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A light flickers in the darkness.
It crashes to the ground before us, echoing throughout the cavernous metal passageway.
The reverberation grows louder, louder, louder still, and then…silence.
This hands-off demo of Directive 8020 is something I’ve been looking forward to for weeks.
For more of our hands-on previews and exclusive interviews, visit theGamescom 2024coverage hub.
But in Directive 8020, it’s not quite the same.
Instead, Directive 8020 implementssomesurvival horror DNA to create a brand new monster while retaining its accessible framework.
It’s a big step for us a massive step."
“I’m glad you asked that, because not enough people have,” Doyle grins.
There’s more to it than that.
But a major point of intrigue in any Dark Pictures game is the evil at work.
We’ve taken it further.
Cosmic horror’s role in the existential plight of humanity is another key theme in Directive 8020.
“I think it’s very relevant nowadays,” Doyle says.
And the answer might be that the universe doesn’t care.
You know, that’s really dark, but that’s the nature of cosmic horror.
We’re just a little tiny planet in the middle of the gulf of space."
Another linked form of fear?
Thallassophobia, the fear of deep open ocean.
“Space is kind of terrifying in the same way as the deep sea,” says Doyle.
Choose your own misadventure
Fans of the Dark Pictures shouldn’t be afraid.
But within that environment, it is much more dynamic than we’ve done before."
Thankfully, the fear is still yours to tinker with.
“Fans of the Dark Pictures shouldn’t be afraid,” McDonald reaffirms.
“Directive 8020 is still a Dark Pictures game.
So that’s all still there this [survival horror element] is additive to it.”
So, will I be playing Directive 8020?
You bet your creepy jellyfish alien monster ass, I am.
Supermassive Games is responsible for some of thebest horror gamesever.
