As a big big champion of Until Dawn, I found The Quarry to be rather disappointing by the time the end credits started scrolling. Whereas the former managed to strike a fine balance between being panic-inducing and laugh out loud funny, the latter feels like a pale comparison that desperately wants to mimic Supermassive's 2015 cult hit.
Fair enough, The Quarry does a better job of branching out its narrative and having multiple strands (there was a lot of smoke and mirrors involved with UD's 'open-ended' choice-based story), but that's about the one area in which it can claim the high ground. Barring a heart-racing, standout sequence towards the end that involves a tower crane, there's a startling lack of tension in TQ. Characters don't have the sense of urgency and realism during their horrifying ordeal at Hackett's Quarry that you would expect. They stand in the middle of forests and exchange witty barbs despite being vulnerable and wide open to an attack. Graphic things happen in front of their very eyes, but don't elicit the kind of hysterical reaction you would expect from someone who has just seen, well... spoilers. Characters will be in a high-tension, perilous situation, but will insist on moving like molasses, or refuse to have the shotgun strapped around their shoulder prepped and ready to fire. The performances are generally good and these are (mostly) reliable actors, so I think the direction and writing is ultimately to blame here. There's a lot of emphasis on jokey banter and wise-cracking, but unlike Until Dawn, it's often strained and most of the jokes just don't land. There isn't a scene-stealing, infinitely-quotable cast member on the level of UD's bitch queen Emily, and boy could this game use one.
There's pacing issues as well. The Quarry fancies itself a slow burn, taking a long time to establish things before night falls and shit hits the fan, but with the lack of interactivity, meaningful gameplay design and tension involved, it gets real boring, real quick. When the drama does eventually pick up, the unthinkable happens. Oh yes, the absolute nadir of The Quarry's horror tale occurs about two-thirds of the way in, when a horribly-protracted flashback scene suddenly appears to slam the story's momentum to a screeching halt. What makes matters worse is the writing is incredibly weak during this part. Characters refuse to communicate with each other, and a whole lot of anguish could've been avoided if they talked to each other on clear terms instead of acting like obtuse morons. But obviously this can't happen because then the game would be over way too soon.
Is it a complete failure? Despite my lengthy diatribe... no. As flawed and inconsistent as The Quarry is, it did still manage to create a playable cast of characters that I was somewhat invested in. I put effort in to try and ensure they all survived the night (and was pissed off when some of them insta-died in what felt like unfair circumstances). The story manages to maintain some intrigue and mystery throughout, even though it's often clear to the player long before the characters what the true intentions of certain 'villains' are. And despite some stiff animation in places, it looks nice. Very nice. Borderline photorealistic at times.
As it stands, Supermassive remain something of a one-hit wonder. It feels like ever since they released Until Dawn and surprised PS4 owners with one of the console's first killer app games, they've been scrambling to replicate that success. Sadly, it has continued to elude them, and it might be finetime to bid farewell to the interactive movie genre once and for all, and try their hand at something different.
Fair enough, The Quarry does a better job of branching out its narrative and having multiple strands (there was a lot of smoke and mirrors involved with UD's 'open-ended' choice-based story), but that's about the one area in which it can claim the high ground. Barring a heart-racing, standout sequence towards the end that involves a tower crane, there's a startling lack of tension in TQ. Characters don't have the sense of urgency and realism during their horrifying ordeal at Hackett's Quarry that you would expect. They stand in the middle of forests and exchange witty barbs despite being vulnerable and wide open to an attack. Graphic things happen in front of their very eyes, but don't elicit the kind of hysterical reaction you would expect from someone who has just seen, well... spoilers. Characters will be in a high-tension, perilous situation, but will insist on moving like molasses, or refuse to have the shotgun strapped around their shoulder prepped and ready to fire. The performances are generally good and these are (mostly) reliable actors, so I think the direction and writing is ultimately to blame here. There's a lot of emphasis on jokey banter and wise-cracking, but unlike Until Dawn, it's often strained and most of the jokes just don't land. There isn't a scene-stealing, infinitely-quotable cast member on the level of UD's bitch queen Emily, and boy could this game use one.
There's pacing issues as well. The Quarry fancies itself a slow burn, taking a long time to establish things before night falls and shit hits the fan, but with the lack of interactivity, meaningful gameplay design and tension involved, it gets real boring, real quick. When the drama does eventually pick up, the unthinkable happens. Oh yes, the absolute nadir of The Quarry's horror tale occurs about two-thirds of the way in, when a horribly-protracted flashback scene suddenly appears to slam the story's momentum to a screeching halt. What makes matters worse is the writing is incredibly weak during this part. Characters refuse to communicate with each other, and a whole lot of anguish could've been avoided if they talked to each other on clear terms instead of acting like obtuse morons. But obviously this can't happen because then the game would be over way too soon.
Is it a complete failure? Despite my lengthy diatribe... no. As flawed and inconsistent as The Quarry is, it did still manage to create a playable cast of characters that I was somewhat invested in. I put effort in to try and ensure they all survived the night (and was pissed off when some of them insta-died in what felt like unfair circumstances). The story manages to maintain some intrigue and mystery throughout, even though it's often clear to the player long before the characters what the true intentions of certain 'villains' are. And despite some stiff animation in places, it looks nice. Very nice. Borderline photorealistic at times.
As it stands, Supermassive remain something of a one-hit wonder. It feels like ever since they released Until Dawn and surprised PS4 owners with one of the console's first killer app games, they've been scrambling to replicate that success. Sadly, it has continued to elude them, and it might be finetime to bid farewell to the interactive movie genre once and for all, and try their hand at something different.