The Quarry creates a cast of compelling campers to torment

The main characters in The quarry is a nice set of dipshits. They cross the line between being funny and disgusting, and they run the teenage archetype from shy bookworms to Riverdale-esque drama queens. Some of these kids are a little more realistic, while others are not here to make friends – they are here to start problems or break hearts. There are dramatic love triangles, secret kisses and unrequited longing.

But they all have one thing in common: They are here to be murdered. How many of them survive is up to you.

The quarry developer Supermassive Games takes another trip to regain magic Until Dawnthe studio’s teen thriller debut from 2015, for its new multi-platform game. The quarry shares many of the same pillars: a large number of characters, slasher film aesthetics, and an emphasis on player selection.

Here is the set-up for Supermassive’s new horror story: Due to unexpected circumstances, the children in The quarry must spend an extra night at Hackett’s Quarry summer camp. The adults in their lives are strangely scared of this news, but for the teens, it’s just another chance for an epic party. The night starts out like a normal summer hustle and bustle, but things quickly go off track. There is something out there in the woods and it does not kindly welcome strangers. Add crows, mysterious whispers, tarot cards, 80s VHS technology and rural stories, and it’s a recipe for a fun mix between camp and chills.

The crew is large and the campers bounce off each other in interesting ways. They are also very proactive, constantly pushing the plot forward. The characters do not reflect on deep-seated traumas or complex moral dilemmas. Instead, they make choices such as Wouldn’t it be fun to swing this gun around? or Why should we wait inside like a bunch of nerds when we can have a bonfire?

The teens – played by young Hollywood talents like Justice Smith, Brenda Song, Skyler Gisondo and Ariel Winter – initially have simple problems, but things get more complicated when it comes to focusing on survival. It’s an easy dilemma to dive into, and it means the player has choices. My character’s love interest is terribly ruined. Am I trying to save him or escape into the woods? A jock is swimming desperately for a piece of equipment and he is about to run out of breath. Do I get to the surface and risk losing the precious prey, or do I stay underwater with all these shackles and dead bodies?

Because the cast is so large and crowded with painfully stupid decisions, there is room for joy over some of their horrific deaths. The Dark Pictures Anthology from Supermassive has a minor lead role and encourages the player to protect them carefully, but The quarry is much more cavalier in throwing members of its cast into the meat grinder.

The quarry is also much less cerebral than Dark Pictures Anthology, which loves to complicate its narrative with twists. The Dark Pictures games are permeated by military conspiracies, childhood traumas and other narrative curveballs. Even the most interpersonally messy game, House of Ashis tame in relation to The quarry – there is only one romantic conflict, as opposed to a whole lot.

Image: Supermassive Games / 2K Games

These are not Marines or even adults with fully developed frontal lobes – they are stupid children, so many of the choices I had to make during my playing time were petty and silly. There are several of these small-scale choices that can branch out in interesting ways, split the group up, or create the mood for a scene.

The player must navigate the game through dialogue options and quick meetings. Are the teens honest with each other or evasive? How does the group split up and do they double down to save each other from danger? Can a survivor climb a tree, or should they focus on escaping through the scrub forest? Supermassive has added a wealth of useful accessibility features that make the skills check very flexible. The player can switch between different options to adjust the difficulty level and the demand of these checks so that they can be messages in a split second or at a slower pace.

The quarry is set to launch on June 10 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X. The game’s online multiplayer component, which will let a group decide the fate of teens, has been delayed to a release on the 8th. July .