When the sun goes down, the claws come out.
What They Say:
When the sun goes down on the last night of summer camp, nine teenage counselors are plunged into an unpredictable night of horror. The only thing worse than the blood-drenched locals and creatures hunting them are the unimaginable choices you must make to help them survive.
Content:
The Quarry is the return to form for Supermassive Games that the developer has needed for some time. I was a fan of Until Dawn years ago, despite not being a horror fan, and no game since has been able to capture that feel, including the developer’s own Dark Pictures Anthology. Until now, that is.
The Quarry stars a group of drama-loving, bratty teenage camp counselors as they try to survive a night of terror against the horrors that await around the summer camp they work at. With the kids all going home, the camp counselors think they will have time to party and get wild, but little do they know the horrors that await.
Right from the start of the game, I was grateful for the various modes that were available from playing by yourself to online to couch co-op to even just watching it play out as a movie. The accessibility options are wonderful, too, letting you increase the timer for QuickTime events, for instance, or just make them completely automatic.
For me and my household, couch co-op was the way to go. We passed the controller around, selecting the characters that we wanted to play as out of the eight playable ones. Without a doubt, this is, overall, the best cast of characters that Supermassive has made.
With the exception of Nick and Abigail, everyone in the group was memorable and interesting. They each had fun development over time and weren’t bogged down by the typical teenager writing of making them horrible people that you grow to love.
Nick and Abigail suffer from the most boring storyline and writing out of everyone, especially Nick who had almost no screentime in the game, despite living until the very end. Outside of them, though, I grew to love everyone, including Dylan who annoyed me so much at the beginning.
There is Ryan, voiced by Justice Smith who made me laugh with how horribly and unnaturally deep he tried to sound, who is the emo loner kind of character. Then there is Jacob, the jock kind of guy who thinks he’s so cool but is surprisingly sensitive and fun.
On the girls side, there is Kaitlyn, the “final girl” sort of character who does not really care too much for the other counselors but also has that leadership role. Brenda Song really reminds me why I loved her so much in The Suite Life all those years ago with that role.
Then there is Emma, who is the stereotypical bully girl who wants to make her ex jealous, but I even grew to like her over time. Last but not least, there is Laura, who is one of the standouts of the entire cast. She has a fun character arc that I especially loved.
Like I mentioned, with the exception of the underused Abigail and Nick, I loved everyone. But my favorites definitely had to be Jacob, Ryan, Kaitlyn, and Laura in the end. When it comes to the cast surrounding the camp counselors, it is a pretty wide selection but I felt that there were few interesting ones other than police officer, Travis.
The interactivity in The Quarry is Supermassive at its most refined, offering QTEs and conversation choices that were fun but not too crazy or overwhelming for players. This only enhanced the dramatic moments when the player is on the run, hiding, or faced with a tough decision.
My one gripe with the game is how inaccessible it is when it comes to changing choices. Playing couch co-op, there was almost no way to save those who died or go back on a decision that I regretted. Because of this, I lost one counselor midway through the game (thankfully, the only casualty) because of an arbitrary decision that was impossible to predict what would happen. It would have at least helped if it was more clear or just a QTE that I simply failed.
That annoyance aside, the writing in The Quarry is great. The dialogue can be cheesy at times and the transitions can be awkward, but the acting was fantastic. Every character really dug into their roles (perhaps a little too much for Justice Smith’s Ryan) and nailed that classic horror flick material.
Speaking of horror, I think that there are some legitimate scary parts to this game and a couple of solid jump scares, lending itself to be a nice balance of scary and gory without being too much. Without spoiling too much, I am still disappointed by the threat selection this time around.
When the main threat was revealed in the game, it was an eye-rolling moment for me. And there are no other threats that feel interesting enough, making for a waste when it comes to the things that go bump in The Quarry.
Even still, this is a character-driven affair and The Quarry’s playable characters undoubtedly carried the journey from start to finish. Overall, I would say the general experience is better than Until Dawn, especially in the writing and character departments, but The Quarry’s ending feels rushed and one of the weakest parts of the game. Even after checking some of the other major changes, it just kind of ends abruptly in an anti-climatic way.
In Summary:
The Quarry is the true return to form for Supermassive Games. The best game since Until Dawn, and better in my opinion, this beautiful horror interactive story game is carried by its fantastic selection of characters. These are some of the best bratty and annoying teenagers that you will find in a horror experience.
I loved nearly everyone in the cast, except those who were far too underused, and this was elevated by brilliant writing and strong performances. It is unfortunate that the game’s main threat is yawn-inducing and the ending is so anti-climatic but it does little to take away from the otherwise genre-defining horror experience.
Grade: B+
Developer: Supermassive Games
Publisher: 2K Games
Age Rating: Mature
Release Date: June 10, 2022
MSRP: $59.99
Platform: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X (reviewed), PC
This review was done with a review copy provided by the publisher. We are grateful for their continued support.
