Directive 8020 Review
Where the choices matter more than the gameplay.
Title: Directive 8020
Release: May 12, 2026
Platform: PS5 PC Xbox Series X|S
Developer: Supermassive Games
Publisher: Supermassive Games
Genre: Sci-Fi Survival Horror
ESRB: M
Reviewed on: PC
Time Played:
--- SURVIVING DIRECTIVE 8020: A SCI-FI DISASTER MOVIE ---
You are 13 light-years from Earth, drifting through the cold void of space, with humanity’s survival resting squarely on your shoulders. The mission to terraform a new home planet is tense but necessary. Then a catastrophic accident tears through the ship, plunging the entire expedition into chaos. Suddenly you are responsible for keeping an entire crew alive against impossible odds while something monstrous hunts you in the dark. Welcome to Directive 8020.
This is a story-driven horror game where your choices actually matter. The premise isn’t new, but the plot becomes highly entertaining once it sinks its teeth in after a few hours of playtime.
--- SHAPING THE SURVIVORS ---
This game does not hand you a single clear protagonist. You eventually play as all the characters to get through the game. You make choices for everyone as you navigate this terrible situation. It did feel odd deciding how they would react at the very start of the game. I had no idea what type of person they were or how they would act under pressure. I couldn’t tell whether I was deciding what kind of character they were or, in that case, how to react for them.
You get to decide whether a person will joke in their responses or whether another character should be strict and by the book. It almost feels like a psychological test.
There really is no wrong choice. But each one carries a consequence of sorts. Sometimes the result is obvious right away. Other times it takes hours before you realize the outcome of a tiny choice you made much earlier in the run. That delayed consequence is a fantastic way to build tension.
--- REWRITING THE TIMELINE ---
Exploration yields secrets, including lore-expanding notes and video diaries created by the crew. A single playthrough is relatively short, taking about 7 hours to complete, but the replay value is exceptionally high. It is very easy to miss a lot of content on a first run with all of the branching paths.
After beating the game, I had the option to go back at any time to where I made a choice. The UI showed a picture of the path I took and lines for the branching paths. They usually branch out and come back together at a single point, where more branching could take place afterward. During my initial playthrough, I went forward with every choice and was able to finish with just three deaths. The game shows a counter of how many possible deaths you can see across everyone. Looking at that number, there are quite a few grim possibilities.
--- BEAUTIFUL ENVIRONMENTS, BROKEN NECKS ---
Visually, the environmental and alien graphics are well executed. The alien-affected ship areas look absolutely incredible. But the human character models and animations are stiff and janky throughout the game. I ran into a bunch of bizarre anatomical bugs.
During serious conversations, a character could be face-to-face with another person, and their eyes are flying upward, staring into the distance at absolutely nothing. Not in a contemplative way. It just completely fails to fit the situation. Then, other times during chase sequences, characters would look behind them while running, and I saw someone turn their head in a near 180-degree spin to look behind themselves. It is a terrifying, Exorcist-style head spin that completely breaks the tension.
--- SNEAKING AND QUICK TIME EVENTS ---
The gameplay itself is minimal. You primarily sneak to avoid enemies. Every character has a scanner that helps you keep track of who you are hiding from. You crouch behind cover and sneak just out of their line of sight. Usually, it was not difficult to gauge the enemy’s preset pathing, so you could time your movements perfectly. And if you happened to be noticed for a second, the game was very generous with how long a monster could see you before attacking, giving plenty of time to get back into hiding.
Things could get dicey when the enemy was supposed to be in a specific spot as I entered an area. They would teleport to another room right in front of me.
I guess they did it for the fear factor or to keep the moment intense, but it was more annoying than anything. Sneaking around got tougher as the story went on. The monsters you hide from move more chaotically and faster. It made it difficult to decide when to move. But it never got so intense or difficult that I was ever actually caught, unless it was a scripted failure.
Action sequences rely heavily on a multitude of Quick Time Events. Playing with a mouse and keyboard caused some serious frustration. The final section of the game is filled to the brim with QTEs. That was the singular time I repeatedly failed and caused a faux pas or two. I highly recommend playing with a controller right from the start to avoid those accidental inputs. Every failure was admittedly my own fault, nothing to do with the game.
--- CAN THE KIDS WATCH? ---
This game carries a very mature tone. Language is heavy, with frequent profanity and curse words shouted in rage and fear throughout the entire game. The violence is graphic and bloody. Deaths can be gruesome. Bodies are shown chopped, cut, and mangled beyond recognition. The game also features freaky-looking and scary monsters in numerous locations. It may be best to wait until after bedtime to fire this game up.
--- RECOMMENDED? ---
I recommend this game if you are into games where choices matter. I didn’t find it scary, even though I think it was supposed to be. There were a couple of jump scares and a single moment that had me on my toes, but for the rest I was just going through the motions, watching the story unfold with the choices I made. The creators of this game also made Until Dawn. I never played that one, but I watched it played, and it was much more intense and scary than this game.