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Supermassive's cinematic sci-fi horror adventure Directive 8020 is arriving in just two short months, but if you're starting to get tense or scared already then you can feel braver in the knowledge that you don't have to play alone. As highlighted during the Future Games Show Spring Showcase, the game will have a Movie Night mode where friends can play together and shape the outcome of the story.
This mode is about creating shared experiences between friends, where you can all become immersed in the sci-fi survival horror action as it unfolds in real time on board the Cassiopeia. Up to five players may take part together, passing one controller between them whenever prompted by a character change so everyone gets a turn at controlling the action.
How things pan out next is down to your group, and whether you decide to work collaboratively towards a shared goal or all do your own thing. You can choose to debate the potential life-or-death choices you face with your friends, putting forward different arguments until you come to a shared decision on how to proceed, or face the tension of following your own heart (or even going rogue) then dealing with the reactions and emotional fallout from the rest of your team if your plans don't align.
Every decision made affects the branching narrative structure in some way, meaning no two playthroughs will be the same and all of your choices have consequences that could ultimately influence who lives and who dies. This is where Turning Points comes in, which is a fresh feature for the series that lets players access a visual branching story tree to see their significant decisions and results mapped out, giving an overview of how they shaped the narrative.
If you (or your group of friends) aren't happy with how a particular situation worked out, from a less preferred outcome all the way up to an actual character death, then you can use Turning Points to revisit the critical moment and make a different choice or try and perform the QTE more accurately to get an alternative result. This adds another dimension to group play, where you must collectively decide if you want to live with the consequences of your actions or rewind time and try again.
With Turning Points you still have meaningful choices to make and consequences to deal with, but you also get more control over how the story unfolds to get the experience you want. When playing with friends it helps to encourage discussion and experimentation over multiple playthroughs, so your horror movie nights are always varied. However, if you want to ramp up the tension by making every decision final, then select Survival mode instead where there are no second chances.
While these co-operative game modes will be limited to offline only at release, online multiplayer will arrive in a free post-launch update on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam. This will work in the same way as above, with each remote player taking their turn controlling a character while the others watch, and having to live by the decisions others make until it's their turn to influence the storyline.
If you're ready to start planning a horror movie night with your friends, then you can pre-order Directive 8020 now on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, or wishlist on Steam where pre-orders are coming soon. By pre-ordering ahead of the May 12 launch date you'll also receive the Deluxe Upgrade completely for free, which includes the Dark Pictures Outfit pack, filters, in-game collectibles, a digital artbook, and the digital soundtrack.
