A new installment of Supermassive's Dark Pictures anthology series is in the works, and it's set in space, where you'll find the darkest images of all. Released in 2025, Directive 8020 tells the story of the good ship Cassiopeia, a human colony ship infiltrated by Something Icky. Something Icky is able to mimic humans, so it's a bit like Alien and a bit like The Thing, then. Sorry, human colonists!
Directive 8020 was teased at the end of Dark Pictures' latest installment, The Devil in Me, which was released in 2022. A trailer also leaked in November 2022. Now we have an official announcement video.
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“Earth is dying, and humanity has little time to waste,” a press release explains. “Twelve light-years from home, Tau Cetif offers a glimmer of hope. When the colony ship Cassiopeia crashes on the planet, its crew quickly realizes they are far from alone… As they struggle to survive, they are faced with the most difficult choice of all: to save themselves, they must risk the lives of everyone on Earth.”
“Years of training and trust are lost among the crew when the enemy hides in plain sight,” he continues. “Who is human and who is not? Your choices are now more important than ever!” How would you react in this scenario? My first course of action would be: find a weapon, find a very large bag of chips, find a corner and sit down.
The game will have you improvising weapons and using stealth mechanics, in addition to the usual Supermassive exercise of choosing narrative and/or dialogue branches and realizing you've just doomed everyone. The celebrity on the bill this time around is British actress Lashana Lynch, who plays Maria Rambeau in the Marvel Connected Universe. Good luck with the XenoThing, Lashana.
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