The Quarry: Exclusive Hands-On Preview First
The Quarry is Supermassive Games’ spiritual successor to Until Dawn, a brand new 10-hour horror game unconnected to its not-so-distant cousin, The Dark Pictures Anthology series. It heavily evokes classic teen horrors, sticking close to the path that made Until Dawn so successful. Also, like Until Dawn, this path branches off in various different directions, twisting and turning along the way until you reach one of its 186 unique ending variations. From the three hours I spent with its first three acts, I was constantly reminded of what made Until Dawn so enjoyable and fresh when it was first released. While The Quarry may not be treading as much new ground, it definitely got its hooks into me with its gorgeous cinematic presentation and overall affection for the horror movies it’s so clearly in love with.
The Quarry wears its influences on its blood-soaked sleeve; the summer camp setting of Friday the 13th, the teens vs monster nature of Cabin in the Woods, and the winking self-awareness of Scream. All of this occurs while the echoes of Deliverance’s banjo strings can be heard pinging off of the trees. My hands-on time included bursts of gore, heartfelt moments between characters, and a couple of jump scares to boot. It never once threatened to take itself too seriously though, firmly remembering to put the laughter into slaughter. Take one look at the casting and you’ll be able to see what Supermassive is going for here, with cult horror actors such as Scream’s David Arquette and The Evil Dead’s Ted Raimi giving you a not-so-warm welcome to Hackett’s Quarry Summer Camp.
After an unsettling, and ultimately gruesome prologue, Act 1 of The Quarry begins on the very last day of camp. The kids have all gone home and only the
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