The Quarry Review

Update: The Death Rewind feature discussed in this review is available from the start for players of the deluxe edition of The Quarry, but is only unlocked for players of the standard version after completing the game’s story once . When Supermassive Games released Until Dawn in 2015, it made the UK-based developer stand out. Allowing players to control the cast of a teen slasher flick, the title introduced what were quite unique mechanics at the time, with fast-paced events and a multilinear narrative that played out like an interactive movie. The Quarry is the spiritual successor to Until Dawn and returns to the theme of a campy 80s teen horror film. The Quarry chronicles a terrifying night in the lives of nine counselors at a summer camp called Hackett’s Quarry, a suitably spooky and isolated place in the middle of the forest. As with previous Supermassive titles, The Quarry’s cast consists of some well-known horror film veterans such as Lance Henriksen, David Arquette, Lin Shaye, and Ted Raimi, and along with the terrifying setting, the voice acting is one of the game highlight. Like Supermassive’s previous interactive horror titles, this latest release can be completed in 8 to 10 hours. That’s for a single playthrough, however, and the developer says The Quarry has nearly 200 endings and countless branching paths. There is also a movie mode, which allows people to view the game as if it were actually a movie, with scenarios playing out from predetermined outcomes. Couch co-op allows a group of up to four friends to enjoy the game together by passing the controller around, and the game’s long-delayed online multiplayer mode is set to be released in the first part of July. Supermassive didn’t introduce any major gameplay improvements with The Quarry, though that’s not a bad thing since the formula has proven to be successful so far. Also, in a game that is more like a movie with little user interaction, the story needs to be engaging to carry the viewer through to the end. Fortunately, it’s one of Supermassive’s strong suits that continues in The Quarry. That’s not to say that the game’s story is groundbreaking or impressive in any way. The premise becomes apparent rather quickly, but it’s a fun twist on an established horror trope that’s delivered in a way that will hold the interests of most gamers. It’s exciting enough to keep many horror fans entertained until the very end, with a few enjoyable jump scares thrown in. Like many slasher flicks, The Quarry introduces the usual collection of stereotyped youths. While not particularly creative in their presentation, the decent character development will result in many players feeling at least a little invested in the fates of the cast. A constant shortcoming of Supermassive’s horror games is the uncanny character animations in the valley, which is unfortunately still present in The Quarry. Although each new release shows an improvement in the graphics in general, the characters’ puppet eyes, overly mobile faces, and unnatural mouth movements still do not and continue to break the immersion . In fact, some people feel that while the graphics have gotten better in the Supermassive games, the character animations have correspondingly become more confusing. It’s disappointing to see that there hasn’t been much progress in this aspect of developer technology. As for the creatures in The Quarry, they are the least impressive of Supermassive’s lineup so far. That doesn’t mean they aren’t jaw-dropping when first encountered, but they can’t compete with Until Dawn’s unforgettable Wendigo or the superbly designed Vampires from House of Ashes. Those animals are scary and intriguing even as the games progress, whereas the thing in The Quarry quickly loses some of its fear factor. In the shadows at the beginning of the game, the creature is scary, but when seen in full light, the player realizes that it is not particularly scary or strange. The type of games that Supermassive creates can fall into the “like it or not” category. Despite the mystery the developer instilled in the narratives, some people won’t be drawn to “playing” what is essentially a movie with occasional button prompts. That said, viewed from a different perspective, the games can definitely appeal to non-gamers because successful completion doesn’t require much skill or dexterity with a controller. This brings up accessibility options in The Quarry, allowing gamers to simplify QTEs or adjust their completion window, change button mashing to a simple hold or tap, and turn on aim assist. There are also color blind settings and an Open Dyslexic font for subtitles. Another feature introduced in The Quarry is Death Rewind, which gives players a total of three chances to try again if a character is eliminated. This returns the game to the scene that ultimately led to the death and results in the loss of all progress made after that point, which could be several scenes or entire chapters. Death Rewind will be a welcome addition for some players however. Even without these adjustments, Supermassive seems to have changed the gameplay to make it easier overall. There’s no need to precisely line up a shot within a target, and the timing to adjust things when firing feels more generous. The reduction in difficulty has also been noted in previous releases, and some people consider it a reason why The Dark Pictures Anthology didn’t make it to Until Dawn. Perhaps a better decision would have been to keep the higher difficulty of the more demanding QTEs and allow people to adjust the intensity through the game settings. Similarly, even The Quarry’s unchanged base difficulty may not be challenging enough for some. The game also offers full controller support on PC, including vibrations that provide useful feedback during interactive moments. However, using the controller on the PC proved problematic as the interface kept reverting to keyboard prompts. It made it difficult to land those initial QTE actions because the correct buttons weren’t shown on screen, leaving the player to wonder what to press. Hopefully, this is a small wrinkle that the developers can quickly iron out. There are also some continuity issues with the game, like how Jacob can carry items when he’s only wearing underwear, or why an elaborate barricade disappears mid-game without explanation. With a style that focuses on realism in graphics and animation, it becomes even more jarring when other things aren’t as realistic. Even the characters’ descriptions of the creatures do not match what is actually seen in the game, which makes one wonder if perhaps the design was changed without corresponding script changes. These quirks lead to random confusing moments that temporarily affect the necessary suspension of disbelief. In this same vein are the sometimes nonsensical actions of the characters. Even though they are teenagers, this group makes some questionable choices that defy logic at times. For example, after the first attack, they gather outside to have pointless discussions, including a quick sketch session, instead of immediately retreating to a relatively safer location indoors. They are constantly venturing out to go on excursions that can wait until daylight. Sure, some of this stuff is necessary for the story – it wouldn’t be interesting if the game was about a terrified group huddled together for eight hours – but it’s harder to feel bad about a man who will come to a terrible end when it should be. in poor decision making. The Quarry is largely a successful offering from Supermassive, with a satisfying amount of scares paired with recurring weak points from previous titles that slightly spoil the experience. The positives outweigh the negatives, however, and the game will undoubtedly please fans of the genre with its fun albeit not entirely innovative story. Quarry fully delivers on its promise of a campy horror experience and is one of the best titles from the developer since Until Dawn. Quarry will be released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on June 10, 2022. Today Technology was provided a PC code for this review. 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