By now we know what Supermassive Games’ bread and butter is – cinematic horror games where a group of characters find themselves in a bit of a jam and the player needs to do their best to ensure they all survive. The British studio’s latest offering The Quarry doesn’t deviate from that blueprint, and after spending about an hour with the spiritual successor to Until Dawn I am confident that fans of Supermassive Games are in for a good time.
The Quarry is set in the modern day and sees a group of teens staying one more night at Hackett’s Quarry after ‘car troubles’ meant they couldn’t leave. However, while the group is excited for one last night of shenanigans, a group of locals are keen to go hunting for humans, and with a creature on the loose in the nearby forest, surviving the night is going to be a challenge.
Much like Until Dawn, it’s clear that The Quarry is inspired by teen slasher films, with plenty of genre tropes at play. The preview starts with the group preparing for the evening’s campfire before engaging in a shoot-off for the right to eat the only packet of Tasty Toobs Peanut Butter Butterpops, which introduces us to some of the game’s cast. Like Supermassive’s previous titles, The Quarry is not short on Hollywood talent, with characters played by David Arquette (Chris), Brenda Song (Kaitlin), Justice Smith (Ryan), Australian Evan Evagora (Nick), Ariel Winter (Abigail) and more. From my early look, I enjoyed the actors’ performances, and the writing had a nice balance between cringeworthy modern day slang and classic teen horror themes.
As we move to night time with the fire crackling, the group agrees to play a game of Truth or Dare and here we get our first proper look at the characters interacting with one another in a group setting. As usual, Supermassive promises branching storylines driven by the choices that you make, and with over 180 different endings, there’s a lot that can change from one playthrough to the next.
Naturally, Truth or Dare ruffles a few feathers and some characters decide to depart the campfire to be alone, which if you’ve seen any slasher film you know is never a good idea. Here we get a look at two different situations; one sees two characters who end up fighting for their lives in the forest, while the other sees another two characters trying to repair their relationship.
A pic worthy of the ‘Gram
The forest scene is the highlight of the preview and served as a reminder how the game’s split second decisions can be incredibly tense, although the QTEs weren’t as challenging as I was expecting. There was one neat moment where I had to hold my breath for an extended period of time, and the longer I held on the more anxious I became. The other scene gave insight into how dialogue choices can shape relationships, something that at this point will feel familiar to any fan of the studio’s work.
Supermassive has spent the past few years working on its Dark Pictures Anthology, which despite its most recent offering (House of Ashes) being quite enjoyable, hasn’t quite hit the high bar that Until Dawn set. However, The Quarry sees Supermassive go back to its roots, and it’s a move that could pay dividends with The Quarry having the potential to be one the best horror games of the year.
The Quarry lands on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC on June 10.
Previewed on PC // Preview code supplied by publisher
Click here for more information on WellPlayed’s review policy and ethics
