Det har varit en längre resa än vad man först hade tänkt sig, men i maj är det äntligen dags för Supermassive Games att återvända och bjuda på nästa kapitel i The Dark Pictures Anthology. Spelet heter Directive 8020 och är en science fiction-doftande skräckhistoria som följer en grupp astronauter som kämpar för att överleva ombord på ett isolerat rymdskepp - samtidigt som de jagas av formskiftande, blodtörstiga varelser.
Lanseringen är planerad till den 12 maj för PC, PS5 och Xbox Series X/S. Vi fick nyligen chansen att prata med Supermassive, närmare bestämt creative director Will Doyle, för att få veta mer om Directive 8020. I intervjun diskuteras allt från skräckinspirationer och actionfylld gameplay till AI inom spelutveckling, förväntad speltid och kopplingarna till The Dark Pictures-serien. Hela intervjun kan du läsa nedan.
Gamereactor: Ni verkar ha lämnat The Dark Pictures-brandingen bakom er. Räknas Directive 8020 fortfarande som en del av serien eller är det ett helt fristående projekt?
Doyle: "Directive 8020 is set in the same shared world as our other titles. It is an intense, branching narrative game where your choices matter and you control a cast of characters where everyone can live or die. The deluxe edition of the game features costumes sets and collectible dolls that highlight characters and monsters from our previous Dark Pictures games. So yes - 100% Dark Pictures.
"We are delighted to continue the series, but after a short break we wanted to ensure that our messaging is clear for our audiences. After we wrapped season 1 of the Dark Pictures Anthology, we did an extensive player research study in preparation for Directive 8020. This study revealed that many newcomers thought that they had to play through our games sequentially - partially due to terms like "Season."
"For Directive 8020, we have settled on the tagline "A Dark Pictures Game", which tells our fans that it is part of the shared universe, without suggesting that it is an essential follow-on to other games in the series."
Gamereactor: Hur har den extra utvecklingstiden efter förseningen gjort det möjligt för er att förbättra och vidareutveckla Directive 8020?
Doyle: "We know our fans have been waiting patiently for Directive 8020 ever since it was teased at the end of The Devil in Me. We really wanted to use the extra time to focus on polish and create the best version of our game. Like our other games, Directive 8020 is extremely cinematic, so any extra time spent on editing and polish really benefits the overall experience. We're really excited by what we've achieved, and we hope our fans love it too."
Gamereactor: Vilka var era inspirationskällor bakom berättelsen i Directive 8020, och hur mycket research om resor i rymden har ni gjort?
Doyle: "Each of the Dark Pictures games have drawn on a different genre of horror. This time, we wanted to explore space horror. John Carpenter's "The Thing" was a big inspiration, primarily because we wanted to create a shapeshifting monster. Over the years, many of our fans have asked us to make a game based on The Thing, probably because the theme of trust fits so well with our choice and relationship mechanics. And the monster itself is obviously pretty sick!
"But this story takes inspiration from a lot of different movies - Aliens, Sunshine, Life, and more - and books, including H.P. Lovecraft's "Mountains of Madness." It's also, in part, a follow-on to "House of Ashes," the third Dark Picture.
"We did do quite a bit of research when creating this one. The story really began from two real-world points of inspiration: first, the Moon Landings, where Apollo 10 (effectively, the dry run for the actual landing) was short fuelled to prevent the crew from attempting it themselves. In our story, the spaceship Cassiopeia is sent to do a similar test run on Tau Ceti f and is also short fuelled. Secondly, Directive 8020 itself was a real-world NASA directive that enforced quarantine procedures if the crew of the shuttle encountered extraterrestrial life in space."
Gamereactor: Hur har sci-fi-temat påverkat skräcken i spelet?
Doyle: "Setting the game in space gives us so many opportunities to create feelings of dread (and wonder!). While it's so vast, it is also intimate, as you're cooped up together in a vessel. Claustrophobia and isolation are key feelings too. Space is terrifying, as you're effectively surrounded by death. Everything beyond the walls of your bubble is hostile to human life. This makes it a perfect setting for a horror story."
Gamereactor: Vad var det som gjorde Lashana Lynch till det perfekta valet för rollen som Astronaut Young?
Doyle: "She was brilliant! We wanted a British female lead for our game and we were so happy to get Lashana on board. She's very much on the top of her game, having starred in The Day of the Jackal, The Woman King, Captain Marvel and the 007 franchise. So, we felt very lucky to get her to join us. She really delivered in her performance, giving us the character of "Young" that we really wanted when creating her."
Gamereactor: Kommer det att finnas ett slags Among Us-liknande impostor-system som spelarna måste lära sig att hantera?
Doyle: "The multiplayer mode is up to 5 player couch co-op with each player controlling a character at a time. This will be mirrored exactly in the online version, which will be released in a free post-launch update.
"There is no "Among Us" style system - you're all on the same side. Instead, you play through the story with your friends and on the way make decisions that affect how the story plays out. You can all work together to agree on decisions or just make your own choice and live with the consequences for the group."
Gamereactor: Det verkar bjussas på en hel del action i spelet. Hur balanserar ni detta med svårighetsgrad för nya likväl som återvändande spelare?
Doyle: "Directive 8020 does feature intense encounters with real-time threats, but these moments can be tailored to your liking using difficulty and accessibility settings. On the easiest difficulty setting, your character can always exploit a very forgiving parry mechanic when cornered. We also offer a custom difficulty mode where you can tailor the encounters to your own preferences - for example, playing QTEs on Hard, but setting the parries for real-time threats to Easy. This works across single-player and our couch co-op multiplayer mode.
"Directive 8020 is more hands-on than our previous titles, but it still features impossible dilemmas, intense cinematic drama, secrets, and everything else you love from our previous Dark Pictures games."
Gamereactor: Vad är anledningen till att ni inte kan stödja online-multiplayer vid lanseringen?
Doyle: "It's simply a matter of time. We have been focussing on making the single-player and offline couch co-op multiplayer as strong as they can be. That extra polish is something we're proud of."
Gamereactor: Vad är Supermassive Gamess syn på att använda artificiell intelligens i sina projekt? Har ni några riktlinjer på plats som ni följer?
Doyle: "The story of Directive 8020 explores what it means to be human, so it's no surprise that this game has been made entirely by humans."
Gamereactor: Hur lång tid förväntar ni er att en genomspelning av Directive 8020 tar?
Doyle: "If you immerse yourself in the story and really dig into the secrets and messenger interactions, it's about 8 hours long. As a choice game, it can end earlier than that if you make the wrong decisions! But your first playthrough is only the start. We have introduced a new feature in Directive 8020 called Turning Points. This "story map" allows players to rewind and revisit key decisions, tailoring the experience to different playstyles. Some players will want to uncover every possible outcome or just follow a different path by keeping a favourite character alive. So, we expect this to add many more hours to the time players spend on the game. We've had some test groups spend more than 20 hours digging into all the possibilities that the story can offer."
Gamereactor: Har ni funderat på att släppa Directive 8020 till Switch eller Switch 2?
Doyle: "At the moment, we're fully focussed on the launch platforms - PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC."
Gamereactor: Vad blir nästa steg för The Dark Pictures och Supermassive Games?
Doyle: "We're fully focussed on Directive 8020 right now and can't wait for it to launch. Of course, we're always investigating other stories and ideas for the Dark Pictures series and are working on some of these now."
Tack till Supermassive och Doyle för att de tog sig tid att svara på våra frågor. Återigen, du kommer att kunna spela Directive 8020 om ungefär två veckor, när spelet släpps till PC, PS5 och Xbox Series X/S den 12 maj.
