Det har været en længere rejse end oprindeligt forventet, men i maj vender Supermassive Games tilbage og præsenterer det næste kapitel i The Dark Pictures-universet. Under titlen Directive 8020 er dette en science fiction-gyserhistorie, der følger en besætning af astronauter, som forsøger at overleve på et isoleret fartøj, mens de bliver plaget af formskiftende væsner med tørst efter blod.
Med lanceringen planlagt til PC, PS5 og Xbox Series X/S den 12. maj har vi for nylig haft lejlighed til at tale med Supermassive og specifikt den kreative direktør, Will Doyle, for at lære lidt mere om Directive 8020. Fra gyser-inspirationer, actionfyldt gameplay, AI i spiludvikling, forventet spilletid og forbindelsen til The Dark Pictures diskuterer vi dette og mere til i det fulde interview, som du kan læse herunder.
Som altid har vi valgt at bibeholde citaterne på originalsprog for at bibeholde hensigten bag udtalelserne, og præsenterer informationen så direkte som muligt.
I lader til at have droppet "The Dark Pictures" som branding til spillet. Klassificerer I stadig Directive 8020 som en del af den her bredere serie, eller er det helt sin egen størrelse?
"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."
Hvordan har den ekstra udviklingstid efter adskillige forsinkelser tilladt jer at forbedre spiloplevelsen?
"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."
Hvad var jeres inspiration bag historien, og krævede det meget lavpraktisk research i rumrejser?
"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."
Har en futuristisk præmis ændret den måde I går til hele udfordringen om at skræmme spilleren?
"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."
Hvad fik jer til at vælge Lashana Lynch til rollen som Astronaut Young?
"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."
Vi har her at gøre med en fremmed livsform der imiterer mennesker - tilbyder I så en form for multiplayer i stil med Among Us, og hvordan ser udgivelsen af denne del af spillet ud?
"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."
Det virker som om at gameplayet er noget af det dybeste vi har set fra Supermassive til dato, så hvordan balancerer I sværhedsgrad i såda en oplevelse?
"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."
Kan I fortælle lidt om hvorfor I ikke understøtter online multiplayer fra start af?
"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."
Hvad er Supermassives tilgang til AI i spilprojekter? Er der guidelines I holder jer til?
"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."
Hvor længe forventer I at en gennemsnitlig gennemspilning vil tage?
"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."
Har I overvejet at bringe spillet til Switch eller Switch 2?
"At the moment, we're fully focussed on the launch platforms - PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC."
Hvad er det næste for Dark Pictures-serien og Supermassive Games?
"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."
Tak til Supermassive Games, og Doyle, for at besvare vores spørgsmål. Spillet ankommer den 12. maj på PS5, PC og Xbox Series.
