Summary
- Supermassive Games' reputation for choice-driven horror began with Until Dawn and has flourished through The Dark Pictures Anthology.
- The Quarry, released in June 2022, acts as a spiritual successor to Until Dawn and showcases Supermassive's continued storytelling prowess.
- The Quarry exceeds expectations with funny, relatable characters, an all-star cast, multiplayer modes, and stellar writing, proving Supermassive's creative strength.
Supermassive Games is a developer that has become synonymous with choice-driven horror titles starring recognizable actors and actresses. This reputation began with the PS4 exclusive Until Dawn in 2015 and has continued to grow through a series of shorter games known as The Dark Pictures Anthology. The Quarry, which acts as a spiritual successor to Until Dawn, was released in June 2022 and proved that Supermassive still has plenty of horrific and fascinating stories to tell.
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PostsSupermassive Games was created in 2008, and quickly became a second-party developer for Sony. The company's first few years were spent developing DLC for LittleBigPlanet and games that required the PlayStation Move controller before their breakout hit Until Dawn was released. Supermassive Games is one of the most unique developers right now, and has created some incredible adventures since its debut.
Updated September 12, 2024, by Kyle Chamaillard. Supermassive Games is a busy studio and released both The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR and The Casting of Frank Stone since this list was last updated. We're revisiting it again to see where these titles land against the developer's other projects.
13 Wonderbook: Walking With Dinosaurs
CloseDo you remember Wonderbook, the book that comes to life through the PlayStation Eye camera? It's ok — no one does. Supermassive Games was a reliable studio for Sony to offer these types of projects to, and with the help of the BBC they created an immersive and educational game about dinosaurs.
Walking with Dinosaurs is often regarded as being the best of the four Wonderbook games. It offers kids a fun way to learn about the Jurassic period, and tests their knowledge with a variety of trivia questions. The only scary thing about this early Supermassive title is how they were able to make learning this much fun.
12 The Inpatient
CloseThe Inpatient is a prequel to Until Dawn, and returns to a more traditional horror experience after Supermassive released Tumble VR and Hidden Agenda. It's a PlayStation VR exclusive where you play an amnesiac patient in the Blackwood Pines Sanatorium, sixty-three years before the events of the original game.
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PostsUntil Dawn fans were excited to explore the sanatorium — which was heavily featured in the game — and learn more about the history of Blackwood Mountain. The experience, though, turned out to be disappointingly short and boring. The graphics were good for virtual reality, but the clunky movement broke the immersion, and the scares felt cheap and undeserved.
11 Tumble
CloseSupermassive Games isn't always dragging you into grotesque, goosebump-inducing horror games. Tumble is a puzzle game that involves building or destroying towers with the PlayStation Move controller. Puzzles in other Supermassive titles can often have consequences, like the death of a character, but Tumble's puzzles are just pure joy.
It succeeds largely because it's an excellent stress reliever with accurate motion controls. The PlayStation Move was not very successful, but a few games managed to capitalize on the technology and Tumble was one of them. It was also one of the first games Supermassive developed on its own, paving the way for later projects.
10 Hidden Agenda
CloseAfter the success of Until Dawn, Supermassive wanted to apply the mechanics from its popular horror game to a different kind of experience — a murder mystery. Hidden Agenda contains the quick-time events and excellent performances you should expect from a Supermassive title, but fails by adding new ideas that slow down the adventure.
Hidden Agenda is one of a handful of games that utilizes the Playlink feature. Other people around you could influence decisions using their cellphones, and sometimes players would receive prompts meant to cause confusion and conflict within the group. It felt like Sony once again asking Supermassive to create a game around new technology, similar to Walking with Dinosaurs and Tumble.
9 The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR
CloseThe Dark Pictures: Switchback VR
Horror Shooter Action Powered by Expand CollapseSupermassive showed some potential with its first VR game, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, yet despite the many technical improvements included with the PlayStation VR2, its follow-up somehow felt more predictable and not nearly as scary. Switchback is a spin-off from the Dark Pictures series but barely shares any of its DNA.
If you love rail-shooters, specifically Rush of Blood, you can expect more of the same in Switchback - just with better lighting and eye-tracking. There still aren't a lot of exclusive games on the PSVR2, but Switchback VR does its best to put you into an immersive and terrifying environment and mostly succeeds in its thrills-to-chills gameplay.
8 Until Dawn: Rush Of Blood
CloseIn an unexpected turn of events, Supermassive Games adapted Until Dawn into an arcade shooter. Some fans of the narrative-driven game were not pleased with this change, but it did offer a fun and often scary experience. It was one of the many games that launched alongside the PlayStation VR in 2016, but failed the recapture the magic of the original.
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PostsInstead of creating massive explorable environments in VR, Supermassive Games decided to keep it simple and created an on-rail shooter. You ride on a roller coaster and shoot enemies in creepy environments, but there isn't much more to do besides that. Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is also disappointingly short on Until Dawn Easter eggs and references.
7 The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man Of Medan
CloseThe Dark Pictures: Man of Medan
Survival Horror Released August 30, 2019 ESRB M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes Developer(s) Supermassive Games Publisher(s) Bandai Namco Entertainment Engine Unreal Engine 4 Multiplayer Online Multiplayer Franchise The Dark Pictures Platform(s) Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S How Long To Beat 5 Hours PS Plus Availability Extra & Premium Powered by Expand CollapseMan of Medan is the first entry in the Dark Pictures Anthology, and it feels like it. It was Supermassive Game's first attempt at telling a shorter story with less consequential decisions, and while it's a fun and often spooky time, it also stumbles more than it succeeds. It was also the first time Supermassive decided to focus on a multiplayer aspect for one of its games.
It features a pretty fun group of characters, and an intriguing opening act that quickly sets the stage through the choices you make. Playing with a friend offers the most fun, as small decisions either player makes will affect the outcome of the adventure and the characters' fates. It's also a genuinely scary game at times, with its ghost ship aesthetic and haunting score. Man of Medan was a great start to the Dark Pictures Anthology series, but is only a fraction of the fun of its sequels.
6 The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil In Me
CloseThe Dark Pictures: The Devil in Me
Horror Released November 18, 2022 ESRB M For Mature Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language Developer(s) Supermassive Games Publisher(s) Bandai Namco Entertainment Engine Unreal Engine 4 Multiplayer Online Multiplayer Franchise The Dark Pictures Number of Players 1-5 Platform(s) PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One How Long To Beat 7 Hours Metascore 71 Local Co-Op Support 1-5 Players Powered by Expand CollapseThe Devil In Me is the final installment in The Dark Pictures Anthology's first season and is the first time the series felt like it was taking a step back instead of pushing the genre forward. Its premise about a film crew investigating a haunted hotel was incredibly intriguing, but a combination of unlikeable characters and predictable twists make the overall experience feel less ambitious and fun than its predecessors.
House of Ashes and Little Hope excelled at having characters you actually want to see survive the night, but The Devil In Me's cast feels like a group of toxic people with few redeeming qualities. It's not all bad though, as The Devil In Me might have some of the scariest moments and most brutal deaths in any Supermassive game.
5 The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
CloseThe Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
Survival Horror Released October 30, 2020 ESRB M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Intense Violence, Strong Language Developer(s) Supermassive Games Publisher(s) Namco Bandai Engine Unreal Engine 4 Multiplayer Online Multiplayer Franchise The Dark Pictures Anthology Platform(s) Xbox One, PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 How Long To Beat 5 Hours PS Plus Availability Extra & Premium Powered by Expand CollapseLittle Hope is the second game in the Dark Pictures Anthology, and is proof that Supermassive is always trying to improve on its formulas. Not everything that felt off in Man of Medan is entirely fixed, but Little Hope's writing, characters, and story are certainly an improvement. The interactions and dialogue between characters feel more authentic, and it's shocking when any of them meet their untimely demise.
Little Hope follows a group of people after their bus mysteriously crashes, following them as they spiral into darkness. They soon find themselves trapped in a ghost town plagued by witches, and will need to work together to survive the night. What helps Little Hope stand out is that you get to explore the modern timeline, as well as the events from the past that led to the town's curse.
4 The Casting Of Frank Stone
CloseThe Casting of Frank Stone
Adventure Released September 3, 2024 ESRB M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language Developer(s) Supermassive Games Publisher(s) Behaviour Interactive Engine Unreal Engine 5 Platform(s) PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S Powered by Expand CollapseSet in the Dead by Daylight universe, The Casting of Frank Stone is most like Until Dawn and The Quarry in terms of gameplay and length. It might be one of Supermassive's most ambitious titles, as it deals with multiple timelines and faces the pressure of telling a satisfying story in the universe of one of the most popular multiplayer games of the generation.
The biggest hurdle The Casting of Frank Stone faces is reaching out to players who don't engage with Dead by Daylight, and unfortunately, it mostly fails on that front. The game is filled with Easter eggs and references to the series that will go over anyone's head who was just looking for a fun and terrifying choose-your-own-adventure. It's worth picking up if you've spent time with the asymmetric multiplier game, but if you haven't, it might be best to try one of Supermassive's original titles.
