At certain junctures, you’ll be directed to either heed his direction or rebel and go your own way. An eerie disembodied voice known only as “The Director,” played by Candyman’s Tony Todd. You’ll weave through warped houses, walled gardens, and other creepy environments as you peel through the layers of this actor’s mind. The main setting in Layers of Fear 2 is an enormous early 1900s era passenger ship, but your twisting mental state won’t keep you there. This reference to The Wizard of Oz is one of the more obvious film references.

Some references are plainly obvious, while others may be more, ahem, layered allusions to the films in question. Fight Club gets a nod in New Game+ (which brilliantly has some different sequences to make the game worth playing through multiple times). Se7en has its horrific deadly sins murder scenes recreated in one extended sequence. The carpet of one area may recall the hotel floors in The Shining. Many classic films, both horror and otherwise, are referenced throughout the game in little ways. Having an actor as the central protagonist allows the themes of Layers of Fear 2 to revolve around films. The sequel plays up that idea, this time peeling back the layers in the mental state of an actor as he explores his past, present, and potential futures. The first Layers of Fear dove into the deranged mind of an artist as he spiraled out of control and into madness.

Needless to say, nobody expected them come out with a first-person psychological horror title after their psuedo-horror Bomberman clone (and all of the drama surrounding that development). Layers of Fear was a surprise from Bloober Team, a developer with quite the history.

Layers of fear 2 switch review