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As a Supermassive game, you might be wondering whether you can save everyone in Directive 8020. After all, like the developer's previous games, including the Dark Pictures Anthology that it's part of, 8020 forces you to make constant decisions, changing the outcome of the story and the characters, including whether they live or die.
On a spaceship already in orbit, the cast list here is quite slim, so there aren't too many lives in your hands, but some can - and probably will - fall victim to a poor choice or a missed quick-time event, unless you know how to save them. My biggest tip throughout this whole guide is to avoid missing those QTEs, as plenty of deaths are possible by missing them. Most of those aren't in this list, as there are a lot of them. Instead, I'll warn you about specific decisions that can lead to deaths, but be warned, there are spoilers ahead.
Can you save everyone in Directive 8020
While you can't save Simms or Carter, you can save the main crew members who appear in the majority of the story, and whose stats and personalities are tracked and changed as you progress, along with Williams.
If you want to save everyone you can, again, hit every QTE. While some don't lead to any deaths, plenty do, especially in the late game, so don't risk it. If you do happen to miss any, you can rewind if you're quick, but it's best to try and hit them all first time. for other eventualities, I'll tell you how to save everyone below, but, again, there are serious spoilers here, so proceed with care. Here's a quick runthrough of the major moments to look out for:
- Save Stafford during the crash landing.
- Save Mitchell during the fire.
- Save Cernan and Eisele during their flashforwards.
- Don't shoot Williams when given the choice.
- Don't send the Eiseles through the scanner.
- Shoot the right Eisele when given the choice.
- Find the right Anders on Tau Ceti F.
- Hit every QTE during Episode 8.
- Take Williams with you when you get the chance.
- When given the option, help your crewmates, don't run.
It's also worth mentioning that, if you're doing this on a second playthrough, you will have to play the entire game, as just picking up from specific events won't change your history.
Episode 2 - Power up the Reactor
The first avoidable death arrives in Episode 3, but you'll need to make your first impactful decision in Episode 2, which also affects the life of another character later on, too.
During Power Games in Episode 2, when playing as Young, you can choose to either reroute power from the Landing Computer or Fire Control, but your choice affects what you do later on, and has the potential to kill both Stafford and Mitchell.
If you choose the Landing Computer
During Episode 5, Mitchell gets caught in a fire, so you must ensure that the Fire Control system is online for Mitchell to survive. If you rerouted the power from the Landing Computer in Episode 2, Simms will turn Fire Control off later in the Episode 2, as Eisele is following her. In this case, you must avoid Simms, get to the console, and turn Fire Control back on. If you fail, there is still a chance to save Mitchell by simply choosing to do so when given the option during the fire in Episode 5. In a disappointing revelation, narratively speaking, the alternative doesn't result in the death of another crew member.
During Episode 3, you'll have to crash land the Cassiopeia. During your descent, Stafford will try to reboot the landing gear using the back up system. Of course, you've turned it off. As such, the only way to save Stafford is to force him to Sit Down when he gets up - allow him to reboot the computer and he'll die.
If you choose Fire Control
If you did reroute the power from the Fire Control System back in Episode 2, it's already off, but you can still save Mitchell. This time, while playing as Eisele and trying to avoid Simms later in Episode 2, you must still avoid Simms and get to the console to activate the Fire Control System. If you fail, you can still save Mitchell by simply choosing to save him when given the option during the fire in Episode 5. Somewhat disappointingly, the alternative doesn't result in the death of a different crew member.
In Episode 3, during the crash landing of the Cassiopeia, Stafford will get up and try to reboot the landing gear using the backup system. While the decision to turn off the landing gear earlier can lead to his death, you chose the Fire Control System, so Stafford can safely reboot the computer and live.
Episode 6 - Close Encounter
This one fits the bill of hitting QTEs, but it's worth mentioning just in case. In Episode 6, the crew gets split up, and both Eisele and Cernan face the consequences of earlier flashforwards in which they battled with alien Stafford and alien Williams, respectively. If you survived these events, you've nothing to worry about, and my guide to powering the Directive 8020 control room in Cernan's flashforward can help. However, if either or both characters were injured, they can be killed in Episode 6, so be careful.
- If Cernan was injured during his encounter with Williams, either choose to send Eisele as backup at the end of Episode 5, or ensure he doesn't get caught by the alien version of himself in Episode 6.
- Similarly, if Eisele was injured during her encounter with Stafford, send Cernan as backup at the end of Episode 5, or be careful to avoid the alien Eisele.
- If both were injured, you can choose whomever you want to send out at the end of Episode 5, but just make sure they survive the encounter with their alien mimic.
Essentially, if either Cernan or Eisele get injured twice, they'll die in a cutscene during Episode 6 - no QTEs can save them.
Episode 6 - Should you shoot Williams?
This one's pretty simple, but in Episode 6 you'll be faced with the decision to shoot Williams or not. In this case, he's not an alien, so don't shoot Williams - the scanner's about to tell you as much anyway, so shooting him would be a bit extreme.
It'll also reveal sedatives in his system following the Directive 8020 Diazepam mission, for which I've got a full walkthrough if you need it.
Episode 6 - Scanner
During Episode 6, you'll start sending characters through a scanner to prove if they're real or not. Here, there's a chance to lose Eisele or Cernan, depending on whether Eisele is still alive. However, we'll assume she is given you're following this guide.
During the Scanner mission, you'll be faced with two Eiseles, and you'll need to decide whether to ask them to prove themselves, or force them both through the scanner which, if you ask me, if the obvious choice. However, to keep Eisele alive, you must choose the Test option. I'll let you use the network of Turning Points to see what happens if you don't.
However, this isn't the end. Ask the two Eiseles to talk themselves out of a bad situation, and you must then choose which you trust, shooting the other. Here, you must choose to shoot Eisele, not the newcomer, as the latter is the real deal.
Episode 7 - Anders' Imposter
Once you've landed the SEV on Tau Ceti F and have taken your first few steps on the planet with your remaining crew (which, with this guide, should be all of them), you'll soon get split up, leaving Anders alone. Naturally, those tricky aliens are going to try to lead you to a fake Anders, so make sure you go the right way.
This one's kind of obvious, but the alien is the one using a new contact, you can trust the existing Anders contact on your PDA, so should follow the direction they lead you in. When the unknown contact tells you you're going the wrong way, ignore it.
Episode 7 - Geoscience
If you're unlucky, there are a few ways to lose your entire crew in Episode 7, so while they're just QTEs and not decisions, they're definitely worth bringing attention to here.
As the crew tries to make it back through the infected Cassiopeia, Young will be cut off. Run into the lifeform and miss QTEs when she's in the Pod Room, and she'll die. Then, the others carry on. If the player character making their way through Geosciences or to the elevator is caught and killed, every single crew member from the Charybdis mission dies. In other words, during the crew's return to the Cassiopeia, don't miss any QTEs.
Episode 8 - Take or leave Williams
You get another chance to kill Williams in Episode 8, when faced with the option to take him with you or leave him behind on the doomed Cassiopeia. Obviously, if you want to save everyone, you need to take him with you, but I'll let you decide whether that's what you really want to do.
Episode 8 - Let Mitchell in
If you keep Mitchell alive during the fire, you still have a chance to lose him in Episode 8. The first time comes when he's locked out, and your player character has a chance to let him out or leave him behind. Obviously, you're going to want to save him - he can be trusted.
Episode 8 - Ceiling beam
The next time Mitchell is vulnerable in Episode 8 also comes as the remaining crew are trying to refuel the SEV to get off the Cassiopeia. A lifeform will pull down a ceiling beam, forcing your player character into a QTE. If you miss this, Mitchell will push them out of the way, leading to his own demise, so make sure you hit the QTE when the lifeform breaks the ceiling beam to save him.
Episode 8 - Help or run
Again during Episode 8, one of your player characters will be forced to choose between saving a team mate and running away as you come head to head yet again with a massive lifeform.
You should choose to help, of course, but be aware that you must then also pass a resultant quick-time event to save both characters.
Episode 8 - Getting out alive
Here's one last QTE-based mission that determines whether your team gets out safely. Nearing the end, the team have made it into the SEV and are grabbed by the giant lifeform on their way out of the Cassiopeia. One single QTE here is the different between life and death. Cooper will grab an oxygen tank and go to throw it out the door of the SEV, be sure to hit this QTE to ensure the survival of your crew.
With that, you've saved almost everyone aboard the Cassiopeia, though you might want to go back through the other Directive 2080 Chapters to see what other fates exist when you change your mind.
If you want to see everything the deadly horror game has to offer, make sure you find all the Directive 8020 key codes for secrets and collectibles.
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