Supermassive Gameshave come a long way since their inception and initial struggles to create an identity for themselves in the gaming world. Unfortunately, their initial offerings, such as theStart The Party!andWalking With Dinosaurs, were neither the gaming world deserved nor the one they needed.
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However, they found their calling with their 2015 horror gameUntil Dawn. Combining the butterfly effect mechanics with the horror genre,Supermassive Gamesflew high into the spotlight as one of the few developers who could provide a horror game and an experience exclusive to those who play it.
8Hidden Agenda - 2017
Supermassive Games’ most hideous attempt at making a horror game is undoubtedlyHidden Agenda. Before jumping to quick conclusions, it is safe to say that the game writers were not to be played, but the creative decision to host the game on a lesser-knownplatform like Playlink killed it.
BeforeHidden Agenda,the studios enjoyed massive success withUntil Dawn, one of the first few games introduced for the next-generation console - the PS4. The game was an enormous hit among the fans, and the thought of using the PlayLink that can utilize multiplayer plot-changing aspects was too greedy. A case of a prospective game buried dead by the wrong platform.
7The Inpatient - 2018
2018 was a good year for theVR gaming experience, with two highly anticipated horror games making their debut on the platform. One was theResident Evil Biohazardport, while the other was an exclusive from Supermassive Games -The Inpatient.
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The game serves as a prequel to their 2015 blockbusterUntil Dawn,but plays out in a different era and with a different setting altogether. Taking the role of an amnesiac patient, the player goes through the various mysteries and horrors in the Blackwood Pines Sanatorium to uncover everything about the eerie dread of Blackwood Mountain. However,Playstation VR gamesare tricky to work through, and despite a valiant effort from the studios, the game didn’t sit well in VR.
6Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope - 2020
The second installment of theDark Pictures Anthology,Little Hope, could break the fan base in two. Some loved it, while others found its narrative to be a little disturbing. One of the most apparent criticism was its timeline jumps between the current period and 17th century New England and its inability to tie together a deserving climax.
The game follows agroup of college students and their professorin the suburbs of the quaint little town of New Hope. The town has a horrifying backstory centered around or similar to the Salem Witch Trials.The narrative, the sound effects, and the jump scaresall work collectively until a point when the game fails to end on a high note, leaving the players with a sense of unfulfillment.
5Dark Pictures Anthology: Man Of Medan - 2019
Supermassive Games took a different route with theirDark Pictures Anthology. As the name suggests, the game was promised to be an episodic franchise with several different stories as told by The Curator. The first installment in the franchise wasMan Of Medan,which made its way to the market in 2019.
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The game follows agroup of young friendswho decide to go out to the open seas on a yachting adventure. Amidst the misty evening, they stumble upon a ghost ship, the SS Ourang Medan. The legend of the ghost ship intrigues the curious bunch to explore a little more, unraveling the thin line between folklore and the paranormal. The studio played to their strengths, although the characters and their traits could have been more diverse.
4Dark Pictures Anthology: House Of Ashes - 2021
House of Ashesis the third installment of theDark Pictures Anthology. It strikes a different chord with the gaming community. For people privy to the 1999 classic horror adventureThe Mummystarring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, this game is a major throwback.
The narrative picks up when a groupof American and Iraqi soldiers set up in a war-ridden nation stumble further down deeper, only to find a mysterious chamber with no single way out.With no other choice left but to look for an exit, the group is forced to deal with the claustrophobic corridors, the booby traps, and freaky sinister supernatural beings lurking through the walls.Survival is not easyand is guaranteed to keep the players on the edge of their seats until the end.
3The Quarry - 2022
The Quarrywas released to much fanfare in 2022 and was a standalone game outside theDark Pictures Anthology. Some might even consider it to be a spiritual successor of sorts to the studios’ previous game,Until Dawn, as it resembled a similar plot but with amore millennial twist.
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The game follows a mixed group of teens gearing up for their summer camp in the middle of the woods. However, their perfect party plans go in for a toss, with the vile eyes hiding in the shadows of the vast forest. The game had a stellar cast and voice actors. The addition of digitally renderedwell-renowned celebssuch asAriel WinterandJustice Smithspiced it up a notch, giving the players a true feeling of a true cinematic horror experience.
2Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil In Me - 2022
The fourth installment in theDark Pictures Anthology - The Devil In Mereleased on 18th November 2022. The premise following a group of documentary filmmakers to the replica of the infamousH.H Holmes Murder Castlecaught the gaming industry hooked.
Taking inspiration from real-life events, the game quickly puts the players in a fictional exploration of the nerve-wracking halls of the murder castle. Without wasting any time, the narrative picks off instantly, and the sense of solitude within the walls makes it as challenging as an open-world game to find an exit. Exploration is the key to survival in this horrid setting, but can one with a faint heart manage to?
1Until Dawn - 2015
There are plenty more things that makeUntil Dawnthe best horror game from Supermassive games, but the one that stands out in the light is its emotional value. WhenUntil Dawnwas released in the year 2015, itchanged the waygamers looked at the studios. Despite the existence of previous decision-changing horror games,Until Dawnaltered the perception of the genre to an extent.
IfThe Quarrywas targeted at the modern generationUntil Dawnwas a complete homage to the 80’s and 90’sCabin in the Woods(Not to be confused with the movie of the same name),horror slasher genre. Not only did it manage to create a cinematic experience, the addition of stars like Rami Malek, Hayden Panettiere, Meaghan Martin, Brett Dalton, Jordan Fisher, Nichole Bloom, and Peter Stormare made it impossible to forget.
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