Directive 8020

Directive 8020 is a love letter to the space horror that looks beyond just going bump in the night. The distrust sown across the small team, the dialogue choices, and the interactions all craft a game that feels like it belongs on the shelf alongside titles like Dead Space, Sunshine, Event Horizon, and even The Thing.

Directive 8020 is Supermassive Games doing what it does best: making a horror adventure out of genre fiction. In this case, it’s body-snatching, Alien-hunting sci-fi and a diminishing crew under increasing pressure. Both its setting and time-jumping narrative construction make it unique, but it never strays very far from the constraints of its inspirations. Impressive visuals, effective performances and generally polished mechanics are countered by a muted tone, some dull exploration sequences and stealth. The game’s pacing and momentum sometimes feel out of whack. Still, both fans of Supermassive’s approach to storytelling and classic sci-fi will enjoy their time on Tau Ceti f.

Directive 8020 is a solid sci-fi yarn let down by some early snark-filled writing. The plot is serviceable in showing you some gorgeous locations full of people you may or may not want to save, and a bevy of monsters you’ll get bored hiding from. If you’ve enjoyed the studio’s previous work, then rest assured that Directive 8020 may well be worth checking out.

Directive 8020 is a good addition to the Dark Pictures anthology and a solid start to its second season. Its story ranks among Supermassive Games’ best work, marking a much-needed step forward for a studio that has struggled to release standout titles in recent years. The decisions players have to make carry real weight, significantly shaping the outcome of the story and adding a ton of replay value for players who want to uncover every consequence of their choices. However, while the stealth sequences can be tense and are well-designed, they appear way too frequently and make it surprisingly easy to kill off characters you dislike, weakening some of the emotional impact. This is an issue mainly because there are characters that are boring and uninteresting due to mediocre voice acting, potentially leading the player to want to eliminate them. Still, even with a couple of shortcomings, Directive 8020 remains an engaging narrative-driven adventure that Dark Pictures fans should not miss.

In some ways, Directive 8020 feels like a game of missed opportunities, and a bunch of almost-theres. But sometimes Supermassive's ambition pays off. It's a touch too long, it's a little too one-note, and I wish it could have pushed a little harder to find its own identity as it charted so much well-trodden ground. But its existential chills are effective, it's got an earnest spirit, and a phenomenal cast that genuinely made me care. If Supermassive keeps pushing its horror series, I suspect great things are in store.

For a developer so adept in the mimicry of familiar horror tropes, it's both ironic and tragic that their take on 'pod people' horror, of all things, missed the mark. A bloody shame.

Directive 8020 is a step in the right direction for The Dark Pictures, giving its choices more weight, its cast stronger performances, and its horror more room to breathe. While the later episodes drag and a few clichés and visual issues hold it back, the journey aboard the Cassiopeia is still worthwhile.

Directive 8020 left me far more invested in its crew than I expected to be. Turning Points is a smart addition that could use more support, and the Destiny system gives even smaller choices a bigger sense of consequence. It may not land every idea as strongly as it should, but Directive 8020 still delivers a tense, entertaining, and surprisingly character-driven sci-fi horror story that pushes The Dark Pictures Anthology in the right direction.

The Dark Pictures, as a broad project, feels like it's at a crossroads with Directive 8020. With plans to do several more installments, I feel like the inherent flaws are giving way to diminishing returns. I've said before that I'd take a new one of these games every year, forever, and I still feel that way, but I think I've hit my limit on forgiving some of the series' increasingly obvious hang-ups. The conscious rejection of Supermassive's past cinematic flair confuses me, while the shoddy voice work creates a barrier between the game's intent and its execution.

Directive 8020 is arguably Supermassive's best game since Until Dawn. The wait was well worth it. Here they have crafted a fun and intense sci fi space horror game. I immediately wanted to play again as soon as it was over.

Directive 8020 isn’t the best game The Dark Pictures Anthology has to offer, but it is better than most of them. The story has some fantastic twists and turns, the characters are likable if a bit too shallow, and it's intensely replayable with an absolutely astounding amount of variance.

Directive 8020 is a step forward for The Dark Pictures Anthology in terms of spectacle and storytelling, making it a chilling and impressive start to the second season of the series.

Set aboard a familiar alien-infested spaceship setting, this solid branching adventure from Supermassive Games captures the atmosphere and tension of the very best moments from the cult horror classic Alien.

Directive 8020 is the studio’s first sci-fi horror game, and it delivers on the genre’s expectations with new gameplay mechanics, a wide range of difficulty options, and a bleak story full of surprises. Its slow start and gradual build-up of pace are another plus. However, the repetitive nature of the stealth mechanics, the studio’s persistent performance issues, and the repetitive enemy types slightly undermine the project. Still, it’s a must-play for fans of the genre—a dark space and human ethics nightmare.

The overall plot, cast and character dynamics carry the story forward, and the bug-free experience, full stealth gameplay and other new mechanics set a new standard for future Supermassive games.

Directive 8020 is everything you could want from a sci-fi horror game: Body horror aliens, the unwavering dread that all of us are insignificant when set against the great expanse of the universe, and fun QTEs.

When I finished Directive 8020, I immediately wanted to replay it. I was content with the ending I got, but was fascinated by all of the other possible endings and diverging paths that led to them. There are so many permutations of the storyline and secrets to uncover; I know for sure that I’ve got a couple more playthroughs in my future. It’s the mark of a great choice-based game.

Directive 8020 is a solid story-driven thriller that has a few too many pitfalls. I love the story, and it gets significantly better towards the second half, but the first half felt more like a long introduction. The new Turning Point system is a great idea, and it allows easy access to go back and see what we could do differently for another run, which makes it a lot easier to try new pathways. The gameplay itself is a little too simple and easy, but it still has the same emphasis on choices that affect the story. It all works really well, but still falls short in a few key areas.

Directive 8020 represents the best that The Dark Pictures games have had to offer thus far, proving that Supermassive Games is right at home within sci-fi horror.

There's an entertaining, occasionally brilliant horror story here, but Directive 8020's focus on live action stealth to determine the fates of its cast means choice and consequence feel less important here than any other Supermassive game, squandering so much of the potential of a choose-your-own-adventure take on classic sci-fi horror paranoia and isolation.

This isn’t the series most standout storyline, but there’s a lot to appreciate between the traditional gameplay loop we all crave and various new features. As always, given the nature of the game, to truly appreciate it and fully unearth the plot and fine details, you’ll need to replay and delve into those other possible branches. Good luck staying alive.