Developer: Supermassive Games
Publisher: Supermassive Games
Platform: PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5
Tested on: PC
Directive 8020 – Review
It has been a hot second since Supermassive Games added to their Dark Pictures Anthology. For those unaware, it’s a series of standalone interactive drama/horror games they released after their hit game Until Dawn blew up, reusing a lot of the same formula with different types of scary monsters to chase the player. While these games have been met with varying degrees of success, many were still excited when Directive 8020 was announced, since this time we’ll be chased by aliens, an exciting new setting for the series. And we can say that while the usual vibes of this franchise haven’t gone away, this one is definitely worth a look.
Story
Set in some distant future where Earth is rapidly succumbing to climate change, humanity’s only hope is a relatively nearby planet called Tau Ceti f. A small crew is sent on the spaceship Cassiopeia to orbit the planet and collect the needed information for terraforming, while a bigger colony ship travels six months behind them, full of people ready to settle into their new home. But naturally, something goes seriously awry. The Cassiopeia is struck by a piece of space debris, bringing an alien lifeform onto the ship while most of the crew is still in hypersleep. When they awaken, they’re unaware that two of their crewmates have already been killed and taken over by the alien, which is also capable of mimicking human behavior to lure the others into traps.
As is the norm for this series, the game is divided into episodes, where you cycle through controlling the different playable characters in turns. Your decisions throughout and how good you are at the gameplay will determine who lives and who dies, and what direction the plot will take. There are quite a few branching narratives that also lead into new locations or conversations, and thus, after a single playthrough, it’s impossible to see all the content. This offers a good incentive for multiple runs.
Graphics
While there are some criticisms to be had about the tired formula of the Dark Pictures Anthology, the graphics are always a standout feature for us. Like a lot of modern triple-A titles, realism is key here, and Directive 8020 uses the same motion capture type of graphics that were used by Supermassive Games many times before. While they can be a tad uncanny when the actors make certain expressions, you can really tell how far they’ve come overall. The characters are being played by practiced actors, such as Lashana Lynch, Danny Sapani, and even the Dutch actress Lotte Verbeek. We’re also happy to report that the aliens look delightfully horrifying, and this game does not skim on the visual body horror.
Sound
Directive 8020 has a decent soundtrack. The music is usually subtle but evocative, and like in previous titles, there’s the use of random pop songs and other licensed music throughout the game. Whether you like it or not will be hit or miss, but we didn’t mind. Like with the motion capturing, the characters are being played by real actors, so you can rest assured their voice work is solid as well. That’s good since, even more so than in some previous games in this series, character relationships really are the driving force in this one, so many dramatic conversations take place.
Gameplay
Taking a leaf from its predecessors, Directive 8020 is a pretty straightforward horror game where player choices are key. You can roughly divide the gameplay into two types: one that we’ll call exploration and one that is basically just interactive cutscenes. During the exploration bits, you can freely walk around as the character you’re playing at that moment, interacting with objects and talking to people. In this game, you can even message others remotely with your wrist pad. New for Directive 8020 is that the developers wanted a more threatening experience, so you have actual combat segments where you’ll need to use stealth to evade or escape from the alien, and can get into a fight with it, though your lack of weapons means this just offers more chances for you to kill your characters off accidentally.
The interactive cutscenes are the same as they usually are. You make decisions during pivotal moments, and sometimes get a QTEs thrown your way. Wrong choices or messing up can easily lead to a character dying. Another new feature is Turning Points. This allows players to easily rewind the timeline back and forth, try new paths, or undo a character’s death they didn’t like. While you can still play with the classic Dark Pictures Anthology rules (called Survival Mode in this game), for those who like a more relaxed experience, it’s nice to have an option to stay on the path you prefer.
Overall, this game also has a bigger focus on overarching decisions rather than single moments. Your choices influence the characters’ relationships, which in turn might open or close doors down the line. The way you decide to play a character might also alter their key personality traits, whether they’re more of a jokester or a goody-two-shoes, for example, which can influence their later options. It adds some extra flavor beyond just doing the same stuff until a single choice drastically alters the game’s events. Other gameplay features adored by fans in previous games, such as a streamer mode and multiplayer, remained identical in format.
Conclusion
Directive 8020 is a great return to form for the Dark Pictures Anthology. It’s scary, it’s tense, it makes you second-guess everything you’re doing, and we had a great time with it. The space setting is fresh and makes the game break away a bit from how similar the others in the anthology could get. And for once, we didn’t even hate any single character… too much. Definitely worth the time if you’ve enjoyed this genre before.
No Comments