The Quarry Review - An Entertaining Night of Horrors — Too Much Gaming

Supermassive Games returns with The Quarry, another horror-induced, narrative-driven video game where player choice drives the outcome of the story. It’s an interactive experience that takes eye-rolling horror tropes and clichés and spins them into so-bad-it’s-good B-movie madness.

There were a few awkward issues, and several inconsistencies in the narrative, but in the end, I enjoyed my time in Hackett’s Quarry, as I consider this the studio’s best work so far.

The setting is simple and familiar, as the story revolves around nine teenage camp counselors enjoying their last night together before they go back to their lives. Unfortunately for them, that last night turns into a roller coaster nightmare with you pulling the strings of each playable character as you uncover the twisted secrets awaiting them (and you) on the other side.

A story so bad, but so good

The Quarry features familiar actors such as Brenda Song, Justice Smith, Ariel Winter, David Arquette, and more, and each performer did rather well in bringing life to these characters. The cast is a mix of the usual personalities, from the funny man, the nerd, the damsel in distress, to the hyperactive jock. Some of them were likable and some were annoying, which in turn swayed how my first playthrough went, as there were characters that I wanted to protect at all cost, and characters that I didn’t mind losing.

The script overall made for a good time, with characters cracking jokes at inappropriate times, talking about possible flings, as if they’d forgotten the immediate danger they’re in for a few seconds. This game isn’t meant to make you feel depressed or bothered, but entertained. The story is predictable most of the time, but shock value was still present, thanks to the major choices you have to make. You can easily piece together what's going on, but the pressure never wanes as the fear of someone dying suddenly looms over your head constantly, especially in the last 3 hours.

In my first playthrough, the decisions were tough and most of the time I was left regretting some of them, triggering my eagerness to replay the game with different choices in mind. But upon going through the game multiple times over to see the many possibilities, the changes between one path and another are hit or miss.

There are some good alternatives, but some choices that seemed significant actually weren't, as some sections of the story are set in stone despite your choices, which was rather disappointing. Replaying the game also pointed out the importance of each character. Some are just needed in the grand scheme of things, while others felt like requirements for unique outcomes. These minor characters were sometimes out of place in certain scenes later in the game, contributing barely anything to the current situation, as if they were pushed to the background like props.

There are indeed a crazy amount of choices that alter some parts of the story, but your choices in The Quarry aren't meant to steer the narrative in a completely new direction; they are almost all designed to alter each character’s fate. The outcome of some choices also don’t make much sense, giving me the impression that the choices were added in for the sake of variety.

The fatemaker

I’ve played Supermassive Games’ previous games before, so the gameplay is something I'm familiar with ever since their first outing with Until Dawn on the PS4. During conversations, you are given two choices, delivering a certain tone for the scene. Quick Time Events – also known as QTEs – are button prompts that players need to keep an eye on when a scene plays out, as a failure will present a different outcome. Some are minor, while others can outright kill a character when you least expect it.

I find The Quarry the most simplistic game released by Supermassive Games, as interactions are as simple as pressing a single button or moving your controller’s stick in the right direction. Some interactions will require you to hold a button and release at the right time, and sometimes you need to aim a gun. This makes the game more approachable to those not familiar with video games, who will find an easy time going through The Quarry. This is a big plus as I believe that these types of games are best experienced with friends or family.

The developers encourage this approach, as they’ve added couch co-op, a simple concept where you assign certain characters to those playing The Quarry with you. You just pass the controller to the person meant to play the character currently on the screen. Playing the couch co-op mode adds a notification when there’s a character switch, giving you time to make the swap.

Players playing interactive video games as a group is something I hope other developers encourage in the future, because games with multiple choices feel more unpredictable with more people involved. I played with my girlfriend and she made choices that I wouldn’t have, making my first run of The Quarry a mix of satisfaction and regret.

The uncanny valley strikes back

Supermassive Games delivers a visual presentation that is similar to their past work, with improvement to overall detail and realism to both the characters and the environment, delivering close to real facial expressions for each character, bringing out the mannerisms and movement of each actor’s performance.

But there’s limitations, as some movements and sequences can come out as awkward. The character models look decent when doing simple gestures and movements like sitting down or walking, but it becomes unnatural when you see them in full motion, like running or struggling against other characters, ultimately delivering stiff performances.

For an interactive game focused on player choice and telling a story, The Quarry lacks basic quality of life features that would help players itching to have another go and experience different outcomes. As of this writing, you can’t skip scenes, and there’s no proper chapter select available at all times (only available after you finish the game in that save file), so it was actually exhausting to try and absorb all the different avenues you can take in the story.

The Verdict

I had a blast playing The Quarry, and it was unfortunate that you see more of the cracks during your second or third run of the game. There isn’t anything groundbreaking in The Quarry if you’ve played Until Dawn or any of the Dark Anthology games, but Supermassive Games definitely delivered the best and most accessible version of the formula they are known for, and if you’re a horror fan, you’ll appreciate this one night in Hackett’s Quarry.

8/10

PROS

An entertaining horror fest that is a must-play for horror lovers
A variety of choices and results that encourage multiple playthroughs
Impressive facial animations, and stunning visual environments to set the teen horror tone

CONS

Stiff animations when in characters are in full motion
Some choices are insignificant and bear no real change to the outcome
Lacks some basic quality of life features to support players playing the game multiple times (proper chapter select, skip scene option)