The Quarry: Impressions on Until Dawn's Spiritual Successor

I like horror. But rather than calling myself a true genre fan, I'd say I'm a limited horror aficionado. I can't handle something as brutal as the Saw movie series, nor can I wholly watch something as unsettling as Insidious. I am alright with a few moments of gore or creepiness, but not for the entire movie. I'd probably get the urge to vomit while watching, then lose sleep later. 😅

But there are specific horror subgenres that I absolutely enjoy: zombies and teen slashers, to name a few. It has scary elements, but it also incorporates a lot of suspense and drama. And for teen horrors, a lot of dumb situations and dark humor.

Until Dawn is a game that celebrates the teen horror genre. In a nutshell, it's like an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure movie. Players are given the power to avoid every stupid horror-movie decision in the playbook or purposefully push the characters towards their creatively gory demise.

The 2015 PS4-exclusive game was a surprise hit and had built a massive cult following. Fans were calling for an encore of the Until Dawn experience. But only after seven long years, Supermassive Games will, at last, answer fans' ardent pleas.




WARNING: Some horror visuals found below.

_{The Quarry images are owned by Supermassive Games/2K Games. Until Dawn images are owned by Supermassive Games/Sony. Exclusive footage of The Quarry are from IGN.}

The Quarry: Until Dawn's Spiritual Successor

Supermassive Games has released several horror games since Until Dawn, but none replicated the OG game's allure. The succeeding games, collectively called Dark Pictures Anthologies, were of the same interactive movie mold but weren't as loved by players.

It's understandable that Until Dawn is considered better. It's backed by Sony and has a bigger budget, a fact made apparent by the game's large cast, long playtime, and many branching plot points. The Dark Pictures had those too, but way less. Also, it felt that it was taking itself too seriously and was less self-aware and fun compared to Until Dawn.

"The biggest thing, I think, was the kind of teen horror feel. So Until Dawn was very much on purpose. It wasn't cliche, but we kind of pushed it towards the stereotype of teen horror ... there's a certain humor in there ... there's a lightness."
--- Will Byles, Game Director of Until Dawn and The Quarry

Supermassive attempts to rekindle the Until Dawn magic with its upcoming game, The Quarry. I've seen the trailer of the new game and the first thirty-minute gameplay footage. And wow, it's shaping up to be like Until Dawn, but better. There is a lot of stuff I'm excited about The Quarry ... but to save on words, just watch the trailer first.

Then compare that to the well-received Until Dawn. You just know players would love this new game so much more.

A Cast Horror Movie Fans Will Die For

2K Games, the The Quarry's publisher, one-ups the first game's publisher, Sony, by seemingly allocating a grander budget for the game. If you aren't convinced by the more expensive-looking visuals and audio, then take a look at the actors and actresses joining Quarry's cast.

Until Dawn had the brilliant Rami Malek, and "Save the cheerleader, save the world" Hayden Panettiere, among other likable and splendid castmates. But I'm absolutely floored by what The Quarry has in store for us. 😱

We got these veterans from horror movie franchises and TV series. Their identity tied to iconic fan-favorite productions really elevates the entire game. Just their presence alone is enthralling.

The game has nine playable characters from a younger cast who are mostly horror newbies. But I like their teen horror vibe. I'm not saying they look like they'll make dumb decisions, but it's the adolescent energy they bring. Here's some of the nine playable camp counselors. These were the first ones showcased in the game's Instagram.

Also, recall how annoyingly effective Justice Smith's screams were in Jurassic Park and Detective Pikachu. You just know the game can get frantic when it wants to be.

Movie-Level Cinematics

It's the improved facial animations that immediately drew my attention. For obvious reasons, the more expressive faces would benefit a game that cashes in on the extreme situations it will put characters through. The team behind the animations was the same one who helmed MCU Thanos' animations. That's bound to be good and expensive.

I'm glad that the game kept up with the times and accessed better technology. But good tech doesn't make for a good horror game. The direction, cinematography, and sounds are much more essential. Fortunately, based on the first thirty-minute footage released by IGN, the game's doing pretty well on those fronts, too. You can check out the entire video here:

The lighting, scene composition, camera work, music, and sound effects are impressive. I'm not a cinematography expert, so don't put too much weight on my judgment. But from the eyes of a movie fan, it's a blockbuster in the making. There's a level of polish and good horror sense that I really enjoyed from the scenes, pushing the game-in-a-movie experience up higher.

There's one scene that I particularly liked in the introduction part. Laura (Siobhan Williams), one of the playable characters, was lost in the woods. As she treks along, looking for a way back to her companion, the game's camera follows behind at a consistent speed and angle.

But some moments later, the camera scurries forward. The bass sound becomes more prominent, echoing like a broken heartbeat. You get the feeling someone or something is closing in.

Laura senses something and points her phone's flashlight towards her perimeter in growing panic. Slightly shrill strings now accompany the background music. There were also inaudible whispers that kept me guessing if it was part of the music or was an in-game sound.

The music picks up but doesn't go beyond the loud and blaring threshold. I was focused on the scene with a heartbeat slightly paced up. Then, the noise drops into a hush ...

And someone whispers close to her ear. The moment Laura broke into a sprint, I forced out an exhale. I realized I was holding my breath for the entire scene.

There's nothing really groundbreaking there, but I like that the execution was effective enough to capture me in its moment. And that's not even while I was playing, but watching a Youtube video.

Less Jumpy, More Subtle Scares

I'm alright with jump scares in general. I get shocked, but I can enjoy it in movies. But jump scares in games, not so much. It's often distracting or breaking my play, and I hate messing up when playing 😅.

But there's nothing to do about it. That's the bread and butter of horror games. If it's up to me, I hope it's not overused. And maybe they can do away with the loud crashing noises. It's the sudden, loud bursts of noise that I really dislike. It hurts my ear and my blood circulation. 😂


The Quarry seems to use jump scares sparingly. I like that several creepy moments are peripheral, so subtle you may miss it if you're not paying attention. It feels more authentic since horror surprises in real life aren't the in-your-face type but the peripheral-vision type.

These are some of the subtle scares I liked in the early part of the game. It's not easy to notice since there's no clash of loud noise accompanying it.

Eliza (Grace Zabriskie) suddenly appears in the backseat for a split second as Laura and Max (Skyler Gisondo) careen off the road.

Eliza says hi to Laura again.

These moments blended well into the current scene, so you'll have missed it if you blinked. Some other minor shockers have somewhat off-beat timing too. For example, here's Travis (Ted Raimi) coming out of the shadows. The sounds burst not as soon as the audience sees Travis, but only when Laura and Max notice him.

This method of scares is not a new invention. But the variation is a breath of fresh air, especially since I was expecting more of the typical jump scares.

To End

The Quarry's ensemble and promise of better cinematography are getting me thrilled the most about the game. And that's on top of significantly-improved facial animations and audio. Narrative and branching storylines would make or break this game, but I'm simply hoping that it would be at least on par with what they had offered seven years ago in Until Dawn. But teaser reviews of the first few chapters imply that the story aspect is top-notch too.

I can't deal with this game. I'm so hyped. sigh ... I guess I have to save up for a PS5 now. I know I can play it on PC, but I think it'll be healthier for my heart if I play it from a safer distance. 🥺