Supermassive Games have made a name for themselves by crafting interactive horror movies, featuring some of the best actors in the genre. From Until Dawn, to The Dark Pictures Anthology, they have brought some truly unique concepts to the survival horror genre. Now back with the 2K published The Quarry, they are at it again. Delivering the horror movie tropes, many endings, and some fantastic visuals, from early impressions, The Quarry easily feels like the best horror outing from the studio since Until Dawn graced PS4 fans back in 2015.
Starting as all good horror movies do, with a bunch of young camp counsellors making dumb choices with their hormones going wild. What started off as a simple time at a camp with the drinking and shenanigans we all know and love, quickly turns deadly, with murderous locals and some evil creature looking to kill them all one by one.
The Quarry delivers a setup that is immediately understandable, especially for horror fans, and the cast of actors helps deliver the story with the right level of campy charm to make it endearing. Featuring the acting talents of David Arquette, Siobhan Williams, Lin Shaye, Lance Henriksen, Grace Zabriskie, Ted Raimi, Ariel Winter, Ethan Suplee, Miles Robbins, Halston Sage, Zach Tinker, Brenda Song, Skyler Gisondo, Evan Evagora, and Justice Smith, it is hard to go wrong. With the trademark look Supermassive Games is known for, it is easy to recognize the actors bringing the characters to life.
What is really noticeable about The Quarry compared to Until Dawn is the refinement of the visuals and the controls. While I loved Until Dawn—a game I go back to almost yearly—it had its fair share of bugs jank. From the section of The Quarry I got to play, the game already looks very polished, the controls feel responsive, and the overall experience is much easier to jump into and feel you are making the choices, and it is not all the result of luck that the game registered your input.
The Quarry also stepped up the game when it comes to visuals. As I mentioned before, Supermassive Games has a look that is immediately identifiable, but they have amped that up with this game, with many of the actors looking fantastic in the game, and during the cutscenes. If you know the actor, you will quickly recognize them in the game, giving them room to emote, and actually bring the characters to life.
Even the overall visuals in the game look fantastic, bringing the game world to life. From the many buildings, to the forests around the campsite, The Quarry delivers a game experience that sucks you into the action, making each moment a life or death choice for the characters. While the game can run on a range of hardware, to get the most from The Quarry, it does seem you will need some relatively modern hardware, with the recommended specs suggesting an Nvidia RTX 2060 or AMD Radeon RX 5700 to deliver the best possible experience.
It is hard not to take notice of the scenery, setting and use of the camera to capture the life in the experience. The Quarry is, without a doubt, one of Supermassive’s best looking games to date. From the shots of the camp, to how the camera follows the action on screen, it would be easy to watch someone play the game and enjoy it, feeling very much like an interactive movie with many endings waiting to be found.
“The Quarry is without a doubt one of Supermassive’s best looking games to date.”
Jumping back to the story, The Quarry has the right level of tropes, like young dumb camp counsellors, with enough hints at the trouble laying in wait to keep things exciting. The preview consisted of the first few chapters, so there was only a taste of the horror people would experience, but what I saw felt solid, and well paced while never being afraid to amp up the tension when needed. Supermassive Games are no strangers to the genre, and, at least from the early segments, they have learned from past games to deliver an experience that feels truly exciting for fans of the genre.
The gun play and QTE elements of the experience have also been refined in The Quarry. While you will still have tense moments where you need to quickly shoot something, or make an on-screen prompt, they never feel as tedious as they have in past games. The game gives you ample time to take the action, while never feeling like it is holding your hand or overly simplifying the experience. Even better, you no longer need to worry about what controller you are using to take actions, with most of the split second on-screen choices relegated to the directional stick, making them much easier to jump into and experience.
The Quarry feels like the culmination of all the games that have come before it. It takes the concept Supermassive is known for and refines it into a luminous sheen that even fans new to the genre can enjoy. With stunning visuals, an overall likeable cast, and gameplay that is easy to jump into and experience, The Quarry feels like a winner for 2K and Supermassive Games. While it is hard to say how the story will unfold in the final game, what I have seen has me more excited than ever to see what the full experience has to offer.
