Best Games To Play While Waiting For The Dark Pictures Anthology: Directive 8020

The Dark Pictures Anthology rounded off the first season with The Devil in Me and is kicking off the second season with Directive 8020, adding some sci-fi body horror to the series. While fans await its release in the latter half of 2025, there is plenty of time for players to indulge in similar games while waiting.

Related

Every Horror Game By Supermassive Games, Ranked

Supermassive Games have made quite the name for themselves since they began, and these are the best of their horror genre

Whether that involves checking out past horror games made by Supermassive Games or other games in the sci-fi horror or sci-fi horror adjacent genre, these titles are sure to whet appetites while awaiting the return to the Dark Pictures Anthology.

1

Until Dawn

The First Game To Solidify Their Horror Formula

Systems

Released

August 25, 2015

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

Supermassive’s first foray into the horror genre, and the game that created the formula that all of their other horror titles would follow, Until Dawn is the perfect game while waiting to play Directive 8020. It follows the story of a group of teens who reconvene at a log cabin in the mountains one year after the disappearance and assumed death of twin sisters Hannah and Beth Washington.

The returning characters become the unknowing participants of a revenge scheme hatched by the twin’s brother Josh, but there are more sinister forces lurking on the mountain alongside them, adding one extra twist to surprise players who thought they might have everything figured out. It’s B-horror movie-inspired fun, and now is the perfect time to revisit this horror classic.

2

The Dark Pictures Anthology

Replay The Rest Of The Games In The Franchise

Released

August 30, 2019

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes

OpenCritic Rating

Fair

Expand

While awaiting the debut of the second season of the Dark Pictures Anthology, players might want to replay the first season, even if the games are only connected by the recurring character, the Curator. Consisting of the ghost ship adventure Man of Medan, a trek through the haunted Little Hope, spelunking in underground caverns in House of Ashes, and surviving an H.H. Holmes copycat in The Devil in Me, there are plenty of scary games for players to enjoy.

Related

Dark Pictures: Choices Not To Make In The Devil In Me

The Dark Pictures is a horror franchise with choice-driven games, and players of the Devil in Me should avoid making these choices.

This way, players can refresh their memories of the gameplay, as those QTE fingers might need to warm up after such a long break. They can also try to 100% the game by finding all the collectibles and experiencing every possible death for all the characters, one of the best parts of the Supermassive horror games.

3

Observation

Manipulate The Onboard AI To Investigate What Happened To The Crew

Observation

Systems

Released

May 21, 2019

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Mild Violence, Strong Language

Developer(s)

No Code

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

For players gearing up to explore the ship in Directive 8020, Observation might be the perfect game for them to play. Playing as medical officer Emma Fisher after a mysterious event has caused the titular ship to malfunction, Emma attempts to restore functions and find out what caused the issues, as well as contact other members of the crew.

Players mostly do this by using the onboard AI by the name of SAM, who guides Emma through the ship, solving puzzles and uncovering some of the mysteries shrouding the malfunction and location of the crew. While not necessarily a horror game, there are still some chilling events that unfold in Observation, and it provides heaps of sci-fi gameplay for Directive 8020 fans.

4

System Shock

A Prolific Sci-Fi Horror Title That Helped Inspire Countless Games

Systems

Released

May 30, 2023

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

Directive 8020 is the perfect game for sci-fi fans, set onboard a space-faring vessel with alien threats to contend with. So, why not revisit one of the most influential sci-fi horror games of all time, which recently received a remake so players can experience it on more up-to-date hardware?

A nameless hacker is caught and arrested for his digital crimes and brought before the executive of the company. He is offered a clean slate in return for hacking into the AI that controls the space station by the name of SHODAN, one of the most infamous killer AIs in all of gaming history. Exploring the ship and surviving SHODAN’s attempts to kill the player is about as scary as things get, and perfect for sci-fi fanatics.

5

Alien: Isolation

A Master Class In Sci-fi Spookiness

Released

October 7, 2014

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood, Strong Language, Violence

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

Based on the popular horror classic, Alien: Isolation takes place between the events of the first and second movie, casting Ripley’s daughter Amanda as the protagonist. Amanda is searching for answers regarding what happened to her mother when she set off onboard the Nostromo and hears the news that the flight recorder was recovered and is being held on the space station Sevastopol.

When Amanda and crew finally make their way aboard the space station, they see that not only is it mostly derelict, it is populated by hostile humans, dangerous androids, and the perfect killing organism that begins wiping out the remaining people on board, and now Amanda has to try and survive every heart-stopping encounter with this terrifying organism. Considered to be one of the scariest sci-fi games, players have plenty of time to try to brave it to the end.

6

Prey

An Alien Parasite Can Perfectly Mimic Objects

Systems

Released

May 5, 2017

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood, Language, Use of Alcohol, Violence

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

In the not-so-distant future of 2032, Morgan Yu awakens on the space station named Talos I as a subject of human experimentation meant to pave a new and bright future for humanity. In classic sci-fi action, the experiments go horribly wrong, and the alien creature capable of perfectly mimicking its surroundings is now loose, and it seems like it is everywhere.

Related

Scariest Mimic Enemies In Video Games

There are few scarier moments in gaming than approaching a seemingly trustworthy inanimate object only for it to turn into a terrifying mimic monster.

Directive 8020 shows crew members infected with an alien parasite that seems to hijack or even copy its hosts, closely mimicking the actions of the copycat alien in Prey. Players can get in hours of practice facing off against an alien organism by playing through Prey, which is also an excellent sci-fi game in its own right.

7

Dead Space

Face Terrifying Aliens In The Far Reaches Of Space

Systems

Released

January 27, 2023

ESRB

Rated M for Mature for Blood and Gore, Strong Language, and Intense Violence.

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

One of the most popular sci-fi horror games of all time is Dead Space, the game responsible for giving many players nightmares, involving the horrific necromorphs, monsters made from the bodies of dead crewmates. Crash-landing into the Ishimura, the Kellion crew falls one by one, but Isaac is determined to stay alive, armed with his trusty plasma cutter, which is the best weapon against necromorphs.

Set aboard a space-drifting derelict and populated by horrific monsters, Dead Space is the perfect sci-fi horror experience for those patiently awaiting Directive 8020. With the first game given a fantastic remaster and plenty of original sequels to play and enjoy, this game is the most fitting way to pass the time.

8

The Thing Remastered

Based On The Excellent Horror Movie

Horror

Third-Person Shooter

Action

Released

December 5, 2024

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Language, Violence

OpenCritic Rating

Fair

The Thing is a popular horror movie that shows a group of scientists in a base in the deep, snowy regions of Antarctica beset by a parasite that can infect and mutate its host, acting as a perfect mimic unless threatened or exposed to heat. Directive 8020 seems to have a similar premise, maybe even inspired by the movie.

What people might not be aware of is that there is actually a game based on the movie that recently received a remaster to refresh it for modern hardware and a modern audience. The game is set after the events of the movie as a special task force investigates the base and the events surrounding the research team. Now players awaiting Directive 8020 who are also fans of the movie have the perfect game to play.

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10 Most Influential Sci-Fi Games

The sci-fi genre is no stranger to video games. Hundreds of titles are currently on the market, but only a few of them have been truly influential.