Directive 8020 feels like the horror game Supermassive Games was born to make

Supermassive Games is yet again asking the age-old question: would its fans survive a horror movie? Specifically, would they successfully weather John Carpenter’s The Thing? You see, Directive 8020 is set on a spaceship with a crew of scientists and one billionaire venturing forth to inspect the next intergalactic colony. But nothing in life is ever easy, so before the crew can complete their mission they’re rudely interrupted by a shapeshifting alien lifeform that isn’t all too happy to see them. I’m getting horror deja vu here.

“We were heavily inspired by John Carpenter’s The Thing, which is one of my favourite movies,” creative director Will Doyle tells me. “We always have fans contacting us, writing in saying, ‘make this game’. And there were lots of people telling us to make a game based on The Thing, because it actually fits our systems really well.”

(Image credit: Supermassive Games)

Directive 8020 may have a vastly different setting to previous games in The Dark Pictures Anthology, but it still follows the same playbook of its predecessors. You’re tasked with keeping as many characters alive as a shapeshifting alien lifeform infiltrates the group and tries to off as many of them as possible. My time with the game saw me picking it up halfway through at episode four.

By this point the alien had well and truly infested the spaceship Cassiopeia. And with the infected running about causing mayhem, characters had been attacked and the voyage had been sabotaged, causing the ship to crash land on the alien planet Tau Ceti f.

The surviving crew didn’t have many options left. So the decision was made to bring the fight to what they thought was an enraged crewmate, Simms. As the group hatched a plan to corner her in the lower levels of the Cassiopeia, they send pilot Brianna Young and doctor Samantha Cooper to get the job done.

Uninvited guest

(Image credit: Supermassive Games)

Cooper stayed outside the vents, to position herself at the only exit to catch Simms if or when she tried to escape. Young on the other hand was tasked with going into the vents, closing hatches to direct Simms to the exit where Cooper lay in wait.

After squirming though some dimly lit vents for a few minutes, shoulder peeking my way around every corner, and being far too scared to turn my flashlight on in case it attracted unwanted attention, I saw it. I knew something else was shifting through the vents. I could hear the metal creak under its weight, but turning a corner and seeing some strange humanoid creature waiting for me from the other end of a long stretch of vent still made my stomach turn.

Before I could even turn and run, it bolted at me. In that moment decades of horror game experience flew out the window as I dropped the controller in my lap and covered my eyes—not my finest moment.

By some miracle I actually survived that encounter. I guess the monster just wanted to mess with me a bit. But before my blood pressure was able to level out I came across yet another unwelcome surprise, I found Simms.

(Image credit: Supermassive Games)

It wasn’t the Simms who had been causing mayhem across the ship or attacking people. No, this is when Young and Cooper realised that whatever they were chasing was just wearing her skin, and that the real Simms was but a husk of her former self, left to rot in the lower levels of the ship.

From there on out I’m left with the option to either face the Simms imposter head on or sneak around it to power up the bridge so I can escape to some sort of safety. Doyle later told me you can actually get a hold of a gun to use in this encounter, something I wish I’d known before.

Instead, I skulked around hiding behind boxes and shadowing the alien that stalked the exit. I got across the bridge without a hitch but then after failing one too many quick time events Young lost her eye. That definitely won’t impact her ability to defend herself in future encounters, I’m sure.

Take two

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Directive 8020 is full of the same choices you can find in other Dark Pictures games. To run or to help, to hide or to fight, as well as how you wish to progress each character’s personality. Will you create stalwart scientists? Or perhaps create a cluster of cowards.

“Giving you the choice of ‘what would you do’ in any situation is our bread and butter,” Doyle adds. “When players are making choices, especially big choices, we have this mantra that after you’ve made the decision, you should always be left with a sense of loss.” I did feel more than my fair share of loss in Directive 8020, that’s for sure, but it doesn’t have to be as bad or as permanent now, thanks to its rewind function.

This presents every possibility to players in the form of an expanding flow chart. It’ll show you how many alternatives are available at pivotal moments and allow you to go back to previous decisions and attempt to reach a different outcome.

Turning Points will undoubtedly come in clutch throughout Directive 8020, whether you want to use it to save your favourite character, try out different branches, or ensure Young doesn’t lose her eye: “We know from the data we’ve got that our players will really get invested in a certain character, and when that character dies, they will actually stop playing. But if we give them the chance to undo that, that’s really powerful.” However, some consequences rear their ugly heads miles down the road. So “it becomes a bit of a puzzle” to figure out how each action will manifest in a reaction.

I went in thinking I’d scorn the rewind function but it was harder to ignore it than I thought. So I’ve come to the decision that my first playthrough will be on Survivor Mode, a format that prevents any use of the rewind function, although you can see the branches. Then on my second playthrough I’ll use rewinds every chance I get to progress through the game with all the different outcomes simultaneously, as if I’m jumping from one parallel universe to another.

(Image credit: Supermassive Games)

But my favourite part of playing any Supermassive Game is that it essentially just drops you into a horror film and tells you to deal with whatever comes your way. It’s not only a great test of endurance for those of us who fancy themselves real horror survivors but it’s also testament to how videogames can rival the cinematic edge of movies and TV.

“We always ask ourselves, as designers, would this happen in a movie or a TV show,” Doyle adds. The end product being one of the best horror experiences in games, that works whether you’re playing it alone or alongside a group of friends all yelling different commands.

Treading the line between games and film provides both blockbuster moments that you can just sit back and watch, and horrifying sequences that keep you on the edge of your seat—like getting jumpscared in dimly lit vents.

Directive 8020 seems like a logical next step for Supermassive Games. Building on functions like branches, venturing forth to greater frontiers like the vast expanse of space, and delivering what looks to be a fantastic horror experience that you can’t get anywhere else.