2K has just released gameplay footage for The Quarry, their latest interactive survival horror game. A minute after the intro starts playing and the Until Dawn vibes are almost unmistakable; it’s a Supermassive game, after all.
The prologue sees the player taking control of teenage camp counsellor Laura (Siobhan Williams), who is travelling to Hackett’s Quarry Summer Camp along with her boyfriend Max (Skyler Gisondo). They set off a night earlier and proceed to get lost, setting off a chain of events in classic horror fashion.
The gameplay footage shows off all the hallmarks of a formula that Supermassive has been honing to perfection with Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures Anthology: Quick Time events out of the blue mid-cutscene; indications of characters’ moods suggesting that your decisions may have a part to play in determining the outcome of the story and each character’s storylines; and of course, the usual horror tropes of people wandering off poking their noses where they shouldn’t be. Just par for the course and exactly what we want.
Right from their first disturbing encounter in the woods, you know you’re in for a spate of constant tension with the supernatural – or really creepy and weird people. The short half-hour playthrough is filled with constant tension and stressful moments and suggests that the game has all the elements to be a good ol’ fashioned interactive horror flick with the usual bevvy of ‘clueless’ kids at summer camp, and out in the woods.
It also helps that Supermassive has enlisted a host of actors who are practically horror royalty: We get a glimpse of Ted Raimi’s dodgy-looking cop in the prologue; David Arquette thus far distracting us with his is-he-channelling-a-Dewey-Riley-or-not routine; and we await to bow in the presence of the Godmother of horror, Lin Shaye, who voices Constance, a character that we know very little of at the moment.
The Quarry certainly feels like it has plenty of horror flick cred, and it looks like one of those games where we can spend as much time trying to unlock (or watch) all the various player interactions and possible outcomes. Save this game for a cold, rainy night. It’s scheduled for release on 10 June 2022 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Steam for PC.
