The Quarry (Multi)
By: 2K Games
EVER since 2015's Until Dawn, Supermassive have ploughed a bloody furrow in interactive horror. And with a gaggle of summer camp counsellors ripe for the axe, the Guildford-based developer's latest creature feature juggles horror tropes and high school angst for a self-aware homage to 90s slashers that comes with lashings of sliced teen cheese.
Well aware of the cinematic slasher shoulders on which it stands, seven counsellors navigate a night of terror at Hackett's Quarry in upstate New York. From the jock and the Barbie doll to the token black and gay characters, players switch between our not-so-happy campers in a vaguely interactive Hollywood horror glistening in that cookie-cutter Supermassive gloss.
Enlivened no end by a roll-call of middle-tier stars, Lance Henriksen, Ted Raimi, David Arquette and Blumhouse's stock oul doll, Lin Shaye, all put in mo-capped performances. Though with the exception of Raimi, the marquee names hang around just long enough for their cheques to clear.
The young 'uns, however, are in for the long haul, spouting such a stream of obnoxious psycho-babble and yoof quips, I wanted to crawl into the screen and slaughter them all myself.
Once again, the bulk of your time is spent essentially watching a movie, with occasional choices and match-the-prompt directional inputs. It's all a bit Russian roulette, and with no real clues as to how your actions will play out, expect some frustrating deaths.
Thankfully, a rewind feature gives players three do-overs if one of the gang carks it – though it's only available from the off in the pricey deluxe version, with standard edition plebs left to lament their cack-handed mistakes.
Occasionally, though, The Quarry apes a 'normal' game as players pootle around woods, boathouses and the like for clues, though a too-close-for-comfort camera and disorientating shot changes make this a clumsy departure from the slick pre-rendered stuff.
With 186 possible outcomes, The Quarry's Swiss watch construction has perhaps too many moving parts. With a surfeit of characters, most of the game sees our gang herded into three or four different groups, meaning a lot of bouncing around plotlines you've long forgotten (a problem that plagues the latest bloated series of Stranger Things).
It all looks incredible, though, with uncanny valley facial animations and moody lighting as your torch catches dust particles in some godforsaken basement, while a dread-filled score by Ian Livingstone channels the slasher flicks of yore – not bad for the guy who composed the theme to the BBC's The Repair Shop.
With a Netflix box-set vibe, The Quarry's ten-odd hours may feel overlong, but Supermassive have finally topped 2015's Until Dawn with a slasher throwback that was made by a team who clearly love the classics.
Perfect with an extra-large Dominos at a sleepover party, The Quarry offers more summery camp horror than Julian Simmons in a Speedo.
