Directive 8020 review – A beacon of potential, frozen in stasis

The Cassiopeia, carrying 10 brave astronauts, entered space 12 light-years ago in search of a new planet. The Earth is dying, and the fate of humanity rests in your hands. Yet, questions of our own humanity arise when alien life threatens our very existence. What do you do when orders tell you to follow Directive 8020? Coming in at $49.99 and taking me roughly 12 hours to get the best ending possible, Directive 8020 brings replayability to the forefront while letting its gameplay falter at the hands of predictability. A fan of Supermassive Games and Dark Pictures, I went into Directive 8020 hoping for something brilliant, following an underwhelming Casting of Frank Stone, only to be left with similar feelings of disappointment. A strong start Screenshot by Destructoid Directive 8020 takes the reins of this sci-fi adventure by guiding us into immediate conflict, where we get to know two members of our Cassiopeia crew. We're immediately shown chemistry between the pair, Carter and Simms (the former a playable character), where the inciting incident shows a meteor causing structural damage on the ship. While the opening can feel somewhat calm with the pretty visuals of space surrounding the pair, it's also atmospheric as the stakes are high off-rip and isolation is at its peak in this title. Its strong start, full of mystery and intrigue, gets thrown off course when we take a leap — both physically and temporally. A shift in perspective and now jumping into the near future, Directive 8020 slowly lets go of its reins as that pull it had on me slips from its fingers chapter by chapter. This sci-fi title started strong, but suffered from what many storytellers dread—a saggy middle. It didn't take long before I grew tired, and my disappointment festered longer than any scare could last. Directive 8020 goes where no Dark Picture has before: Stealth Screenshot by Destructoid While exploration came with ease and carried some of the atmospheric tension to start, the unfathomable amount of stealth in this title made it, frankly, exhausting to play through. I initially welcomed this change with open arms, excited to see something different, blending the interactive horror film experience with what we typically expect from survival horror. But the anticipation was shot down faster than the Cassiopeia, for whenever a threat showed itself on-screen, objective 'sneak past the enemy' ensued. It was a sure-fire way to kill all tension and dread, for not only did I know what was coming (and couldn't believe my eyes every time), but I knew exactly how to handle it. Instead of feeling pressed for time by a challenging quick-time event (QTE), or one of those iconic (albeit at times frustrating) mechanics from previous Dark Pictures and Supermassive Games' titles such as Don't Move, Don't Breathe, or Keep Calm; I had all the time in the world to get past the basic enemy AI performing the most predictable patrol and being followed around as I completed objectives. There was no pressure. What added to the frustration of these tedious sections that made 8020's gameplay loop the laziest in the Anthology so far was how Supermassive had ample opportunities to switch up the gameplay, but never did. Cutscenes would show the character holding their breath, hiding behind cover as the enemy closed in, only to return control to the player for a bit of stealth "action." It not only slowed the pace of the game but also downgraded the overall quality of this experience, for nothing is less terrifying than a combination of seeing the monster and having to complete the same action over and over again. Screenshot by Destructoid The saggy middle of Directive 8020 didn't only come in its poor choice of gameplay mechanics. The limited amount of QTEs (that lacked any real challenge whenever they showed), paired with the jumbled narrative choice to timejump from episodes two through five, gave me a whiplash of emotions. Every time I'd feel myself being pulled into the story and its characters, it'd leave me stranded. Scenes wouldn't last longer than a few minutes before jumping to another timeline, showing a different character handling an issue we wouldn't see wrapped up until a later episode. The storytelling became stale, predictable, and repetitive, where a clunky narrative juggles maintaining your attention with not spoiling the leading mystery. It created an atmosphere that suffocated itself, for no negative emotion tied to a good scare could fester long enough to count. This made Directive 8020 woefully unscary, topped by the jarring score choice at the end of each episode that made me feel like what I'd just played through wasn't to be taken seriously. Moments of greatness Screenshot by Destructoid Though the characters continously make eye-rolling scripted decisions, they are significantly stronger and more memorable than most Dark Pictures casts, and carry the clunky storytelling when the narrative jumps from one moment to anothe

The Cassiopeia, carrying 10 brave astronauts, entered space 12 light-years ago in search of a new planet. The Earth is dying, and the fate of humanity rests in your hands. Yet, questions of our own humanity arise when alien life threatens our very existence. What do you do when orders tell you to follow Directive 8020?…

The Cassiopeia, carrying 10 brave astronauts, entered space 12 light-years ago in search of a new planet. The Earth is dying, and the fate of humanity rests in your hands. Yet, questions of our own humanity arise when alien life threatens our very existence. What do you do when orders tell you to follow Directive 8020? Coming in at $49.99 and taking me roughly 12 hours to get the best ending possible, Directive 8020 brings replayability to the forefront while letting its gameplay falter at the…