Directive 8020 Launches May 12 on 3 Platforms, Adding 44 Death Scenarios
Updated
Updated · Polygon · May 11
Directive 8020 Launches May 12 on 3 Platforms, Adding 44 Death Scenarios
12 articles · Updated · Polygon · May 11
May 12 brings Supermassive Games' sci-fi horror title to PS5, PC and Xbox Series X, with players guiding five crew members aboard the Cassiopeia on an eight-hour mission gone wrong.
44 possible death scenarios — the most in a Dark Pictures game — are paired with new "turning points" that let players rewind pivotal choices, making survival easier unless they switch to a separate survival mode.
Stealth sections expand the series beyond quick-time events and dialogue choices, but the review says exploitable enemy behavior, forgiving escapes and frequent cutscenes drain tension from the alien threat.
Lovecraftian story beats, a decaying spaceship setting and some strong performances still make it one of the anthology's more intriguing entries, even as bugs and uneven acting leave its ambition feeling underused.
Is a new sci-fi horror game secretly a metaphor for Alzheimer's disease?
Does letting players rewind death make a horror game less scary?
Directive 8020 promises a new direction, but will its flawed mechanics doom the mission?