This third entry in the Dark Pictures Anthology from Supermassive Games is another stand-alone supernatural adventure where split-second decisions taken in stressful situations can have profound consequences. Set during the 2003 Iraq War, you assume multiple roles as US and Iraqi combatants whose initial mutual distrust becomes dwarfed by a far greater threat.

A US taskforce is searching for weapons of mass destruction when events transport it underground to a hidden Mesopotamian temple. The site had been discovered in 1946 by an archaeological team whose fate is documented by numerous diary entries and other records, and it becomes apparent that something sinister and otherworldly lurks within the vast subterranean complex.

Throughout the drama your focus shifts between characters, which can be confusing when you're trying to figure out who to root for. Having made decisions on behalf of one character, you'll assume control of whoever they're conversing with, and back again. This becomes less of an issue later on as the protagonists start to fall and your focus narrows. As well as moral choices, you'll need to respond to quick time events (press a button before the timer disappears), and the consequences for missing these can be severe: mistime a jump and your ward might plummet to their doom.

What really marks out House Of Ashes from the previous games in the series is its ambitious scope. Man Of Medan focused on a ghost ship, and Little Hope was set in a haunted town. This is storytelling on a much grander scale, although it would be remiss to divulge too much. It's fair to say that Neil Marshall's seminal subterranean horror, The Descent, is a big influence: at one point, a female character wades through a pool of bloody water in a moment of iconography lifted directly from that film.

While all the Dark Pictures games are technically impressive, House Of Ashes features some jaw-dropping cinematography, with ominous shadows, stark lighting and impressive use of contrast framing the action beautifully. The motion-captured characters are convincing and the otherworldly threat is horribly detailed. With so much of the action set in darkness, bold colour is used sparingly to great effect, and the action is presented in cinematic widescreen with UI intrusions kept to a minimum. Supermassive Games has tremendous form with interactive fiction (most notably their 2015 classic, Until Dawn) and it's great to see them scale up their ambitions.

But one of the most surprising revelations is how deeply the game treats its characters. From the start you'll make assumptions that will be challenged later on. The script is intelligent enough to add depth to people who initially seem stereotyped, and the performances are strong, particularly from Ashley Tisdale as a CIA officer, and Nick E Tarabay as an Iraqi soldier. While it's a perfectly entertaining single-player experience, it's designed to be played with a friend, with each player taking on different roles. And because of the multiple ways the story can progress, repeat plays will lead to alternative conclusions. There's no through-line from the other games in the anthology so there's no need to play them first.

House Of Ashes is the grandest yet of the Dark Pictures Anthology. It's technically audacious, with big storytelling and compelling character design. And while it's a relatively short game, there's plenty of fun to be had by trying to engineer different outcomes.

Buy The Dark Pictures Anthology: House Of Ashes — out now for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.