Developer Supermassive Games rose to prominence with Until Dawn, a narrative horror game back on the PlayStation 4. It evoked nostalgia for ’80s-style horror movies, in which a group of irritating teens get their comeuppance for being so damn irritating. Obviously, that means they often got killed in a host of grisly ways, either due to story needs or by your own hand. Since then, the company has experimented with the episodic The Dark Pictures Anthology. However, Supermassive is returning to its roots with The Quarry, a irritating-teen-killing simulator which will release later in June.
The Quarry once more is a callback to popular horror films, which you can tell from its cast. It stars actors from popular genre classics, such as Scream and A Nightmare on Elm Street. David Arquette (Scream) is in, playing as the owner of Hackett’s Quarry summer camp. Ted Raimi of Evil Dead fame is also involved. The “kids,” camp counselors who are out for one last night of fun, are played by Justice Smith (Jurassic World) , Siobhan Williams (Masters of Doom), Ariel Winter (Modern Family), among others.
Characters in the trailer are sporting Supermassive’s usual hyper-realistic design. Though the facial animations are bit stiff. Hopefully they get more, well, animated by the time The Quarry releases on June 10.
I hear banjos
Based on the trailer and description, The Quarry feels very much like a spiritual successor to Until Dawn. As per usual, though, we don’t exactly know what’s hunting down this latest group of teens. The danger is kept offscreen or in the shadows, but there are likely some hints. We do see people of the soil, such as the imposing-looking Bobby (played by Ethan Suplee). This could be a Texas Chain Saw Massacre situation. However, Supermassive does indeed like to subvert such obvious expectations in its games, so their inclusion could be a red herring.
The game is, naturally, going to be a choice-driven narrative experience. It will also include the co-op and party co-op modes from the Dark Pictures series. If you’re not a fan of making the tough decisions, you can try the game’s Movie Mode and experience it as a “binge-worthy cinematic thriller.”
We’ll know for sure what haunts the summer camp when The Quarry releases in three months.
