Directive 8020 Nails Its Cosmic and Body Horror [PREVIEW]

Directive 8020 is an exciting, upcoming entry in the Dark Pictures Anthology, as it heralds in Season 2 and takes players to space. Every Dark Pictures game explores a different type of horror, with a variety of interconnections among them, and this one is no different - despite being lightyears from Earth. Directive 8020 sees players step into the shoes of astronaut Brianna Young (played by Lashana Lynch), among other crew members of the colony ship Cassiopeia, as they crash land on Tau Ceti f.

Because Earth (and by extension humanity) are dying, Tau Ceti f seems like a little hope among the stars. That hope, in Directive 8020, comes crashing down just like the ship when the crew realize they are not alone on Tau Ceti f. Players become hunted by an alien organism capable of mimicking its prey, twisting and warping their bodies and minds into grotesque mimicrys. As always in Dark Pictures, players will make key decisions as each character that will determine whether they live to the end of the story or not, and while everything that makes it a Dark Pictures game is present, it is quite evolved as well. That is why it is releasing so long after the prior games, and The Best War Games saw a presentation of Directive 8020 at Gamescom.

Directive 8020: Bigger, Better, Darker Than Ever

Anyone who has ever played a Dark Pictures game understands what to expect from Directive 8020's characters, cinematics, and choices, so this presentation instead focused on gameplay, stealth, and tool features. In this presentation, a developer was playing Brianna Young as she was joined by another Cassiopeia crew member and was searching for someone who had gone missing. Seemingly on the Cassiopeia, the first thing that caught our eye was the grotesque growths all of the ship's walls and floors. While not uncommon in this type of cosmic horror, it stood out from the darker corridors of the ship and was beautifully gross. The graphics of Directive 8020 seemed to be on par with past Dark Pictures games as well, especially with its cinematic approach, but the lighting, audio design, and other immersive features really grounded us in the cosmic horror quickly.

The presentation quickly turned to a stealth gameplay section, where players need to avoid an alien that is hunting them. Stealth and horror go hand in hand, and it fits perfectly into Directive 8020's world. Luckily, it wasn't just simple creeping and predicting enemy AI. The darkness of the ship and the growths made keeping track of the alien even more daunting, so Directive 8020 gives players four tools to take into gameplay. Tools in past Dark Pictures games felt more limited and weren't universally useful, and that's something developer Supermassive Games is aware of. Tools seen in this presentation included a utility strap for remote control of electronics, a scanner to locate nearby creatures, a messenger app, and a wedge tool for doorways that doubles as a stunner. Using the scanner allowed the player to get through the stealth section untouched, but it didn't completely prevent a few hair-rising close calls.

Directive 8020: The Thing in Space

Near the end of the demo, we also saw the player get caught by Directive 8020's alien before using the wedge tool to stun them and flee. Before that, however, we seemingly found the missing crewmate—we say seemingly because of the alien's mimicking abilities, although this did seem like the real person. They sat on their knees as we approached from behind, and when they turned around, their body was covered in the same growths as the ship. It was as gross as it could be, and assuming this type of presentation is seen throughout the game, it's clear how heavy handed Directive 8020's cosmic and body horror are. Between those and the inherent trust issues associated with the alien, as well as visual and audio designs, Directive 8020 is shaping up to be a bonafide fear fest.

Perhaps its strongest selling point so far is that Directive 8020 has been described as "The Thing in Space," and based on this brief presentation, it seems to nail that vibe.

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