The Dark Pictures Anthology: Directive 8020 Reviews
Directive 8020 is one of the better parts of The Dark Pictures Anthology, but don't expect it to be a major departure from the series or anything else. It has an interesting setting, an impressive atmosphere, good characters, and a functional story foundation, which creates the basis for a quality interactive adventure game, but at the same time it suffers from perhaps too forced and repetitive gameplay elements.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Quite simply, Directive 8020 is a paradox. For a developer like Supermassive Games, with years of experience creating interactive narrative games, such a decline in nearly every aspect is difficult to overlook, and while the game excels in its choice-and-consequence system, almost everything else, including poor pacing, forced stealth sections, pointless exploration, and weak visuals and animations, drags the experience down to a point where it becomes hard to recommend.
Review in Persian | Read full review
What if The Thing, but in space?
Supermassive Games has brought the Dark Pictures Anthology back with style and panache. Directive 8020 suffers from being a little too generic in concept and letting itself down with gameplay elements that are at odds with the cinematic quality, but the game does work as popcorn horror and doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Supermassive Games takes the Dark Pictures series into space with Directive 8020, and with the introduction of new gameplay elements such as stealth, you're more immersed in the action than ever before. Add in its brilliant presentation and gripping story and you have one of the best Dark Pictures games yet, and a must play for fans of space-horror.
With its revamped stealth mechanics and refined aesthetics, Directive 8020 offers a clear evolution of the genre, but continues to reaffirm some of the limitations, particularly in terms of interaction, inherited from the first season of the anthology. With excellent references, the story (along with the excellent work of the cast) remains its best quality, with good pacing, great development, and important turning points that, while not escaping old cliches, still work very well.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Directive 8020 builds on the formula established in 2015, adding several gameplay layers (some more successful than others) to its narrative-driven core and butterfly effect mechanics. However, its greatest strength lies in the freedom it gives players to explore its complex tree of decisions and consequences. It is Supermassive Games' most complete and enjoyable adventure since Until Dawn.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
A sci-fi horror adventure that wastes an excellent premise due to a lackluster narrative and gameplay that relies too heavily on hide-and-seek.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Overall I had a blast with Directive 8020. I kept on wanting to come back for more, having been fully immersed in its story and setting. I can’t wait to dive back in to unlock all the endings, see every turning point and to find out who the O Death person is.
Directive 8020 is a prime example of a game that had all the makings of one of the best sci-fi horror games of recent years, but ultimately fell short. An excellent premise, an attractive setting, a decent atmosphere, and high-quality audiovisuals create a very strong first impression. Unfortunately, the longer you play, the more the script’s weaknesses, the shallow characters, the simplistic gameplay, and the underutilized potential of the entire premise begin to surface.
Review in Czech | Read full review
Directive 8020 delivers a gripping B-movie sci-fi horror experience with likable characters, welcome attempts at greater interactivity, and a strong paranoid atmosphere, even if technical issues hold it back from reaching its full potential.
Review in Czech | Read full review
Directive 8020 is still another good quality release from Supermassive Games, and if you were a fan of Until Dawn, The Quarry, and/or previous Dark Pictures Anthology games, you will definitely enjoy it; at least so long as the space-faring setting is of interest to you. There’s a lot to enjoy in the storytelling, and so long as you have the patience to put up with repetitive stealth scenes, I think it is a game worth playing.
Directive 8020 is a disappointing title from a studio that has a much stronger track record and potential. One-dimensional characters, weak writing, and boring, uncreative gameplay make you enjoy the game only in the moments when the characters are getting killed.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Directive 8020 is a step in the right direction for The Dark Pictures, giving its choices more weight, its cast stronger performances, and its horror more room to breathe. While the later episodes drag and a few clichés and visual issues hold it back, the journey aboard the Cassiopeia is still worthwhile.
I am trying to avoid spoilers for the game, but like their Until Dawn and The Quarry games, I was happy to see and play another great title from Supermassive Games, as it is one that players will not want to miss.
Directive 8020 is a solid cinematic sci-fi horror experience, building an atmosphere of paranoia, mystery, and constant danger that evokes classic alien movies. Despite this, the game stumbles in some key areas. The stealth sections are overused and often feel forced, especially in the final stretch, making parts of the campaign feel repetitive.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
If you enjoy a good narrative or any other Dark Anthology Picture games then I’m sure this one will magnetise you to your seat. However, if you expect some decent gameplay or a high octane ride, then you may be disappointed. Whilst the ending and revelations during the story are much better than those of the earlier games, it takes too long to get there with a lot of filler on the way. The characters don’t make you feel connected to them so if any of them die it has little to no effect. This is even doubled down by the fact you can now rewind your choices immediately if you didn’t like the initial outcome.
By trapping a stellar cast in a gorgeous, terrifying nightmare of paranoia and survival, it redefines what The Dark Pictures Anthology is capable of and propels the anthology series into new territory.
Directive 8020 is a game I’d recommend with caveats—which is, I suppose, the honest review for what it is. It’s a step up from the Dark Pictures Anthology’s more rushed entries, ambitious in its sci-fi premise, and it genuinely delivers on atmosphere and tension. The performances are good, the production values are decent, and there are sequences aboard the Cassiopeia that may rank among Supermassive’s most unsettling work. But it falls short of the emotional stakes that made Until Dawn or The Quarry compulsive viewing. Its characters don’t burrow under your skin the same way. Its stealth, while conceptually excellent, is mechanically frustrating. And its choices, despite the gleaming new Turning Points system, still feel more illusory than transformative. If you’ve been craving a Supermassive game with a fresh coat of paint and a sci-fi setting, Directive 8020 absolutely scratches that itch. Just don’t expect to feel it the way Blackwood Pines or Hackett’s Quarry once did.
Directive 8020 is a love letter to iconic sci-fi horrors that terrified us in years gone passed. While certain aspects could be improved for example the efficacy of the Turning Point System, the real meat and bones of the game, the environments, the audio, the graphics, are outstanding and easily the best that SuperMassive Games has ever brought us. I enjoyed nearly every minute of my time with the game, and it succeeded several times over in scaring me. It’s the best that SuperMassive Games has ever given us.