Directive 8020 - In Space, Someone Can Hear You Scream
Directive 8020 is coming along at a big time for space discourse.
The recent Artemis II mission was an emotional reminder of what binds us together as members of the human race. We were all overwhelmed by images showing just how small and insignificant we may be in the universe, but how important we may be to one another. We demonstrated the best of ourselves – kindness, boundless intelligence, humour, and the desire to honour each other in the most meaningful ways we know how. I cannot tell you how many times I cried actual tears over good news about this latest space mission, and I know I wasn’t alone in having such an emotional response.
Now, imagine that the crew, instead of completing their flyby of the moon, were infiltrated by an alien life form that could neatly imitate their prey, and the years of trust-building crew training meant nothing. No longer are they naming bright spots on the moon after each others’ partners, but instead are forced to consider that their best friend or mentor may be seconds away from murdering them and making creepy bone-cracking sounds while taking on their form. It didn’t take long for my Artemis-inspired awe for the great unknown to turn into a fear of just how vast our universe is, and for me to remember that space, in reality, is terrifying. There could be anything out there, and if something happens, you are so alone.
Like the other Dark Pictures games before it, Directive 8020 draws on all the hits of its’ chosen genre, wearing some more on its sleeve than others. I’m no sci-fi horror expert, because quite frankly, I find the isolation of space terrifying as a concept and so I’m too much of a coward to watch said films. But with a crew awoken prematurely from cryosleep to deal with an unidentified alien threat, it’s easy to see the obvious nods to the Alien films, and the fact that said alien takes on the form of its victims, causing discord between crew members, is straight out of The Thing.
Others become obvious as the game progresses, but this has always been one of the lynchpins of The Dark Pictures – you can use your knowledge of the game’s inspirations to help your characters make genre-informed choices. In those moments where you want the characters to avoid the obviously stupid decision, you can make those choices. Sometimes, the game will trick you and force you to lead your characters into a violent death that you couldn’t possibly have seen coming. In those moments, you might have one of two reactions, depending on your reason for playing (often) schlocky horror games like this one; laughter, fuelled by a desire to embrace the absurdity of the genre and lean into the over-the-top brutality, or frustration, stemming from a deep desire to see your characters live through to the end, no matter how insufferable they may be.
Directive 8020, with the introduction of new ‘Turning Points’ mechanics, is particularly accommodating to the second group (of which I am very much one). As soon as a choice is made, the game will prompt you with the ability to rewind your choice, instantly undoing a punishment that might have felt cheap, or a split-second decision that you realise is wrong only seconds later. Some might say that this cheapens the idea of having to live with your decisions, and to those people, I would say – simply don’t rewind then? At any time, you have the ability to look at a branching timeline of all your past choices, and to rewind to certain points throughout in order to experience different outcomes, with the game literally counting how many deaths you’ve already avoided along the way – and showing you exactly where you need to go back to in order to experience them. If you want one consistent playthrough, having to live with your choices, you can let it play out that way. If you want the ability to undo a lot of your mistakes and see what the ‘best’ ending might look like for you, you can do that too. Both ways are valid, and accounted for – and you can derive enjoyment from this experience in whatever way works for you.
As always, the best way to play this game – like its predecessors – is in a group, with each player assigned certain characters to embody for the game’s roughly 8 hour rollercoaster. It’s easy to pick up and play, and so much of the joy of this experience comes from being able to hand the controller to your friend in a moment of tension, forcing them into the trenches right after they’ve been laughing at you for being so scared.
And most people will find that there are parts of this game that are scary. You might be able to see some of the jump scares coming from a mile away, and there’s a certain level of exposure that makes the environment itself less confronting over time, but that all does little to detract from the fact that being alone in the quiet with an alien that can look like your friends is scary. Not knowing who to trust is scary. Every time the characters split up, I assumed anyone left on their own would be an alien next time I saw them. I hate not being able to trust the relationships I’ve built between characters – but assuming that was the intention, this was a game well-executed.
For me, the introduction of Turning Points and easier replayability is welcome, even if exploring every single alternate path offered to me is still something I’m not sure is worth the energy it would require. The pre-existing relationships between the crew of the Cassiopeia felt considered, and I was genuinely invested in their connections, and their combined efforts to survive a truly hopeless situation. Despite the in-built distrust mechanic – or perhaps because of it – they communicate with each other in ways characters in these games rarely do. Each crew member is equipped with a Utility Strap that allows them to interact with the environment to create distractions or open doors, but more importantly, also allows them to text each other updates on their activities or locations – a feature I’ve longed for in other games. I spend so much of my time screaming ‘JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER!’ at horror movies and games alike, to see the characters actually do it was quietly triumphant.
Though Directive 8020 still feels very much like a cinematic experience, there are certainly parts of this game that do feel more ‘video-gamey’ than others in the series. Large parts of the game revolve around a stealth mechanic that felt not dissimilar to playing something like The Last of Us, where understanding enemy patterns and moving with purpose and solid timing is essential. This also leads to greater awareness of the environment, which then leads to familiarity with these environments, and, over time, an awareness of environmental changes. As the game progresses and the ship becomes increasingly affected by alien matter, things get… grosser. My couch co-op companions and I were describing it as ‘festy’, a word I haven’t heard anyone use since high school, but which also felt like the only appropriate descriptor – but shoutout to the art department for making it look so gross. Getting to see an environment transformed that way was new for a Dark Pictures game, but very welcome.
Playing one of these games will always be an individual experience, and it’s always about what you personally find scary. I found Directive 8020 to be one of the stronger entries in the series, because space is fucking terrifying to me. The game is well-paced, has interesting (if archetypical) characters, and includes some new mechanics that make for a less frustrating experience than previous entries. Was the plot groundbreaking? No. It was derivative, but I feel like that’s what these games are supposed to be – and it does try to make some interesting points with the themes it’s exploring, and that’s all I really ask for.
Now I’m off to re-read some articles about Artemis II and watch Project Hail Mary again, and try to remember that we go on horrifying deathtrap space missions for a reason – it isn’t all bad out there.
Player2 reviewed Directive 8020 on Playstation 5 using a code kindly provided by the publisher.
