Directive 8020
Supermassive Games
From the creators of UNTIL DAWN and THE QUARRY, an all-new cinematic sci-fi horror adventure. Earth is dying and humanity is running out of time. 12 light years from home, Tau Ceti f offers a small hope. When the colony ship Cassiopeia crash lands on the planet, its crew soon realize they are not alone. Hunted by an alien organism capable of mimicking its prey, the crew must outwit their pursuers to make it home alive.
Directive 8020 marks the start of the second season of the Dark Pictures anthology, reminding us exactly why we love the series and the horror games created by Supermassive Games. This new game takes it in a very different direction, with some bold choices and necessary technical improvements, but it does fall short in a few areas. Despite this, Directive 8020 is a great start to Dark Pictures’ second season of horror.
For the first time in the series, Directive 8020 sends players into space. It focuses on a cursed shipwreck where the Cassiopeia is sent to scout for humanity’s first exoplanet colony in desperate hope to escape a dying Earth. Of course, it doesn’t go as planned. Blending witchcraft, monsters and modern slasher films to create a terrifying tale that’s clearly inspired by Alien and The Thing – literally my favourite movies. All while throwing some other elements in the mix!
Directive 8020 keeps the classic branching story choices but is missing some of the fixed camera angles and the cinematic touches we’re used to seeing in previous games. It feels less like a playable movie and more like a third-person action game with a great storyline. Choices do matter, and there are a lot of opportunities for player-driven story moments. Unfortunately, it does feel a little restrictive at times, and the poor story pacing issues can throw things off-balance at times.
As expected from a horror game, Directive 8020 does have jump scares and plenty of tension. It does feel like this one has more jump scares than past games, with some feeling a little cheap compared to the horror excellence built into the premise. The premise is strong with plenty of room for horrifying moments with deadly and indifferent enemies. However, there are times where it does feel like the game isn’t taking full advantage of its strengths and chooses to go for quick scares instead that just aren’t memorable without a strong The Thing or Alien famous-esc soundtrack behind it.
Pros
Awesome horror story
Good voice acting
Immersive graphics
Good choice-driven options
Turning Points is really useful
Cons
Forced stealth gameplay
See-saw story pacing
Annoying flash forward sequences
No ambient soundtrack
No online multiplayer
The game is still built around making story choices, stressful quick-time events and the constant threat of character permadeath that will change the direction of the story. There are also puzzles to complete, which aren’t particularly interesting, with many of them being overly simple. It’s taken steps away from the Hollywood mimicking vibe, and the end result is frustrating at times.
Away from the expected gameplay, Directive 8020 is also a bit of a stealth game which I wouldn’t of minded however it can get repetitive not giving the choice. Every few scenes, characters will need to sneak through an area to avoid detection by enemies. The enemies will chase the player character if they can see or hear you, and can even detect the flashlight, which can make things quite tense at times. We do have an electric baton that can be used to stun an enemy if they catch you, but the stun is short and has a long cooldown. These sections often require some light puzzle-solving to escape the area, which requires a lot of doubling back into the enemy. While it serves to break up the narrative, the stealth sequences can feel a little long.
Directive 8020 is not a gameplay-focused game, and the narrative takes centre stage. However, the stealth breaks can detract from it at times. There are points where the player is flung into the future to play a stealth section without much explanation or context, and this can spoil what characters survive up until that point in the future. This really took me out of the immersive story and removes the illusion of choice-driven gameplay, which is the big selling point for Supermassive Games.
Repeat playthroughs are much easier with the Turning Points system. It lays out choices and actions that affect the future, which ones only have a small impact, and what things in the past brought you to the current node. Pop-ups appear when you experience the consequence of a past action and allow you to rewind to that decision if you want. It’s great for replaying sequences and making different choices. However, Lethal Mode, the hardest difficulty removes the option to rewind to a past point and forces you to live with the past choices. This restriction is lifted only after clearing the game.
Overall I did enjoy playing and its well worth the price tag if you love The Thing, Alien or strong horror stories. My only wish is that it tagged more into the paranoia-driven social horror mystery in the final sequences of the game. If you love interactive horror you’ll love Directive 8020 and even if you dislike stealth horror games (Queenie) you’ll still enjoy this but maybe won’t re-play after completion. I’m a huge fan of the Dark Pictures creators and absolutely can’t wait to see what they do next!
Overall Game Rating
