The Dark Pictures Anthology: Directive 8020 Reviews
Directive 8020 is a decent experience in a series struggling with an identity crisis. Supermassive itself doesn’t seem to know quite where it’s heading with The Dark Pictures, and it shows. Alongside a clever story with some very strong final hours, you also get monotonous stealth sections and at least five too many ventilation shafts to crawl through. The strong acting and a well-paced narrative are offset by the loss of some rock-solid signature elements and the current lack of an online co-op mode. It’s also a bit of a nail-biter for the future of this franchise.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
The game that kicks off Season 2 of The Dark Pictures Anthology released with high fan expectations, but ultimately delivers the exact same familiar flavor. If you're looking for that comfortingly unchanged taste, you'll definitely enjoy it—otherwise, it’s bound to leave you wanting more.
Review in Korean | Read full review
Is a genuinely good Dark Pictures game wearing the costume of a different game entirely. The Turning Points system is a series-best addition. The story pays off. The presentation is outstanding. But the wholesale replacement of the series’ established tension mechanics with repetitive stealth, the absence of the Curator, and the missing online co-op at a significantly higher price point all conspire to make this feel less than the sum of its parts for the franchise faithful. If you’re new to Supermassive’s work, Directive 8020 is a strong entry point into cinematic horror gaming — atmospheric, well-acted, and narratively satisfying. If you’ve played every previous entry and loved what made them distinct, temper expectations and perhaps wait for a sale and the post-launch co-op update. For more horror and adventure game coverage, check out our full reviews section.
Directive 8020 is Supermassive Games at its most ambitious and its most inconsistent. The space setting and corporate paranoia themes work, the stealth has its moments, and the back half delivers genuine tension. But a slow start, rough voice acting, and a stealth system that never reaches its potential hold it back from being the leap forward the series needed. A solid 10 hours for Dark Pictures fans, a frustrating one for everyone else.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The strengths of past games - a gripping story, excellent acting and interesting decision paths - are enhanced by useful mechanics like the direct rewind function and I really enjoyed the division into series-style chapters. Directive 8020 builds on the successful experiences of its predecessors, resulting in a genuinely entertaining horror experience. However not every new idea hits: the stealth sections are a bit too slow-paced, especially towards the end. I would have preferred fewer camera cuts and I really missed the online coop mode.
Review in German | Read full review
Directive 8020: A Dark Pictures Game features a "strong" storyline and promises a solid survival horror experience
Review in Greek | Read full review
Directive 8020 is a strong interactive narrative with some less-than-exciting gameplay. Quick-time events and impactful decisions maintain a solid element of player interactivity, but the title would be better off ditching its weak stealth segments and walking-simulator gameplay in favor of a more direct, cinematic approach. Despite this, fans of the genre and those looking for a good narrative experience with some player influence are bound to enjoy what this latest entry in the Dark Pictures Anthology has to offer.
The positive aspects, however, aren't enough to make you want to start it again and endure those stealth sections and cheesy dialogue all over again.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Directive 8020 launches a technically polished new era for the franchise, successfully trading terrestrial haunts for sharp, claustrophobic sci-fi paranoia. The vastly improved character development and fluid timeline rewinds bolster an addictive branching narrative, though half-baked stealth mechanics and predictable trope-reliance occasionally stall its cinematic propulsion.
Directive 8020 is a solid sci-fi horror entry that nails atmosphere and paranoia, even if it never really escapes the Supermassive formula it’s built on. The branching choices and Turning Points system add replay value, though they can get a bit messy in practice, and the stealth sections are effective but fairly predictable once you understand the patterns. It’s not a reinvention, but it does a good job of that familiar “something is wrong on this ship and nobody is behaving normally” tension the genre lives for.
Directive 8020 thrives on paranoia, constantly making you question who is still human aboard the Cassiopeia. While Supermassive Games is still experimenting with its new third-person systems, the result is one of the studio’s boldest, most cinematic, and surprisingly immersive sci-fi horror experiences to date.
Review in Unknown | Read full review
Directive 8020 proves Supermassive Games can deliver blockbuster presentation and immersive cinematic horror on a massive scale. What it does not prove is that the studio has fully mastered the kind of layered storytelling needed to elevate its games from entertaining horror rides into truly unforgettable interactive dramas.
Directive 8020 is an interesting and, in some respects, bold attempt by Supermassive Games: it doesn’t just change the setting, but seeks to revamp the series’ formula by introducing stealth sections, real-time dangers and a narrative rewind system that makes the experience more flexible. Not everything is equally convincing, however, because the writing – although of a very high standard – can feel predictable, and some stealth sections don’t always seem to live up to the stated ambition. There is no doubt, however, that Directive 8020 is an adrenaline-fuelled experience and that – if you’re a fan of the Dark Pictures Anthology (and space settings) – it’s absolutely worth experiencing!
Review in Italian | Read full review
Directive 8020 might please Supermassive fans looking for a new cinematic horror fix with a few cool narrative twists, but it's let down by tedious stealth segments and uninteresting characters.
Visually appealing, but lacking in gameplay. Directive 8020 offers an atmospheric journey through space, but one that is constantly undermined by inconsistent narrative choices and practically blind enemies, resulting in an adventure with too many ups and downs.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Directive 8020 has an intriguing narrative beginning and visual mastery in character design, but it fell into the trap of boredom, repetition, and catastrophic technical performance.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Though I never expected Directive 8020 to be a mechanically complex game, I expected more from its gameplay than what it delivers. Even for a Dark Pictures title, it’s light on things to do and even lighter on optimization, with visual and save bugs infesting the game’s guts like some ravenous alien. The story is superb, though, if you can get past the episodic structure and occasional wacky dialogue. It’s a stellar sight and a haunting listen, so if you’re fine spending most of your time watching people die, this frigate of frights might be for you.
Another entry in the Dark Pictures Anthology that follows in the footsteps of its predecessors but brings few new features to the table. While the aesthetics and atmosphere are expertly crafted, the story takes quite a while to truly get going.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Directive 8020 dresses The Dark Pictures formula in science fiction horror, but forgets to bring fear, consequence, or a reason to care.
The environments in Directive 8020 feel too one-sided, the 'who can you trust?' element is actually far too lacking and not convincing enough, and the real horror is also somewhat lacking. You do see some bloody tentacles pass by here and there, but you pretty much already know what to think about certain characters (or their duplicates), and it would have been 'the charm' if there had been more of that element of surprise regarding mutual mistrust. You can, of course, play the game alone or together, although both experiences felt pretty much the same. The ability to rewind past decisions is a good addition and was often missing in previous games, where you practically had to start a new playthrough. That is not necessary now, although you can mainly view the results per segment, so the entire playthrough does not change retroactively. Directive 8020 is ultimately not a bad game, certainly not; I enjoyed myself thoroughly, but it had much more potential, provided they had looked even more closely at its sources of inspiration.
Review in Dutch | Read full review