Directive 8020 Needs to Subvert its Obvious Inspiration’s Expectations

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home March 2, 2025 154 Views 7 Min Read
Directive 8020 Needs to Subvert its Obvious Inspiration's Expectations



Supermassive Games is a developer known for squeezing juicy horror tropes for all they’re worth, and the upcoming Directive 8020 is no different in this respect. Exuding paranoia, claustrophobia, and raw, isolated terror, Directive 8020 is shaping up to be a solid, appropriately pulpy thrill ride with stunning visuals and blockbuster storytelling.

Directive 8020 is part of the larger Dark Pictures Anthology, the fifth in the series as a whole.

Set on an advanced space station light years away from a dying Earth, Directive 8020 follows humanity’s first contact with what appears to be a shapeshifting alien species. Based on what has been conveyed about the game thus far, it would appear that the narrative will have a heavy focus on the unknown and distrust, with the members of this space station’s crew growing increasingly uneasy with one another. Any one of them could be this enigmatic monster in disguise, after all. Fans of 1982’s The Thing may perk up their ears at that synopsis, as it undoubtedly sounds similar to John Carpenter’s cult horror classic.

Directive 8020's Release Date is Perfectly Timed

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Directive 8020’s Release Date is Perfectly Timed

Directive 8020 was featured at the recent Sony State of Play, and its newly revealed release date is set for the best possible time.

Unlike Its Central Antagonist, Directive 8020 Shouldn’t Be a Mere Mimic

In Some Ways, The Thing Should Be an Inspiration for Directive 8020

As far as horror film influences go, Directive 8020 could certainly do worse than The Thing. The grotesque creature-feature is often prized for its astonishing practical effects—as well it should—but this praise can sometimes overshadow how effective it is in other ways.

Set deep in the arctic, The Thing follows a crew of scientists who unwittingly come into contact with a mysterious being from another world. The nature of this being is never fully explained, but it quickly becomes clear that it is assuming the appearance of crew members, leading to a growing sense of paranoia and violence at the isolated research site. With no help in sight, the crew must use their wits to survive and fight back, all while struggling to hold onto their sanity.

Simplicity is what makes The Thing work as well as it does: it never attempts to make the audience empathize with the creature or even understand it. It’s far scarier to feel that this inexplicable force is terrorizing a group of innocent men for no conceivable purpose, and such obfuscation allows the monster to work in the background, elevating the sense of paranoia. Applying these storytelling concepts to a space station, a setting even further removed from civilization, could help Directive 8020 stand out as an effective horror piece, but only if it leans into what makes it special.

Directive 8020’s Nature as a Video Game Could Be What Makes It Stand Out

Simply adding more lore or exposition to the formula of The Thing could wind up working against Directive 8020, stripping it of its mysterious allure. Instead of attempting to flesh out the narrative in this way, the game could leverage what makes it inherently unique: its existence within the interactive medium. Plainly put, there’s a world of difference between simply watching characters be paranoid and actually being in their shoes, forced to reckon directly with an innately alien phenomenon.

Combining the supernatural social anxiety of The Thing with the Supermassive’s choice-based storytelling presents a world of possibilities for Directive 8020. Perhaps players will need to make crucial decisions about who is a mimic and who is real, resulting in the life or death of various characters. This would both elevate the game’s premise and reward those paying attention to small warning signs or clues. Maybe Directive 8020 could even make its playable characters susceptible to being mimicked, making the horror all the more intimate and eerie. By making good use of its unique strengths as a game, Directive 8020 can be meaningfully terrifying in ways that The Thing never could be.

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