The Quarry (video game)

The Quarry is a survival horror interactive drama video game played from a third-person perspective. In the game, the player assumes control of nine different teenagers who must survive a night at the Hackett's Quarry.[1] The player must make different decisions, which would change the character development, the plot as well as relationship between different characters. All nine playable characters may die by the end of the game, and each character potentially has 10-12 different ways to die. Supermassive expected the game to last for about 10 hours, though early death of certain characters may cause the game to end earlier at around 7 hours. Due to the game's branching storyline, it has many endings, and at the end of a playthrough, players will be given different collectible cards that depict the fate of each character.[2] Once the player completes their first playthrough of the game, they will unlock Death Rewind, which allows them to undo three character deaths in each subsequent playthroughs.[3]

The game also features a Movie mode, which disables certain gameplay elements such as button mashing, quick-time events, and aiming and shooting, allowing players to progress in the game with minimum input.[2] The game also features local and online multiplayer. In local multiplayer, players take turns to control different characters, while in the online mode, seven other participating players can vote in key decisions. Players can participate in voting by only downloading the demo version of The Quarry.[4] The game also features a movie-only mode in which the player can set the personalty traits of different characters and then let the story play out.

Nine young camp counselors must survive a night at Hackett's Quarry in Upstate New York while being hunted by "blood-drenched locals" and "something far more sinister".[1] The game features an ensemble cast including David Arquette, Siobhan Williams, Lin Shaye, Lance Henriksen, Grace Zabriskie, Ted Raimi, Ariel Winter, Ethan Suplee, Miles Robbins, Halston Sage, Zach Tinker, Brenda Song, Skyler Gisondo, Evan Evagora, and Justice Smith.[5]

The Quarry is being developed by British developer Supermassive Games. It was envisioned as a spiritual successor to the studio's Until Dawn (2015). The Quarry is heavily inspired by teen slasher and creature movies, and adheres to established horror movie tropes more firmly than The Dark Pictures Anthology, Supermassive's other horror franchise.[6] Creative director Will Byles added that while the game is set in modern times, "there's a very '80s feel" about the setting and the characters, citing movies including Sleepaway Camp and Friday the 13th as major sources of inspirations. The locals living near the Hackett's Quarry have a more "retro" feel and the team were influenced by films such as The Hills Have Eyes, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Deliverance.[7] Supermassive was also inspired by Evil Dead, and The Thing. The team wanted the game to feature horror movie tropes from different eras, and Byles went on to compare the game to a horror theme park. To capture the feelings of a classic horror films, Supermassive recruited a large cast of actors and several genre mainstays to portray the characters in the game, and collaborated with Los Angeles-based production company Digital Domain on the game's motion capture technology.[8] While the game pays homage to various horror films, the team learnt from their experience making Until Dawn, allowing the team to build up players' fear through creating tension rather than relying heavily on jump scares.[5] According to Byles, the team wrote more than 1,000 pages for the game's script, and the game has a total of 186 different endings.[9]

While Until Dawn was designed to be a solo experience, the team found that players like to play the game in small groups, and acknowledged that Until Dawn was a popular game for people to simply watch. Therefore, the game introduced a Movie mode, and expanded the multiplayer options introduced in previous Supermassive games such as Hidden Agenda and The Dark Pictures Anthology in order to appeal to people who would simply like to watch the game. The accessibility options were also designed to cater to more casual gamers who may not be experienced in playing games. When compared to The Dark Pictures Anthology, The Quarry was designed for a broader audience and had a smaller focus on gameplay.[8]

Publisher 2K Games and Supermassive officially unveiled the game on March 18, 2022.[10] The game would be released for Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S on June 10, 2022.[11] Players who purchased the Deluxe version of the game would unlock the Gorefest option in the Movie mode, which features more brutal imagery when compared to the normal Movie mode. They would also receive additional character outfits, instant access to the Death Rewind feature, and the Horror History Visual Filter Pack, which allows players to change the aesthetic of the game by choosing from three visual filters inspired by horror films in different eras and various styles of horror filmmaking.[3]

• Official website