Layers of Fear Review (rjmacready)
Well: this was an odd decision for Bloober to have made (even in association with another dev company)! That said: an "enhanced" version of two really great games, somewhat haphazardly spliced together...is still two really great games...
Whether the stories for Layers of Fear and Layers of Fear 2 were ever "meant" to be run back-to-back - with some tenuous new links and further, shorter stories tossed into the cracks (including the formerly-released "Inheritance" DLC, for the first game) - is another question entirely. Similarly, some of you may have mixed feelings about the added "gameplay"/"danger" elements - most particularly to the formerly peril-free Layers of Fear 1 content - but I, for one, certainly felt it added some freshness and longevity/replay value to the whole package for a long-time fan, even if it does feel a bit "tacked on" at times.
Honestly, if you haven't played the original games, you may as well start here. If you have played the original games - and LOVED them - then there's plenty of newness and "improvements" (especially those to do with handheld light sources like lanterns and flashlights*) to make this a more-than-worthwhile purchase. (The new, occasionally gobsmacking imagery in "The Musician's Story" is almost worth the price of re-admission alone.) But if you're one of those people who played one or both of the first two games...and was a tad underwhelmed? Not enough has changed here to change your mind. 75% of what's present is much the same, with the odd alteration, the aforementioned added danger and, y'know..."better graphics". But it's not a revolutionary new experience, and will probably still bore those who were bored the first time.
One definite plus, for those of you who frequently complain that story-oriented horror games tend to be "too short"? This one easily lasts over ten hours! So if you were sitting on the fence, purely due to the monetary value you associated with each individual game's running time...I guess they "fixed" that part! (Me: I'll happily pay the asking price for a quality horror gaming experience of almost any length; or, failing that, I'll just wait for a sale. But I know I'm not everyone in that regard.)
Verdict: 9.5/10 (the exact same score I gave the exceedingly good first two games)!
(* Actually, unless I'm somehow mistaken: I believe they've made the Layers of Fear 2 content a tad less deadly...thanks to the addition of the lamp. So they've essentially made the Layers of Fear 1 content MORE challenging, and the Layers of Fear 2 content LESS challenging; roughly balancing the two games out. Up to you whether that sounds like a wise idea or not.)
(PS If you enjoyed this review, feel free to check out my two Curator pages: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/9284586-ReviewsJustfortheHELLofit/
http://store.steampowered.com/curator/10868048-Truly-Horrible-Horror-Games/?appid=398210
Cheers!)