Much as I enjoyed the previous four games in The Dark Pictures series, they always felt a little haunted. And I’m not talking about being haunted by the various horrific creatures, specters, and monsters housed within the series. No, The Dark Pictures has always been haunted by persistent comparisons to developer Supermassive Games’ 2015 interactive horror, Until Dawn.
I’m guilty of making this comparison as well. Even with my previous favorite Dark Pictures entry, 2021’s House of Ashes. I remember thinking, “That was pretty great, but not as good as Until Dawn.” But what makes the latest installment in the interactive horror anthology, Directive 8020, so impressive is that for the first time, I found myself not subconsciously comparing the experience to one released over a decade ago.
