The Layers of Fear series has existed for quite some time now, but I have never gotten around to playing any of them until now. With the release of Layers of Fear VR on the Oculus Quest, I finally had my chance!
The Good
The graphics are really great. This game has pretty low system requirements which are important since it is a VR game. The controls are very smooth and responsive. You can use a six-axis motion controller or the move controllers here, but I prefer the move controllers since it feels more authentic to actually grab things with your hands, something you might do in a real-world situation involving controlling a person through fear.
The Bad
Layers of FearVR is more of a walking simulator than an actual game. The puzzles are very simple if you can even call them that, and the story is not intriguing at all.
The story begins with you playing as an artist’s assistant who helps him finish his work by adding layers over layers of paint on his paintings to help bring them to life. This is the only part of the game that I actually liked. The idea of creating something so beautiful by bringing it to life with layers upon layers of paint and brushes, only to destroy it later… I couldn’t help but think about how many times someone must have said “I love you” through text messages alone without realizing what they were doing. The story continues with your boss going crazy and making you sit in a chair as he scares you with his paintings. The rest of the game involves going to different time periods and seeing the horrifying contrast between each layer that was painted on top of whatever is happening within that painting before.
A lot of people compare this game to Resident Evil 7, but I personally think that Resident Evil 7 did it better. The story was slightly more interesting in my opinion, there were way more puzzles to solve, and the ending wasn’t an absolute letdown like Layers of Fear VR.
The Final Verdict
If you really want to get this game for your Oculus Quest, make sure to use Google Cardboard or another type of headset that you can find in a store because after getting it and playing it, I could just tell that this game was not made for the Quest. The visuals and sound were great and all, but everything else about Layers of Fear: Solitude just didn’t cut it for me.