Here’s the Thing about Space
Since the release of “Until Dawn” in 2015, Supermassive Games has carved out a niche for itself in the industry as “those guys that make the interactive horror games”. They continued their craft with the Dark Pictures anthology of games and while not all of them are well received, as a horror fan, I personally find that they are all worth playing through at least once.
With their newest release in the anthology, “Directive 8020”, they decided to shake things up a bit, adding new elements to their tried-and-true formula to see if it would benefit the experience, with mixed results.
What’s up with spaceships always needing their breaches to be sealed?
MSRP: $49.99
Price I’d pay: $39.99
Platforms: PC, PS, Xbox
PC Specs: 9800 X3D/5080/64GBs DDR5
Length: 10~ hours
The crew of the Cassiopeia are on a mission of utmost importance. As the vanguard of humanity’s hope, the Andromeda, they are set to arrive at the new potential home of humanity, “Tau Ceti F” first in order to scout out the planet to make sure it can be made into a hospitable home.
However, due to a series of unfortunate events, the crew are awakened to find their entire mission in jeopardy and will need to find a way to persevere to complete their objectives against a deadly unknown threat.
As the story is the main selling point of interactive horror/adventure games such as these, I will keep the spoilers to a minimum and simply say that it takes heavy inspiration from a classic horror movie released in 1982. It also just happens that it’s one of my favorite horror movies of all time and as the story slowly unraveled, I was excited to see if the game would be able to use the various strengths/interesting elements of the movie and while it certainly makes an attempt, it doesn’t quite live up to the inspiration.
One of the main issues with the story/narrative as a whole is the often-jarring transitions between the scenes that gives me a sense like I’ve skipped some crucial events in between. It’s most likely due to the fact that there are many different events that need to flow into the same specific points in the story. There is also the matter of rather gaping plot holes, especially when it deals with the capabilities of the hostile alien. In one scene, they seem impossibly capable and deadly, in another, they seem completely harmless and ineffective, there is no in between.
At the very least, the performances of the characters were well done and even though the way they reacted to some situations felt off, I liked most of them well enough that I wanted to see them make it out alive.
You’ve heard of don’t text while driving, here comes the sequel, don’t text while getting stalked by aliens.
In terms of the visuals, the game is most definitely a looker and playing the game with HDR on with all the light off on a UW OLED monitor was a treat. From the animation work to the environment, this is most definitely the best-looking game Supermassive has created so far. The same goes for sound design as playing with the headphones on is most definitely the way to go for the best immersive experience.
Also, while the initial build of the game I was playing on didn’t have any visual options available, the newest patch released day before launch has thankfully added them in so now features and options like DLSS/FSR, motion blur/chromatic/film grain can be adjusted.
The visuals are impressive all around, especially for a game that’s not fully priced.
As for the gameplay, there are two important additions to the formula to consider.
First is the liberal use of stealth segments, where I was tasked with getting through an area infested with aliens by sneaking around them. I could create distractions, observe their patterns and make my way to where I need to go. Initially, I welcomed this change since it certainly made the experience feel more interactive but having said that, there are far too many of these segments which all play out in a similar fashion and by the 5th or 6th stealth section, I started to miss those QTEs where all I had to do was hold my controller still for a few seconds.
Perhaps adding some additional elements like tools/weapons to make the encounters feel more dynamic would’ve changed my opinion on the matter but as it stands, it wears out its welcome way before the credits roll.
The other new feature, however, is a most welcome one. “Turning Points” as they call it is a map of events and scenarios that are presented as a flowchart. After completing the game or if I choose the “explorer” option at the start, I’m able to use this to go back to moments where pivotal choices are made that impact the outcome of the story. When I completed the story for the first time, I was able to save all but one crew member and now, I would just be able to go back to that one specific choice where I made the mistake to redo things from that part on.
The system was also a life saver in terms of showing me where I could find the various bits of lore and collectibles I’ve missed along the way. It’s a system that’s been used before, especially if you are familiar with the Zero Escape series of games and I’ve always felt it would compliment Supermassive Games titles very well so I’m very happy they’ve decided to implement it and hope that it will become a staple feature for their releases going forward.
The Turning point is a fantastic addition to the Dark Pictures anthology and makes replaying the game to see new story beats fun and convenient.
Directive 8020’s over reliance on stealth segments, cheap jump scares and jarring story transitions prevents it from being one of the best in the series. However, it impresses with strong performances, atmosphere and the addition of the Turning Point system that makes replaying the game to see new plot points more convenient than ever, making it a solid new entry in the Dark Pictures Anthology.
Fun Tidbit: There is also the typical multiplayer element in the game where the controller can be passed around after selecting who would be which character, but this was not tested during the review and neither was its Steamdeck compatibility which currently stands at “Unknown”.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
