Supermassive Games' Directive 8020 arrives as the latest entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology, trading the series' familiar haunted house formula for a sci-fi horror setting heavily inspired by Ridley Scott's Alien. The game follows a crew aboard a space station where things go predictably wrong, leaning hard into chest-burster scares and claustrophobic corridors.
Polygon's review finds Directive 8020 more ambitious than its predecessors, expanding the anthology's scope beyond earthbound supernatural thrills into cosmic body horror territory. Yet ambition doesn't equal execution. The game struggles to move beyond B-movie tropes that defined earlier Dark Pictures installments. Quick-time events and branching narratives remain the series' bread and butter, but they feel stretched thin across a sci-fi premise that demands more tension and originality.
The Alien DNA runs deep. Directive 8020 borrows liberally from Scott's 1979 masterpiece. Facehuggers, xenomorphs, doomed crews, and industrial station design all find their way into the narrative. Where Scott created genuine dread through minimalist filmmaking, Supermassive leans on jump scares and over-the-top gore. The horror lands occasionally, but rarely surprises veterans of the anthology.
What distinguishes Directive 8020 is its willingness to experiment. The space setting opens new visual possibilities. Character designs feel fresher than previous entries. The pacing occasionally hits effective moments. Yet these elements exist in service of a template that needs reinvention, not iteration.
The Dark Pictures Anthology has carved out a specific niche. These games appeal to players seeking branching narratives with high production values and b-list horror fun. Directive 8020 delivers on that promise. It's competent, occasionally thrilling, and