The Quarry

If you go into the woods tonight, you're sure of a big surprise.

MOVIES

- No new movies watched in the last week, but I have re-watched Blade Runner 2049 and Spotlight which are both just as excellent as the last time I watched either of them.

GAMES

- After liking Until Dawn, I had hoped that The Quarry would be a step up in quality as it is pretty much Until Dawn 2 in all but name.

- That hope was based on the underlying quality of Until Dawn, although the Dark Pictures Anthology games have been a bit of a mixed bag.

- Ultimately, that proves to be the same for The Quarry, which is an improvement in every regard over Until Dawn on the technical side of things, looking and running just beautifully.

- Unfortunately, the cast of characters just isn't strong enough to make an impression, an effort not helped by there being far more named people to deal with compared to Until Dawn.

- Also, the threat this time around just doesn't feel as scary or unsettling as the wendigos were, with their odd movement and bizarre physiologies.

- This game controls pretty much as you'd expect, with scenes of exploration and unearthing clues interchanging with highly-scripted sequences so there's nothing new to worry about too much.

- The problem is that the game does feel just too comfortable for a horror story, and that refinement of control bizarrely works against the game as you end up always feeling like you have everything under control.

- Until Dawn had a lot of rough edges, but that helped build the tension and crank up the atmosphere as you'd hope you could survive whatever happened next.

- Here, unless you deliberately choose to fail at something or make a bad choice on purpose, the only time you might end up feeling the same is if your concentration wanders.

- To be fair, you might also get some differences depending on what evidence and clues you do/don't collect, but that's down to player patience rather than the game getting to you.

- I know all this negativity sounds like I didn't enjoy the game, but I actually did and just wish that the story and characters had improved as much as the technical side of things.

- The Quarry is actually a pretty decent game, but it does feel like one step forward and steps back from Until Dawn, so maybe one to try if you can grab it in a sale. [6/10]