Directive 8020 takes the Dark Pictures anthology to space

Supermassive Games has released Directive 8020, the fifth entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology. The sci-fi horror game is available today on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

The game takes place aboard the colony ship Cassiopeia, which has crash-landed on the planet Tau Ceti f. Earth is dying, and the crew was sent 12 light-years away to secure a new home. They are instead hunted by an alien organism that can perfectly mimic human form. Lashana Lynch stars as Commander Brianna Young. She leads a cast of five playable characters who must figure out who is human and who is an alien replica.

Rewinding the timeline

The Dark Pictures games rely heavily on branching narratives and permanent character deaths. Directive 8020 changes that formula with a new mechanic called Turning Points. Instead of forcing players to live with a missed button press or a bad conversation choice, this system allows you to rewind the timeline and try again.

The new interface lets players select a previous node on a timeline and alter the outcome. We have all been there: staring at a save file at 2am, wondering where it all went wrong because a character tripped over a branch. Now, you can just rewind the disaster. Previous games in the series required full replays to save doomed characters.

The core gameplay loop still involves exploring dark corridors, managing relationships between the crew, and making split-second decisions. Familiar UI prompts return, asking the player to either "Abandon" or "Save" a crew member during critical moments. These choices dictate who survives to the end credits.

Body horror in space

Supermassive has leaned into body horror for this installment. Pulsating, fleshy alien masses consume parts of the ship's interior. The mimicry aspect draws obvious inspiration from John Carpenter's The Thing, applying that paranoia to a deep space setting.

The developers have also introduced new stealth mechanics. Players can now physically hide from the alien threat in real-time, rather than relying entirely on quick-time events to evade capture. It is a step toward traditional survival horror, giving players more direct control over their survival.

The developer has also dropped support for older consoles. This is the first game in the anthology built on Unreal Engine 5, and it requires current-generation hardware to handle the updated lighting and character models. The PC version includes support for ray tracing and Nvidia's latest DLSS upscaling technology.

Multiplayer and editions

The traditional multiplayer modes return for this entry. Up to five people can play locally in Movie Night mode by passing the controller around the room. Each person is assigned specific characters to control. Online co-op is also planned, though it will be added in a post-launch update.

Supermassive has a Deluxe Edition that includes the base game along with several digital extras. Buyers get a Dark Pictures outfit pack, a digital artbook, and the soundtrack. It also includes a set of visual filters that let you play the game with an 8mm film or VHS aesthetic.

The premium version adds an extra mission called The Dark Pictures Heirlooms Retrieval. This side quest tasks players with finding hidden dolls and relics tied to previous games in the anthology, like Man of Medan and House of Ashes. It is a small nod to the series' past, even as the franchise abandons Earth for the furthest reaches of space.