using Unreal Engine and emphasize light and darkness as gameplay elements. The series has been positively received, and was once considered to be one of Ubisoft's flagship franchises. The series had sold 19 million units by 2008. No further installments have been released since 2013. A remake of the first game was announced in December 2021. Some of the game's characters are featured in XDefiant.

<i>Cold Fear</i> 2005 video game

Cold Fear is a 2005 survival horror third-person shooter video game developed by Darkworks and published by Ubisoft for PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows. It was Ubisoft's first horror game, and Darkworks' second game, after Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare in 2001. The game is centered on Tom Hansen, a member of the United States Coast Guard, who comes to the aid of a Russian whaler in the Bering Strait and finds a mysterious parasite has turned the crew into zombie-like creatures. Discovering the involvement of both the Russian mafia and the CIA, Hansen sets out to ensure the parasites don't reach land.

<i>Silent Hill 2</i> 2001 video game

Silent Hill 2 is a 2001 survival horror game developed by Team Silent, a group in Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, and published by Konami. The game was released from September to November, originally for the PlayStation 2. The second installment in the Silent Hill series, Silent Hill 2 centers on James Sunderland, a widower who journeys to the town of Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his dead wife. An extended version containing a bonus scenario, Born from a Wish, and other additions was published for Xbox in December of the same year. In 2002, it was ported to Microsoft Windows and re-released for the PlayStation 2 as a Greatest Hits version, which includes all bonus content from the Xbox port. A remastered high-definition version was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012 as part of the Silent Hill HD Collection.

<i>Batman Begins</i> (video game) 2005 movie video game

Batman Begins is a stealth action-adventure game based on the film of the same name, exploring the first year of Batman's crusade against crime. It was released in June 2005 for the Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. The console version of the game was developed by Eurocom and co-published by Electronic Arts and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment in conjunction with DC Comics. Vicarious Visions developed a distinct version of the game for Game Boy Advance, and Klear Games adapted the game for mobile phones, with both featuring action-platform gameplay. The film's original cast provided a voice-over reprisal in the game, with the exception of Gary Oldman, who portrays James "Jim" Gordon in the film and was replaced by Gavin Hammon in the game.

<i>Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu</i> 2003 video game

Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu is a 2003 action beat 'em up video game released for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance and GameCube consoles. It was developed and published by Ubi Soft in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Comics. The game is based on the television series The New Batman Adventures and features most of the voice actors reprising their roles. The story follows the Batfamily as they face a new adversary, a superpowered Asian warlord known as Sin Tzu, on the anniversary of Batman's parents' murder.

<i>Superman Returns</i> (video game) 2006 video game

Superman Returns is a video game based on the 2006 movie of the same name. It was developed by EA Tiburon and co-published by Electronic Arts and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment in conjunction with DC Comics.

<i>Madagascar</i> (video game) 2005 video game

Madagascar is a platform video game based on the animated film of the same name by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, produced by DreamWorks. The game was released on May 24, 2005 in North America and on June 30, 2005 in Europe. The GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions were developed by Toys for Bob. The Microsoft Windows version was developed by Beenox and the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance versions were developed by Vicarious Visions. All versions of the game were published by Activision. Madagascar: Operation Penguin was the next Madagascar video game to be released on the Game Boy Advance.

<i>CSI: Hard Evidence</i> 2007 video game

CSI: Hard Evidence is a computer and Xbox 360 game based on the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation television series. This is the fifth CSI game released, including CSI: Miami.

<i>The Wolf Among Us</i> 2013 video game

The Wolf Among Us is an episodic graphic neo-noir mystery-drama adventure game developed by Telltale Games, based on Bill Willingham's Fables comic book series, to which it serves as a prequel. The game consists of five episodes that were released throughout 2013 and 2014. Retail versions for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360, and Xbox One consoles were made available in November 2014. In the game, the player controls Bigby Wolf, the sheriff of Fabletown – a clandestine community within 1980s New York City consisting of various fantastical characters from fairy tales and folklore – and must investigate a series of mysterious murders, the first ones to occur in Fabletown in a long time.

<i>Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons</i> 2013 video game

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a 2013 adventure game developed by Starbreeze Studios and published by 505 Games for Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Nintendo Switch, and Amazon Luna. The narrative takes place in a fantasy world filled with fictitious creatures such as orcs and trolls, where two young brothers set out on a journey to find a cure for their father's illness. The game is often mentioned as an example of artistry in video games due to its heavy narrative. It received positive reviews from critics and had sold over 800,000 units by January 2015.

<i>Rage 2</i> First-person shooter video game

Rage 2 is a 2019 first-person shooter video game developed by Avalanche Studios in conjunction with id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game is the sequel to the 2011 game Rage. The game was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on May 14, 2019. It received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its combat but criticism for its story, characters, and open world gameplay.

<i>Valiant Hearts: The Great War</i> 2014 puzzle-adventure game

Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a 2014 puzzle adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montpellier and published by Ubisoft. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One in June 2014. Set during World War I, the game follows four characters who help a young German soldier find his love in a story about survival, sacrifice and friendship. Players solve puzzles by interacting with various objects and people. The characters are accompanied by a dog named Walt who helps players solve puzzles. Collectible items hidden in each chapter reveal facts about the war.

<i>Layers of Fear</i> 2016 video game

Layers of Fear is a psychological horror adventure game developed by Bloober Team and published by Aspyr. It was released on Linux, Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One worldwide in February 2016.

<i>Observer</i> (video game) 2017 video game

Observer is a psychological horror video game developed by Bloober Team and published by Aspyr. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in August 2017, followed by versions for Linux, macOS and Nintendo Switch. An upgraded and expanded version called Observer: System Redux was released in November 2020 for Windows, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, for Amazon Luna in March 2021, and for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in July 2021. Observer follows Daniel Lazarski, a detective known as an Observer, who can hack people's minds as a method of interrogation.

<i>A Plague Tale: Innocence</i> 2019 video game

A Plague Tale: Innocence is an action-adventure stealth game developed by Asobo Studio and published by Focus Home Interactive. The game was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in May 2019. It was made available on the cloud-based service Amazon Luna in November 2020. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of the game were released in July 2021, alongside a cloud version for the Nintendo Switch.

<i>The Medium</i> (video game) 2021 video game

The Medium is a psychological horror video game developed and published by Bloober Team. It was released for Windows and Xbox Series X/S on January 28, 2021, for PlayStation 5 on September 3, 2021, for Amazon Luna on February 17, 2022, and for macOS on August 31, 2023. A Nintendo Switch version came out on July 29, 2023.

The Dark Pictures Anthology is an anthology series of interactive drama and survival horror video games developed by Supermassive Games and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The anthology is planned to consist of eight games, with each game inspired by a different horror genre. Each game features five main characters whose survival depends on the choices made by the player. While each character only appears in one game, face models are often reused in other games, except those of the leading actors. The games use a third-person perspective and the ability to choose from various dialogue options and courses of action.

<i>The Callisto Protocol</i> 2022 video game

The Callisto Protocol is a 2022 survival horror game developed by Striking Distance Studios and published by Krafton. It was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on December 2, 2022. The game was directed by Dead Space series creator Glen Schofield and is considered a spiritual successor to the series.

<i>Aliens: Dark Descent</i> 2023 real time strategy video game

Aliens: Dark Descent is a real-time tactics video game developed by Tindalos Interactive in collaboration with Disney's 20th Century Games and published by Focus Entertainment. Set in the Alien universe, the game was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on June 20, 2023. It received generally positive reviews from critics.

References

  1. ↑ "Layers of Fears announced for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC". Gematsu. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  2. ↑ "Layers of Fear". Steam. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  3. ↑ "Layers of Fear 2 for PC Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  4. ↑ "Layers of Fear 2 for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  5. ↑ "Layers of Fear 2 for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  6. ↑ "Layers of Fear 2 for Switch Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  7. ↑ Berens, Nathaniel (5 July 2019). "Review for Layers of Fear 2". Adventure Gamers . Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  8. ↑ Devore, Jordan (24 May 2019). "Review: Layers of Fear 2". Destructoid . Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  9. ↑ Wells, Cory (24 May 2019). "Review: Layers of Fear 2". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  10. 1 2 Petite, Steve (24 May 2019). "Layers of Fear 2 Review". IGN . Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  11. ↑ Riccio, Aaron (26 May 2019). "Review: Layers of Fear 2, Though Terrifying, Clings Too Tightly to Its Script". Slant Magazine . Retrieved 10 May 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.