Skip to main content

Long read: How TikTok's most intriguing geolocator makes a story out of a game

Where in the world is Josemonkey?

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Layers of Fear remake shows off Unreal Engine 5 overhaul in 11-minute trailer

Arriving this June.

Layers of Fear - the somewhat confusingly named remake of developer Bloober Team's psychedelic horror hits Layers of Fear and Layers of Fear 2 - has resurfaced with an 11-minute trailer showing off some of its gameplay changes and fancy new Unreal Engine 5 visuals.

Layers of Fear (formerly Layers of Fears) is co-developed with Anshar Studios, and sees the original Layers of Fear, its Inheritance DLC, and Layers of Fear 2 rebuilt and reimagined in Unreal Engine 5 as a single, generations-spanning "psychedelic horror chronicle". It also includes new chapter The Final Note, offering a different perspective on the events of first game.

Bloober's new gameplay walkthrough finally answers one of the lingering questions around the remake, namely how its disparate elements will be turned into something resembling a coherent whole. That job, it turns out, is the responsibility of new lighthouse-bound character The Writer, whose "harrowing tale...ties each entry in the series together".

Layers of Fear 11-Minute gameplay walkthrough trailer.Watch on YouTube

There's also a peek at some new puzzle mechanics, including something Bloober is calling The Lantern (it's a lantern), as well as the remake's various presentational enhancements, including new audio - which, judging by the trailer, doesn't appear to dial down the originals' hilariously melodramatic voice work - new animations, plus support for ray tracing and HDR.

Layers of Fear doesn't have an exact release date, but Bloober Team - which is currently also remaking Konami's beloved horror classic Silent Hill 2 - previously confirmed it'll be launching for PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5 some time in June.

Read this next