Can You Dig It?

British developer Supermassive Games has carved out quite the niche for itself as the home of horror video games.

From the seminal Until Dawn on the PlayStation 4 to the Dark Pictures Anthology – a trilogy of spooky efforts for current-gen consoles – they have constantly strived to chase the highs of their early effort.

From its A-list cast of ‘too-old’ teens to the scary premise and flawless presentation, The Quarry looks set to be the closest they’ve come to a superior slasher sequel.

The premise is well-trodden ground, but still entirely entertaining – The Quarry plays out like an interactive movie, where we take control of our plucky protagonists between bouts of spouting overly sarcastic dialogue as they make their way through a series of unfortunate events…

It’s part walking simulator, part choose-your-own-adventure where decisions can dictate who lives, and who dies. Find out whether it’s the one to chill your bones in our The Quarry review!

Cause and Effect

It’s that uniqueness of witnessing the ‘butterfly effect’ in Supermassive titles which makes them so enthralling, where the most mundane of decisions can have dire or delicious consequences.

Whereas Until Dawn was very much cut from the mid-2000s movie era of equally obnoxious high-schoolers we couldn’t wait to see get the chop, this post-modern band of misfits are well-rounded, often likeable and don’t always make the dumb horror movie choices…they leave that all to you.

The main gameplay remains to steer your characters around incredibly depicted locations, searching for clues and picking up elements to solve the mystery.

When things do get dicey, we switch to the common ‘quick-time event’ – a semi-interactive sequence where we have to press buttons at the right time to avoid certain death.

Whilst these do have a margin for error, a lot of the branching narrative naturally stems from how competent we are at these moments…and it’s genuinely sad to see a character you’ve grown attached to meet their demise through one silly mistake.

Sh(l)ock Horror

The slow-burn story is what makes the cast so compelling, and whilst tropey – end of Summer Camp sees a bunch of teens engage in drunken frivolity in the woods – the well-defined characters, and time spent filling out the premise enable us to grow significantly attached – making latter events all the more impactful.

There’s a host of recognisable actors, from Liquorice Pizza’s Skyler Gizondo to Justice Smith from the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Detective Pikachu – let alone heavyweights like Lance Henriksen and David Arquette in key supporting roles chewing up the scenery at every opportunity.

It’s these production values which give it such a great vibe to play, as the visuals depicting these cast members are often phenomenal in capturing the nuance of individual acting performances with stunning close-ups on faces for conversations and reactions of terror.

It’s not all plain sailing, as the time to get all of the dominoes in place does take time – as The Quarry is 8 – 10 hours, it can feel like a bit more of a slog in terms of pacing than some of their more bite-sized titles like Man of Medan.

Controls do also leave a lot to be desired, as changes in camera angles can see you careening off in the wrong direction, or easily moving to an unintended place and setting the story in motion when you intended to explore a room in a bit more detail.

Not a deal-breaker, but it becomes incredibly easy to miss items or extra story beats through no fault of one’s own at times.

However, when the bodies start piling up (or not, based on your skill), The Quarry becomes a pulse-pumping thrill ride, not letting up for huge stretches of time and making for a peerless popcorn horror experience.

Infinitely more fun in a number of multiplayer modes where mates can decide the fate of individual characters or make key decisions by consensus, it gives that last bump of audience participation which makes both movies and games of this ilk so much fun.

Verdict

The Quarry is a fun and spooky horror experience in its own right, and certainly the nearest to toppling Until Dawn’s position as Supermassive’s best game yet.

However, some pacing issues, control and camera refinements see The Quarry stop just short of being a surefire blockbuster.

However, get some popcorn and some (patient) mates round, and the jump scares, impressive visuals and whipsmart dialogue of this latest effort will make for a perfectly frightful evening.

Review code supplied by publisher 2K for coverage purposes.

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