The Quarry – Test: Finally Until Dawn 2. It only took seven years
I admit I’m a little relieved. After the tests for Man of Medan and Little Hope, I gave Martin the last part of the Dark Pictures Anthology, House of Sands, for a reason. After I found Until Dawn pretty great, the episodic, shorter follow-up games in quick succession disappointed me way.
Well, there was a slight increase in Little Hope, but it suffered from a soporific start and an unsatisfactory finale. I was only once through with this type of game and after reading Martin’s article on House of Ashes I wondered if Until Dawn was just a flash in the pan. In terms of narrative, it all seemed a little overwhelmed. And now there’s The Quarry – and you could basically call that Until Dawn 2 and do it justice.
If that sounds like a good three evenings with your better half tucked under the same blanket on the couch, read no further and check online for the best price on The Quarry. You won’t be disappointed unless you’re hoping for a significant expansion of the concept. If you still want to know more, it’s best to keep reading with narrowed eyes. I’m trying to keep the following spoiler-free as much as possible, but since the core of this game is its story and not much else, I have to be really careful not to anticipate what you better experience first-hand.
At its core, The Quarry is again classic teen horror, driven solely by the question, “Who will survive this?” can live pretty well. The set-up is familiar, I call it “Until Dawn 2” for a reason. And the story is not necessarily original, but structured so solidly that some developments actually surprised me and it progresses quickly. I don’t want to reveal who or what (or if) is chasing after the young adults at the end of their position as summer camp supervisors in this dark forest. But the staging doesn’t fail to have an effect, down to the blatant splatter effects and really awkward moments that I found difficult to watch.
There are various injuries that young people get or are inflicted on that made me feel a little different, and that’s part of a good horror game too. Especially if it’s more about grossing you out and creating a comforting spooky vibe rather than actually scaring you to death. The Quarry is just scary enough that you still dare to go a little further – only to then screw up with a knife in a sensitive area for the next seven, eight minutes. It’s an interesting balancing act to keep a game legitimately spooky yet palatable enough to appeal to a wide audience.
Maybe it’s just necessary not to rely on the really big horror that still makes your bones rattle years later. Ultimately, Supermassive wants to build a game around choices that players should grapple with but not paralyze. Again and again you choose one of two suggested actions and they are well chosen, mostly nebulous enough that you don’t immediately know which of them is the better idea and often enough have serious consequences. But there’s little here for me to ponder.
And that’s a compliment in this case, because I was able to just make a snap decision that I felt was the most believable for the current character. I found it exciting that it is not always superficially drastic, such as the classic decision to save someone or to leave them to their fate. This can also be more subtle (and far-reaching), for example because you decide whether or not to tell the truth to someone you don’t trust. The story felt coherent and logical most of the time. Well, as logical as a story about an eerie threat in the forest and a horde of lovestruck late teens can be. There are also a few stupid decisions that are built in, so to speak.
Which brings us to the characters. The archetypes are all gathered: the beautiful Insta-Queen, the creative but shy goth, the secretive, stoic loner who likes to brood in the corner, the quiet exchange student, the loose-mouthed and the classic jock who makes sure you never want to turn your cap backwards again. People like that. The cast of many, many faces that look familiar is rounded off by two relatively normal drawn characters who serve as player avatars as an entry point into the story and definitely familiar faces in supporting supporting roles. Sam Raimi’s brother Ted, for example, as the opaque sheriff, David “Dewey” Arquette as the camp manager, and the fabulous Grace Zabriskie as the enraptured, disturbing card reader between the ten chapters of this game.
A little “cringe”, as these hormone-driven camping monsters would say themselves, are everyone from Emma to Dylan, but at least I didn’t wish any of them the worst that could happen to them in this game. Okay, except maybe Jacob, the unwilling advocate for strictly forward-wearing baseball caps, who actually ended up being the only one in my case, even though I didn’t even mean to. You end up running with them from the threat outside (and inside), holding your breath together and for a few split seconds at a loss as to what to do at a crucial point.
I find the function that allows you to undo decisions after a character’s death to be problematic. I understand why this feature is there, but these “lives” sometimes go back several chapters from where you would have to play the rest again, so I refrained from using them on two occasions. After all, you will be asked if you really want it, but this function was more than anything else an argument that you should kindly live with your mistakes and stupid ideas. Anything else takes away some of the bite from the possibility of dying, the driving element that keeps the story exciting.
I’ll admit that after the last three chapters picked up again in terms of revelations and suspense, I found the eventual finale a little flat and, above all, sudden. However, I found the ending of the story satisfying as the sum of my decisions. At the same time, some characters came off a bit backwards, why certain “side quests” were started by individuals but not finished was not really clear to me. There are also a few oddities in the sensuous framing of two scenes that cannot be ignored, but overall The Quarry was a highly entertaining interactive horror film that scored well on mood and storytelling.
Technically, the game with RTX 3080s in 4K didn’t always run completely smoothly, and then again, with this type of game I didn’t feel the impulse to maximize my frame rate to the hell of it and just leave everything on Ultra. The Quarry is a very good looking title and while again the faces don’t climb out of the uncanny valley, they are extremely busy and ooze enough humanity to sympathize with. The mineplay actually captured some of the slower, more subtle movements amazingly well. For example, when Laura’s face only slowly slips into desperation after a devastating realization, that’s well done, even if there is sometimes a lack of fine work.
The Quarry Test: Conclusion
So after Supermassive left me really indifferent lately, I definitely see them on the right track again after The Quarry. The Quarry may “only” be the long overdue, not quite as good, but still worthy sequel to Until Dawn, and shouldn’t significantly advance this special sub-genre of decision-friendly adventures. But I’d be lying if I said I was bored for a second once the game got going. This is through and through pleasing popcorn horror to join in and for me in this form a singular phenomenon that fills an interesting gap.
I’m not entirely sure why Supermassive seemed to have such a harder time with the slightly less conventional plots of the Dark Pictures anthology than they did here. But for now I’ll resist the impulse to wish for a little more mature horror stories from them next (again) because that just doesn’t seem to be their cup of tea. But you wouldn’t want a Wes Anderson horror film either. Whereby…
Reference-www.eurogamer.de