I don't envy Supermassive Games. Establishing themselves with Until Dawn and creating one of the seminal horror video games of the 2010s, there are a lot of expectations with each new release, with the hopes from fans that the latest entry in The Dark Pictures series can surpass all the others. It must be a difficult task, always working to beat a bar set by yourself.
Directive 8020 departs from the traditional elements of folk horror that Supermassive has been exploring for over a decade now, and sets off to the stars. We begin on a ship setting off to discover a new colony for humanity. Playing through the game's first chapter, we took on the role of one of two crew members tasked with keeping an eye on the rest of the crew while they remain in stasis.
When what appears to be a meteorite strikes the hull of our ship, of course we've got to investigate and find out what happened. To avoid spoilers, it's probably best to not go too deep into plot detail going forwards, but as you can imagine if you've seen anything about this game, the meteorite is much more than it appears, and soon we find ourselves trapped with a shape-shifting horror aboard this ship.
Immediately, Directive 8020 lets you know there are a lot of narrative decisions to make. One glance at the story menu sees dozens of branching paths spreading out before you, but I will say that at least for the first chapter, very little can change in terms of who lives and who doesn't, or at least that's what I was told by the developers. It reads somewhat similarly to the opening of Until Dawn in that regard, but from my decisions and gameplay I did manage to get a message out to the rest of the crew warning them about the impending peril. A lot of these branching narratives exist more for flavour in the first chapter and as an example of the way you shape your story. Only with the full game would I be able to say whether we'll see each decision seriously matter, or if all paths lead to similar conclusions.
At least, there's a lot of different actions to take, and ways to make your story unique. On the flip side of that, Directive 8020 also lets you go back and alter decisions pretty much as soon as you make them. Rather than have to go through a new playthrough to explore a character's Destinies or see if you really can save everyone, you can just make your "perfect" playthrough as you go. On the one hand, there's a lot of player freedom there, but on the other it seems to break the narrative flow for the players that want to change their decisions until they're satisfied. This mechanic can be turned off if you want to live and die by your first instinct, but it then makes me wonder why it's included at all. It's an attempt to please everyone, and while it might prove a popular decision, I remain sceptical of it for now.
Mostly, Directive 8020 plays like the other The Dark Pictures games. You'll pick dialogue, watch the cinematics play out before you, solve some simple puzzles and keep the controller gripped tightly for sudden QTEs. In this game, though, there is a much heavier use of survival horror mechanics. Stealth sections especially have been evolved, and are now a key way to experience the story from what we've seen. They help add a level of tension to the story, and were the moments where I felt the most nervous. I wonder how else Supermassive will evolve its gameplay to give players a more active role, but it'll be important to ensure that we don't end up getting too stuck in an action loop when we're really hoping to feel more scared stuck on a ship in the middle of space with a terrifying monster.
Directive 8020's atmosphere is incredibly effective in the tension it builds. The world and universe it has set up is immediately interesting, too, and I would have gladly played more if our demo time allowed for it. However, I do feel slightly cautious about some of the mechanical developments Supermassive is making with this latest iteration on its horror games, especially in regards to the instantly replayable decisions, as it feels like they serve more to take weight out of the narrative than give the players a better sense of freedom.
