Ever wish you could hit rewind in a horror game after a tragic character death? Supermassive Games’ new title, Directive 8020, is letting you do just that! Get ready to strategize and revisit crucial decisions to keep your favorite crew members alive in space. Will you master the new Turning Point system, or will chaos still reign?
The struggle to keep beloved characters alive in interactive horror narratives is a hallmark of Supermassive Games. For many players, the emotional investment in these digital lives often clashes with the harsh realities of in-game choices, leading to frustrating and sometimes game-ending character deaths. However, their upcoming title, Directive 8020, introduces a groundbreaking feature designed to mitigate this common player anguish while simultaneously enriching the gameplay experience. This new system offers a unique opportunity for players to revisit critical decisions and potentially alter the fate of their favorite virtual companions.
Set in the unforgiving expanse of space, Directive 8020 distinguishes itself not only by its mature crew dynamics but also through its innovative “Turning Point” system. This novel mechanic functions as an sophisticated save-scumming tool, meticulously charting significant narrative junctures. Players can strategically rewind to prior decision points, enabling them to explore alternative outcomes and refine their gaming strategy without the immediate, irreversible consequences typically associated with the genre. This offers a significant departure from the studio’s established design philosophy.
Creative director Will Doyle articulated the rationale behind this inclusion, noting that “There’s a bunch of players who get invested in the characters, and then when their favourite character dies, they turn off, they stop playing the game.” The “Turning Point system” directly addresses this by providing a crucial “second chance,” thereby encouraging continued engagement. Doyle suggests that actively manipulating these timelines presents “a different experience, and it’s quite a fun experience,” allowing players to dynamically shape their narrative journey and track their progress seamlessly.
Upon accessing the Turning Point menu, players are greeted by an intricate “spider’s web of boxes,” visually representing the branching narrative paths. Early choices expand into a multitude of divergent outcomes, mapping the intricate cause-and-effect relationships within the story. Minor decisions, while not always altering major events, subtly influence character death likelihood and individual mindsets, adding layers of psychological depth and strategic consideration to every interaction. This visual representation transforms the decision-making process into an engaging puzzle.
Doyle elaborated that the system caters particularly to “explorer players who want to achieve everything,” transforming the Turning Point screen into a virtual “sticker book” for completionists. The game provides hints for unlocking various branches, some of which require “slightly arcane ways” to discover. This suggests that simply rewinding may not always be sufficient; certain character traits or prior, seemingly insignificant choices might be prerequisites for accessing specific narrative developments, encouraging meticulous exploration and replayability within Directive 8020.
This flexibility marks a considerable evolution from the rigid, irreversible choices that defined previous Supermassive Games horror titles. Traditionally, the studio aimed to craft “perfect dilemmas,” where players were confronted with “two seemingly equally bad options,” ensuring a profound “sense of loss” regardless of the choice. The original design ethos emphasized that player actions directly caused character fates, fostering an intense, on-edge atmosphere essential to the horror games experience. The new system recalibrates this tension, offering control without fully fully removing consequence.
While the Turning Point system offers a degree of control, the emotional impact of character death remains potent. The ability to rewind does not instantly erase the panic and frustration experienced when a beloved character perishes. The article highlights that players are still left to mentally retrace their decisions, searching for the point of failure, as the system does not explicitly reveal the direct outcomes of every choice. This preserves a vital element of the psychological horror, ensuring that the stakes, though modifiable, are never truly absent.
The early preview of Directive 8020 suggests that the “What ifs?” remain a powerful motivator, even with the new tools. By empowering players to systematically explore these narrative possibilities, the Turning Point system emerges as a brilliant innovation. It introduces a compelling puzzle element to the established horror games formula, enhancing replay value and allowing players to delve deeper into the narrative’s complexities, ultimately elevating the overall experience for both casual players and dedicated completionists of Supermassive Games.
