Layers of Fears is an interesting beast, to be sure. Developer Bloober Team is taking the first two Layers of Fear games and mashing them up in new ways, expanding on the story and theme of tragic artists. One of the ways Layers of Fears will differ is by offering a new perspective on the original game’s story, this time shown through the Painter’s Wife. In a new trailer released during Gamescom 2022, we get a glimpse of this new, untold chapter.
For fans of the original game, this is quite the unexpected turn. Layers of Fear‘s story revolved around the enigmatic and her fate at the hands of the painter — who you play as. The games core premise was the player’s desire to unraveling the mystery. And the reimagined version will help reveal what the Painter’s Wife went through in the dark and foreboding mansion in which the first part of Layers of Fears takes place.
The new chapter is called The Final Note. You’ll see brief snippets of that gameplay in the trailer below. It starts with the wife reminiscing about her first experiences with a piano, before things go to hell. The perspective seems to swap between her and the Painter as they stumble through the mansion. You can also get a good look at the game’s updated graphics, with Unreal Engine 5 powering a new ray-traced lighting system.
Face your Fears
While most who played the original game likely know how the Painter’s Wife will end up in Layers of Fears, I wouldn’t stay convinced. Bloober Team is rewriting the book, promising a deeper and more intimate look at the psychological horror story. I expect there will be more than a few surprises in store.
Bloober is also teasing another story tidbit in the trailer: the lighthouse. According to the team, the lighthouse at the end of the footage is the missing link between the stories of Layers of Fear 1 and 2.
“This is a brief tease of a new location that will help link together the stories of the first and second games,” reads the press release, “diving deeper into how these seemingly separate events are in fact intertwined, sharing a canvas in the masterpiece that is the Layers of Fear universe.”
Layers of Fears will arrive on PC early next year.
