“The Quarry” unfolds at a summer camp (of course) in a place called Hackett’s Quarry. In the prologue, two camp counselors named Laura (an excellent Siobhan Williams) and Max (Skyler Gisondo) are heading up to the remote location a night early. They swerve off the road to avoid an accident, crashing their car in the woods, where they run into a local officer named Travis (Ted Raimi), who encourages them not to go to the Quarry tonight. Of course, they ignore this warning, and are attacked when they arrive at the camp.
Jump to two months later and the introduction of the seven other playable characters. Like “Until Dawn,” there’s a specific path of choices and life-saving actions that can keep all nine characters alive until the end, although I found that element tougher to predict in this game than the last one. For the record, I lost three poor souls, although I was really trying to play the game more organically than over-thinking decisions after a certain point.
Anyway, the seven counselors who are now on the last day of camp at Hackett’s Quarry are Abi (Ariel Winter), Dylan (Miles Robbins), Emma (Halston Sage), Jacob (Zach Tinker), Kaitlyn (Brenda Song), Nick (Evan Evagora), and Ryan (Justice Smith). Of course, there are potential romantic relationships in the group that will shape the narrative—Abi has a crush on Nick, Jacob annoyingly pines for Emma, and there’s something between Ryan and Dylan. The young cast is uniformly strong, especially Smith and Williams, but the real draw for genre fans will be the supporting crew, which not only includes Raimi but David Arquette, Lance Henriksen, Grace Zabriskie, and Lin Shaye. It’s a fantastic assembly of familiar faces.
On the night they’re supposed to leave the Quarry, big dummy Jacob sabotages their only vehicle so he can spend one more night with Emma. Before you know it, something is hunting them, although “The Quarry” is more creature feature than slasher pic. There’s something in the woods and it may be more dangerous than the men who appear to be hunting the counselors, played by Henriksen and Ethan Suplee. The mythology of the game unfolds mostly through cinematic cutscenes, but there are also clues and evidence that can be found throughout the setting, giving the player hints as to what’s truly going on and how to survive the night. Players can also find Tarot cards, which offer visions of the potential future.
