Supermassive Games has been hard at work on the next “season” of The Dark Pictures Anthology, and today at the Future Game show they showed off the latest trailer for the first game of season 2, Directive 8020. Within the trailer they unveiled a new feature never before seen in any of the Supermassive games.
The latest trailer shows off the setting for Directive 8020, a spaceship named Cassiopeia. On board the ship is a scanner, aptly named “The Scanner” that scans beings to determine if they are human or alien. Suddenly things break down when an alien substance overruns the hydroponics bay and characters Cernan and Williams come face to face with alien mimics of themselves.
This is the first time that the Dark Pictures Anthology will go the Sci-Fi route. With the setup being the aliens can mimic the crew, it will be harder than ever to figure out who you can trust on the Cassiopeia. Will there be small tells to help you as the player understand who is real and who isn’t? It’s going to be fascninating to find out.
Rewind Time
The new feature is called Turning Points and will allow players to rewind certain parts of the game in order to change their decisions. Doing so will allow players to unlock different narrative paths, discover missed content, or change outcomes entirely, offering a new level of player control. For players who don’t wish to use the feature they will still be able to play the traditional ways via a Survivor Mode.
Turning Points should make things easier for completionists. Having completed most of Supermassive games over the years you typically need to play through the entire game multiple times and certain sections in order to see and unlock everything.
In theory this should at least cut down on some time. Plus, if you didn’t really want someone to live (or die) you can simply go back and change your choices. While this is by no means a unique feature to Supermassive games, it is a welcome addition to The Dark Pictures Anthology and Directive 8020.
"With Directive 8020, we're introducing a brand-new major gameplay feature – Turning Points. For the first time in a Dark Pictures title, players can rewind the story to key decision moments and change the outcomes. It's an exciting step for us, especially with a story that has branching and multiple endings. It's all about giving players more control, more replayability, and more ways to uncover every layer of the story." said Will Doyle, Creative Director, Dark Pictures at Supermassive Games.
Digital Deluxe Edition
We also learned today that there will be a digital deluxe edition of the game. This deluxe edition will come with many in-game pack ins as well as some digital items like an art book. You can see the full list of items included in the digital deluxe edition below.
The Dark Pictures Outfit Pack
- Play as Cassiopeia crew members wearing iconic outfits from across The Dark Pictures Anthology. Includes:
- Sleep Technician Carter in Jason's army gear from House of Ashes
- Science Technician Anders in Julia's diving outfit from Man of Medan
- Each character comes with their own outfit variation from the series
Cosmic Visual Filter Pack
- Customize the game's look with three cinematic visual filters that represent each era of space missions:
- 60s Filter - Classic black and white
- 70s Filter - 8mm-style film grain
- 80s Filter - Retro VHS aesthetic
Digital Artbook
- Get a behind-the-scenes look at the game's visual development
- Includes concept art for Tau Ceti f, the Cassiopeia, and terrifying alien transformations
Exclusive Soundtrack
- Original score by Jason Graves
- Includes licensed tracks and in-game music
The Dark Pictures Exclusive Heirlooms Mission
- A secret, collectible-based mission
- Search for dolls and figures hidden throughout the game that unlock secrets to previous Dark Pictures games, including Man of Medan, Little Hope, House of Ashes, and The Devil in Me
Directive 8020 releases on October 2nd for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X and PC.
