Based on the 2004 title of the same name by People Can Fly, Painkiller is touted as a reimagining with three-player co-op support (though it’s playable offline). As one of four Champions, players must battle Azazel, hordes of demons and the Nephilim before they can lay waste to Earth.

Along with classic weapons, Painkiller sports some new additions and traversal abilities like hooking and dashing. Each Champion has varying energy, power, damage, and health, while Tarot Cards provide buffs to abilities. Synergize with players, and you may stand a chance against the overwhelming forces of evil.

Stay tuned for more details and gameplay from Painkiller in the coming months. As for People Can Fly, they have a new project in the works in Lost Rift, a survival title entering early access this year.

However, instead of The Pianist from Layers of Fear 1, it may be centered on The Actor from Layers of Fear 2. An image from the sequel and the words “Lights! Camera! Action!” were shared, so it’s possible. The second game didn’t receive something like Inheritance, so this would make sense.

Time will tell, of course, so stay tuned for more details. Layers of Fear is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. Check out our official review here. Despite the name, it’s an Unreal Engine 5 remake of the first two games with a new framework and character, The Writer. There’s a new chapter focused on The Pianist, shining more light on her story.

Bloober Team is excited to announce that a new and free chapter will soon be released for all #LayersOfFear owners, to be made available on the 24th of October, coinciding with the studio's birthday. Lights! Camera! Action!#BlooberTeam pic.twitter.com/1YVAKCJhgM

— Layers of Fear (@Layers_Of_Fears) October 10, 2023

The live-action short film showcases a little girl living a happy life with her mother in a mansion, and there are several instances where we see the duo practicing piano and singing. These happy memories soon take a dark turn as night approaches, and we see the same girl inscribing cryptic messages on the mansion’s floor with white chalk. Meanwhile, a melancholic cover of Johnny Cash’s You Are My Sunshine plays in the background.

It’s quite possible that this video is just a regular collaboration between Polish artist Natalia Szroeder and Bloober Team to commemorate the developer’s 15-year anniversary – but it’s also possible that this could be a larger tease for Layers of Fear DLC or even a new project from the developer. You can check out our review of the game through here, and stay tuned for more updates in the meanwhile.

The developer recently tweeted an image of a girl playing the piano and teased, “We have prepared something special for you, and it’s time to reveal the first ‘layer’ of our secret. More news to follow soon… Unless you can guess what’s coming.” The “layer” part seemingly indicates a relation to Layers of Fear.

However, the Painter’s wife is explicitly known as the Pianist in the 2023 remake. Once a promising young musician, a department store fire disfigured, leaving her unable to play her instruments. It’s unknown whether the girl in the picture is the Pianist, perhaps at a younger age. Time will tell, so stay tuned.

Layers of Fear is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. Check out our review here for more details.

https://twitter.com/BlooberTeam/status/1710299927748685976

Chief among them, for a great many people, was Bloober Team’s original Layers of Fear, which may not have set the world on fire, but became an overnight sensation thanks to its brief yet solid offerings nonetheless. And though Bloober has expanded rapidly since then and delivered a string of other horror experiences (and is now even developing a remake of the legendary Silent Hill 2), for many of the developer’s fans, Layers of Fear (and its sequel) still hold a special place in the heart.

"This is, on paper, the definitive Layers of Fear experience- and though there’s plenty here that many will find impressive, by that same token, the game isn’t without issues that drag the experience down."

Now, in collaboration with Anshar Studios, Bloober Team has gone back to Layers of Fear to deliver a new game, one that is neither remake nor remaster nor sequel. The new Layers of Fear combines, reimagines, and recontextualizes the existing stories of the Painter, his daughter, and the Actor, while also adding in new stories of its own told from the perspective of the Painter’s wife (i.e., the Musician) and a new character in the Writer. It is, on paper, the definitive Layers of Fear experience- and though there’s plenty here that many will find impressive, by that same token, the game isn’t without issues that drag the experience down.

Let’s start with the good stuff, because the most prominent examples there will instantly impress you, and will continue to do so until you’re done playing the game. I am, of course, talking about the visuals. Layers of Fear has been built in Unreal Engine 5 and leverages technological advancements that the developers didn’t have at their disposal when past instalments were made. The end result is a visual stunner- the lighting is gorgeous and used to excellent effect every step of the way, environments are crammed full of a startling level of detail, and every single pixel of the experience oozes atmosphere. Art design and technical achievements work in perfect harmony here, creating a beautiful game that never fails to impress with its visual prowess. If this is any indication of what Bloober Team will be able to achieve with the Silent Hill 2 remake, there’s every reason to be excited about it, at least on a visual and technical level.

Equally as impressive is the audio design, which is an aspect that can make or break a horror game. While the effectiveness of Layers of Fear’s attempts to scare you is up for debate, it never fails to contribute to the atmosphere with its excellent audio. From a furious storm lashing down outside the windows of the Painter’s mansion, to the ominous creaking of the cruise ship as the Actor stalks its shifting halls, to the ominous whispers that occasionally flood your mind as you explore the tortured psyches of the game’s many protagonists, Layers of Fear is constantly flexing with its impressive audio, which, more often than not, succeeds in eliciting the chills from you that other aspects of the game aren’t nearly as consistently successful with.

"Art design and technical achievements work in perfect harmony here, creating a beautiful game that never fails to impress with its visual prowess."

Beyond its audio-visual achievements, however, though Layers of Fear does have praise-worthy elements, they almost never come without caveats. Take the tried-and-true tortured artist premise, for instance, the implementation of which across the game’s multiple stories can miss just as much as it hits. Across different characters, and at times even within individual stories, the game seems to fluctuate between being self-indulgently opaque with its storytelling, and being painfully and insultingly on-the-nose. Very rarely does it seem to find the right balance, and the whiplash you get as the storytelling style oscillates from one end of the spectrum to the other paints the entire experience in a weird light, even when the core material itself can actually be genuinely interesting (on paper, at least).

For instance, the Writer’s new chapter, which acts as a framing device for all of the other stories in the game, does a great job of not only recontextualizing each tale, but also establishing connections between all of them to make it all feel like a cohesive anthology of horror with some overarching throughlines. But having her chapters interspersed here and there throughout the experience, as opposed to being able to play through it as an unbroken story like you do with the other characters, means the game is never able to establish her independently of other experiences as well as it does with the other tortured artists in its cast.

On the actual gameplay front, Layers of Fear is largely similar to what you might remember from the first two games, though it does come with a few minor additions here and there- like now being able to use a flashlight that you can shine on enemies as they give you chase to temporarily stop them in their tracks and buy yourself some time to make your escape. By and large though, you’re going to be spending a lot of time slowly walking through hallways, opening draws, doors, and cupboards, reading a litany of notes that come with poor voice acting (for the most part), and solving rudimentary puzzles (though a few of perspective-based puzzles do stand out). Ultimately, though that gameplay loop may have worked well enough in the original two games, both of which were quite brief and compact, in 2023’s Layers of Fear, which is roughly a dozen hours long all told (and much longer if you want to see all the endings in all of the stories), the gameplay isn’t enough to sustain interest for the entirety of its runtime. It hurts the pacing, is just plain boring at times, and worst of all, quickly gets repetitive.

"You’re going to be spending a lot of time slowly walking through hallways, opening draws, doors, and cupboards, reading a litany of notes that come with poor voice acting, and solving rudimentary puzzles. Ultimately, though that gameplay loop may have worked well enough in the original two games, both of which were quite brief and compact, in 2023’s Layers of Fear, which is roughly a dozen hours long all told, the gameplay isn’t enough to sustain interest for the entirety of its runtime."

The actual scares, too, are something of a disappointment. Layers of Fear does have genuinely scary imagery and sequences thrown in from time to time, and some of the occasions where you’re studying an object or reading some creepy, red graffiti on the wall, and then turn around to find that the room behind you completely changed while you were occupied- some of these moments can be legitimately impressive. The problem is that the game relies on these tropes far too much. Much like the core gameplay loop itself, it quickly gets repetitive and predictable, and when a horror game is being repetitive and predictable, it can find it incredibly hard to be genuinely frightening- at least on a consistent basis.

And that unfortunately really does pull the whole experience down. Layers of Fear is not a total misfire, and does have merits, from the incredible audiovisual achievements to some genuinely inspired mind-bending moments every now and then. Sadly though, those only serve to make its shortcomings everywhere else that much more frustrating. Properly done, this could have been a truly standout experience. As it stands right now, unfortunately, much as often seems to happen with Bloober Team, an amazing premise and some genuine glimpses of brilliance here are mired by far too many caveats and shortcomings.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

Developed on Unreal Engine 5 and implementing technologies like ray tracing, Lumen and Niagara, the story sees The Writer venturing to the mysterious Lighthouse for her work. It’s not long before she’s caught up in the worlds of The Painter and The Actor as she works to link the layers together.

While revamping the visuals for the first two games, Layers of Fear introduces new gameplay mechanics, like an oil lamp for burning away shadowy parts. As for The Final Note DLC, it’s from the perspective of The Painter’s Wife and provides more details on their relationship.

Layers of Fear retails for $29.99, but those who purchased Layers of Fear (2016) or Layers of Fear 2 can avail of a 30 percent discount for the first two weeks of launch.

Layers of Fear also includes Layers of Fear 1 and 2 with the Inheritance DLC, all remade for Unreal Engine 5 and sporting new mechanics. There’s also new content with The Final Note, focusing on the Artist’s Wife from the first game and her perspective on the horror. How The Writer will connect the layers remains to be seen, but her involvement seems mandatory.

Layers of Fear launches on June 15th for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC for $29.99, with the Deluxe Edition costing $34.99. Those who own Layers of Fear (2016) and Layers of Fear 2 get a 30 percent discount for two weeks after launch.

Paradox Interactive’s Life By You, its Sims-like life simulator, will have a developer presentation. Bloober Team’s Layers of Fear, a remake of the first two games and the Inheritance DLC with new content, is getting a new trailer, while Ironwood Studios’ rogue-lite driving survival game Pacific Drive will receive a “new look.”

There will also be some VR titles, including VR Skater and Sega’s C-Smash VRS, a reimagined version of Cosmic Smash from the Dreamcast era. Over 50 games will be at the showcase, with a segment devoted to demos that will be playable after, so stay tuned for plenty of new details.

Set in the late 23rd century in the cyberpunk dystopia of Warsaw City, Gamedec sees you stepping into the shoes of a game detective, or gamedec for short. In this distant future, virtual reality games are not just a hobby, but a way of life. People dive into virtual worlds of all sorts and spend the vast majority of their lives in their, looking to escape from the harsh realities of their real life and sinking themselves into their fictional selves. As a gamedec, your job is to investigate crimes and cases inside of these virtual worlds- you’re essentially a a cross between a detective and a walking human walkthrough, an expert in gaming that is hired frequently by people to solve their virtual problems.

"Gamedec is a point and click adventure RPG that’s heavy on reading, deductions, conversations, and investigations, with no combat to speak of- it’s essentially Disco Elysium in a cyberpunk setting. If that’s the sort of game that appeals to you, you’ll find quite a bit to enjoy here."

It’s a fascinating setting, especially on paper, and Gamedec does a decent job of using it to transport players to a variety of different worlds. From fantasy worlds to farming sims and everything in between, you’ll be visiting many different kinds of virtual realities throughout your time in Gamedec, and each of them is brought to life with impressive attention to detail. Not only do the worlds stand out visually, with each having very distinct aesthetics and personalities, they also have very specific sets of rules that govern them.

In terms of pure variety, Gamedec’s premise is one of its biggest strength, though I was a little disappointed by how superficially it uses that premise. Cyberpunk settings – the good ones, at least – tend to be strong on thematic depth and commentaries, and I was expecting that to be the case here as well, especially given how heavy on reading, world-building, and dialogue Gamedec is. Sadly, by the time you’re a few hours into the game, it becomes clear that it doesn’t have too much interest in exploring its admittedly interesting themes, which end up feeling incidental to the main experience more often than not.

The end result is an overarching plot that fails to fulfil its potential. Don’t get me wrong, as you progress through Gamedec’s story, you’ll hardly ever be bored- the game does a solid job of keeping you engaged on at least a fundamental level as you move from world to world, and its aforementioned variety contributes to that significantly. The overarching plot, however, doesn’t come together as well as it should have.

When it comes to actual gameplay, Gamedec is quite an enjoyable game, for the most part. As mentioned earlier, there’s no combat in the game. Every case you take on revolves around you gathering clues that would help you get to your final deduction, and this, in turn, is done by interacting with the surroundings you find yourself in, speaking with NPCs, and more. There’s a bevy of clues to be found in each new case, to the extent that it’s effectively impossible to gather all of them in a single playthrough, especially since certain dialogue choices and actions are locked behind specific character builds and decisions made during gameplay.

Something else that raises the stakes when it comes to gathering clues and using them to arrive at a final conclusion is how heavily Gamedec emphasizes choice and consequence mechanics. There are no fails states here, which means no matter what you do, the game will take your actions and choices into account and keep moving forward. Regardless of whether or not you fail to crack a case, regardless of whether or not you’re able to save a person’s life, the story will keep moving forward, and keep changing based on your past actions. Choice and consequence mechanics aren’t easy to implement, to say the very least, and more often than not, games end up falling back on an illusion of choice rather than actual choices, so Gamedec’s accomplishments in this area are quite impressive.

Not all aspects of the gameplay experience are as well rounded out or smooth as they should have been though. In fact, some of Gamedec’s biggest issues lie with aspects of the experience that hinder its most crucial elements. For instance, the game can be frustratingly opaque about the clues you gather, and even how you should be gathering them. Once you have gathered information, it also doesn’t do a very good job of presenting it in a clean and useful way. You’ll be diving into your codex to sift through previously collected details frequently, but it’s not always easy to figure out which parts are actually pertinent to your case. A well organized codex might not be something that can make or break an RPG in most cases, but given the very nature of this game, its deficiencies in this area feel much more pronounced than they would in most other cases.

"It’s a fascinating setting, especially on paper, and Gamedec does a decent job of using it to transport players to a variety of different worlds."

One area where the game does deserve a lot of credit, however, is how replayable it is. Players have the option to choose between several preset characters to play as when starting out, while also having the option to create a custom one, and depending on who you play as, the game can play out in radically different ways. There’s different jobs to unlock, each coming with unique skills and benefits, all of which impacts what actions you can take and what dialogue choices you can pick- which, in turn, determines whether or not you have specific clues or details while you’re in the process of investigating a case. There’s no shortage of games that claim to never be the same for two different players or playthroughs, but Gamedec really does diverge in significant enough ways where that feels true.

Meanwhile, its definitive edition re-release also comes with plenty of new improvements and content for players to dive into, including a new character to play as, new locations to explore, new cases to crack, and other improvements, like dialogue being voiced, among other things. There’s enough here to warrant a second playthrough even for returning players.

Gamedec might not be a giant of the genre, and it might not touch the heights of something like Disco Elysium, but it’s a solid enough game in its own right. Its unique setting and fascinating premise set it apart from the crowd, and even though it doesn’t dive deep into those elements in the way it could (and probably should) have, it does at least use them to deliver a varied and vibrant adventure. Its focus on actual choice and consequence mechanics also serves it very well, and the story that you concoct based on your actions and decisions really does feel like one that is your own. It’s a deeply reactive game, and even if it is a little rough around the edges, and even though it doesn’t fully utilize its ideas the way it should have, it’s got enough working in its favour to make it worth a try at the very least, especially for genre fans.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.