The Quarry review – engrossing buffet of horror staples

PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One; 2K Games/Supermassive Games
The makers of Until Dawn return with a cinematic and satisfyingly tropey teen horror that's tense, fun and simple to play

In a scene familiar to anyone who has ever watched a horror film, two young people are driving down a road at night, affectionately bickering about being lost. We're the L word," Laura (Siobhan Williams) tells her boyfriend Max (Skyler Gisondo). What, lesbians?" he says, but the banter comes to an abrupt end when Max runs into a large animal on the road. Or ... was it? In the prologue alone, The Quarry offers up a buffet of horror staples, from eerie rustling in the woods to the sudden appearance of a shifty-looking policeman played by Ted Raimi.

The main story begins two months after Max and Laura's accident: the counsellors at Hackett's Quarry summer camp are just packing up the last of their belongings when an accident forces them to stay another night. Camp owner Chris Hackett (David Arquette) tells them not to leave the safety of the lodge under any circumstances, so of course the group immediately begins to plan a party. These preparations are our leisurely introduction to The Quarry's cast, a familiar yet entertaining range of archetypes from jock to social-media-obsessed barbie doll to wallflower, as well as to the rhythm of play: exploration and dialogue choices interspersed with frantic button-pressing in moments of tension. We're given several hours to really get to know them before the game unleashes its horrors.

The Quarry is out 10 June; 59.99.