The Quarry Review— Supermassive's Interactive-Movie Peak, Scratches and All
Four years ago, the critical line on The Quarry was "fine, but a drag." Scores landed politely in the 70s (74 on PS5 Metacritic, 79 on PC, 78 on Xbox), pre-load bashers called it a step back from Until Dawn, and the conversation has since moved on. Today — having watched Supermassive spend the intervening years on The Casting of Frank Stone's mixed bag and Directive 8020's muddled late-2025 cycle — that verdict deserves revisiting: The Quarry wasn't the disappointing one. It was the peak. This review tells you why, what still niggles, and why it's cheap enough now that its flaws have become negotiable.
Table of Contents
- The Premise: Summer Camp, No Adults, Werewolves
- The Cast: Why the Characters Carry It
- Gameplay: Why the "It's Just Watching" Criticism Half-Stands
- Death Rewind and the 186-Endings Labyrinth
- The Flaws That Deserve Their Reputation
- Four Years On: How Supermassive's Arc Reframes the Verdict
- Verdict
- FAQ
The Premise: Summer Camp, No Adults, Werewolves
Final night of summer camp. Seven counselors — pragmatic Kaitlyn, loner Ryan, class-clown Dylan, the will-they-won't-they Nick and Abigail, summer-flingers Emma and Jacob — stranded one more night after the bus has left, the car's engine parts "mysteriously" fail, and the coaches' shuttle heads home. A swimming-hole lore dump (abandoned quarry, drowned campers, the Hackett family's terrible secrets) and an evening that curdles from beer-pong flirting into tooth-and-claw violence by midnight. The premise is slasher-film generic on paper — which is precisely how Supermassive keeps the surprise for later: the game has 186 official endings, which means the seemingly obviously-designed-to-be-slaughtered character makes it, and the competent one doesn't.
The Cast: Why the Characters Carry It
Supermassive assembled the best cast it's ever had for a bigger-than-budget horror: David Arquette (the practical sheriff), Justice Smith and Ariel Winter (the lonely kids), Siobhan Williams (Emma, the show-boater), Brenda Song, Lin Shaye as the oracle between chapters, and a dozen more. The animation quality rivals any mocap drama: the jawline details, eye catches, misdirected smiles — walking this territory in 2022 while Unreal 5 was just coming online was genuinely a flex. More importantly, the script gives its ensemble definable social grudges and private fears, so when you eventually kill one of them through a dialogue-branch-run, you desfinitely notice. It's the difference between the slasher movies that pay off their campfires and the ones that don't.
Gameplay: Why the "It's Just Watching" Criticism Half-Stands
Let's be fair to the launch-day critics — the structure does ration interaction: most of your levers are dialogue choices, relationship steerage, and quick-time thumbstick dodges, reconfigurable mashing, hold-breath moments, and occasional aim and-shoot interludes. Supermassive knew this — that's precisely why a movie+spectator mode exists (and why Movie Mode with friends, or passing a controller between scenes, is the intended endgame). At the sub-$15 price the game now lives at, the "interactive movie" hustle isn't a flaw; it's the genre's sales pitch. Where the launch criticism went wrong was in failing to see the narrative furniture that the slower first act builds: relationships established in chapters 1–3 become weaponized in 7–10.
Death Rewind and the 186-Endings Labyrinth
Here's the design landmark: the first playthrough is unforgiving — a bad QTE or an ill-considered moral position kills your favorite character and that's it, no undo. Finish that run (8–10 hours) and Death Rewind unlocks — granting three retries per subsequent playthrough to undo a character's death point and change the butterfly. What critics scorned in 2022 (and paying Deluxe buyers got early) now reads as a prophetic compromise: the adult-content price for the game's fatalism. The meaningful re-plays multiply: the Tarot card reveal montage, Eyeshine collectibles, evidence found reshapes the epilogue courtroom; between them, the spider-webbed decision tree produces the room debates that became Let's Play phenomena throughout 2022–23, and why the game persists as a streamer-party staple still.
The Flaws That Deserve Their Reputation
Honesty demands the ledger: the pacing is laborious in the front third (nearly 90 minutes before the first real threat), the camera sabotages exploration with cinematic proximity that hides objects, locomotion feels slow even for an interactive drama, texture streaming glitches (the fire-pit rendering episode) mock the otherwise gorgeous detail work, and certain endings — including the "everything's fine, nothing explained" one — are deafening anti-cliches. Every old criticism is still basically true, hence the game fairs "mixed" on its user lines despite the critics' generousing 70s. But these ruts wear better in retrospect: at half-and-one-hour-lower prices, and knowing Movie Mode brillasco exists from minute one, none of the launch-day negotiations remain contractual.
Four Years On: How Supermassive's Arc Reframes the Verdict
Compare the context when the review first ran (mid-2022: Supermassive still signed with Bandai Namco on Dark Pictures, Until Dawn still a beacon) with today: the studio was acquired by Nordisk Film (July 2022), turned out a runtime Dead-by-Daylight tie-in (The Casting of Frank Stone, 2024 — 68 MC), covered Directive 8020's muddled season-five-closer reception in 2025, and Until Dawn itself got a remaster-remake that made the series look winded. Against that route-map, The Quarry stands as the last time the whole machine worked: budget-fitting writing, cast-first direction, big-scope production values, interactive-first design. The slam "they're still chasing Until Dawn" reads differently now — they were chasing it, and this was the closest they'd ever gotten.
Verdict
| The Fireside, Fair-and-Balanced ✅ | Why Some Bored Boards Still Burn ❌ |
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Score: 7.5/10 — Supermassive's last great night around the campfire. When it premiered, players counted what's missing. Four years on, the company of what Supermassive shipped after it makes what's here look considerable.
Where to Buy (Official Stores Only)
Like every Supermassive joint, The Quarry is a fully complete offline package — a purchase, not a service. Grab it on your platform of choice (constant sales have driven it below $15):
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does The Quarry take to beat?
The first playthrough runs 8–10 hours; subsequent Death-Re alcan runs (seeing different ends) stack because 186 permutations promise literally what your choices avantar.
What is Death Rewind?
A post-completion feature granting three "lives" that roll back to the decision that killed a character — offered instantly as part of the Deluxe Edition, otherwise unlocked after your first full playthrough.
Is The Quarry still on PlayStation Plus?
It was a monthly Essentials game in May 2023 (redeem it then and it stays yours); it has cycled back through the Extra catalog periodically since — check your console; drop rates vary by month.
Do I need to watch Until Dawn first?
No — it's a standalone story, not a sequel. Supermassive's games are anthology-format, share only design language.
How many endings does The Quarry have?
186 officially tallied endings, modulated by who survived, what evidence exists, and your relationship webs with the Hackett family.
Is The Quarry suitable for couch play?
Yes — arguably its best platform. Movie Mode, passing-controller party sessions, and streaming-night marathons defined its streaming-era second life.
Did The Quarry get a sequel?
No, and there is none announced. Supermassive's next chapters were The Casting of Frank Stone (2024), Directive 8020 (2025), and layoff-scarring studio changes under Nordisk Film.
Is the newer Casting of Frank Stone better?
Lower scoring (68 MC) but significantly smarter mechanically. If The Quarry wore its production standards better, this one improved the design engine — your call which wine you prefer.