Interactive movie on steroids – review of the game “The Quarry”

A tribute to fans of horror

What happens when a group of teenagers are left alone in the middle of the forest, ignore the unusual and disturbing warning, and indulge in carefree fun? Anyone who loves horror movies knows that this is a prelude to bloody events that will certainly not have a happy ending. This is how The Quarry , the spiritual heir to Until Dawn , beginsfrom 2015. The British developer served a much longer production this time, because for the next 10 hours the player gets to know the characters, shapes their relationships and participates in thrilling events. Nobody should be surprised if I say that the story is simple, clichéd and clearly inspired by B-class horror classics. However, you cannot fault it, and you cannot say that its cliche is something negative, because the plot is only a pretext for the scenes taking place on the screen. However, I do not want to dwell on the story itself in order to avoid spoilers, because the secrets of the title quarry and summer camp are best discovered by yourself. At the very beginning, the game gives some hints about what the characters will be dealing with,

Familiar faces

The first thing that catches your eye when you start the game are the technically perfect characters. The face models and voices of the main characters are, of course, the stars of the young generation that often appear in Hollywood productions, but the supporting characters are a galaxy of faces known from cult horror films. I smiled under my breath many times when Lance Henriksen (the Alien series ), David Arquette ( The Scream ) and Lin Shaye ( Marked ) appeared on the screen . Fans of classic horror movies will surely be delighted with this flavor. It is also a guarantee of excellent acting, and it must be admitted that in this respect The Quarryis doing exceptionally well. The characters are a technological masterpiece – they are very credible, and thanks to the perfect motion-capture, their movements, facial expressions and emotions written on the face are a true masterpiece. I don’t remember a game that could handle the animations of the characters it encounters so well. It’s hard not to be impressed by the amount of work put in by the developers so that the cinematic aspect is manifested not only in the game mechanics, but also in the acting and visual layer.

Until Dawn on springs

In terms of gameplay, The QuarryIt is practically no different from other representatives of its species. While playing, the player directs the fate of nine people who are archetypes of horror movie characters. So we have, among others, an athlete, a confident and beautiful girl, and a well-organized silent mouse. As befits an interactive movie, the player has to make various decisions that shape the relations between the characters. A seemingly innocent choice may, however, determine the life or death of a given protagonist. In addition to many decisions to be made, there are also QTE sequences waiting for the player. All the actions taken lead to unlocking one of the many endings, so it is definitely not a production “all at once”. Gameplay-wise, it’s nothing revolutionary as we’ve seen all of this in virtually the same formula in previous Supermassive Games.Until Dawn might think The Quarry is the sequel to the 2015 game, not an entirely separate brand.

A place like from a movie

It’s hard not to be impressed by the filmmaking of this production. The Quarry is simply beautiful – nothing else needs to be added here. In addition to the phenomenal graphics, the design of the world itself should also be praised. The locations are beautiful (a few spots would be perfect for a computer wallpaper), and the climate is so dense that it could be cut with a knife. You can see at every step that The Quarryit was supposed to resemble a well-made film. The main tool here is, of course, the camera work, which has been significantly improved compared to previous Supermassive Games. The creators consciously use its movement and elements of the environment to introduce an appropriate atmosphere; Playing with the contrast between lighted and darkened places allows for the emergence of surprises that the player completely does not expect from the dark, and long shots of the main characters from a distance give the illusion as if there is a danger somewhere. All this is very impressive, the filmmaking of the production is at an amazing level … and for most players it may be its biggest drawback. The expression “interactive movie” has been interpreted by the developers very, very literally. People have nothing to look for here. The Quarry is a very specific game, and its slow pace (especially at the beginning) combined with its length can put off less persistent players.

With pad or popcorn in hand?

The Quarryit’s a lot of good virtual entertainment. I say this with full awareness – I played the game twice and I had a great time each time. The only drawback of this production can be felt when unlocking trophies – the game does not allow you to complete only one selected chapter. When the player decides to repeat a given segment of the game, e.g. in order to collect the omitted collectible, he will be forced to complete the plot, because only after the finale is completed, the missing collectible will be considered as obtained. This is the only complaint I have against the latest Supermassive Games production. I also understand that this is not entertainment for everyone; many people will just get bored of clicking individual buttons only once in a while. However, this is the charm of interactive movies – they are supposed to provide a completely different kind of satisfaction than dynamic and requiring the player’s attention. MeThe Quarry was delightful and I think it’s worth giving this game a chance.