Upcoming horror game shows off just how good Unreal Engine 5 is going to be

Layers of Fear (2023) — (Image credit: Bloober Team)

Layers of Fear got a new technical trailer today, highlighting just how much of a difference developing in Unreal Engine 5 can make.

Co-developer and publisher Bloober Team - who you probably know for The Medium and the upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake - has released a new trailer for Layers of Fear that outlines all of the technical enhancements featured in the upcoming horror title. As to be expected with most new PS5 and Xbox Series X games, Layers of Fear will support ray tracing, HDR, and 4K resolution - which basically means it's going to look super sleek.

As one of the first titles to release that was entirely built using Unreal Engine 5, Layers of Fear utilizes the engine's Lumen illumination technology as well as its Niagara visual effects system to create the perfect dark and dusty environment we're expecting to see in the Bloober and Anshar Studios co-production.

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In the trailer, featured just above, we get to see side-by-side shots of how the 2023 version of Layers of Fear compares to the 2017 version and it's not hard to see how much things have improved in those six years. The new Layers of Fear acts as a sequel as well as something of a remake as it includes the first two games in the series as well as all their DLC and a new chapter and story.

As well as all this new technology, Layers of Fear will also introduce some new core gameplay mechanics - one of these being the lantern which will help guide players around the horrors hiding around every dark corner. The soundtrack has also been reimagined by The Medium and Layers of Fear 2 composer Arek Reikowski.

Layers of Fear is set to release on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S in June 2023 - we're yet to get a firm release date just yet.

While we wait for this one, find out what else you should be playing with our best horror games list.

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training. My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.