If you look carefully enough between the buzz and business of Gamescom, you could uncover a hidden void of deep space. Supermassive’s Directive 8020, the upcoming sci-fi horror installation and fifth game in The Dark Pictures Anthology, was neatly tucked away in a dimly lit room, the perfect atmosphere for the demo “Chapter 1: Humanity First”.

Fans of Supermassive will be familiar with their narrative-rich, consequence-heavy, survival horror games, but Directive 8020 promises a slightly different experience for players. Alongside the usual quick time events, the game will have two new features. The Turning Points system is a new decision tree mechanic that allows players to rewind pivotal moments and change their choices, potentially impacting the destiny of their character and others around them. The mechanic is optional and players who prefer the more traditional experience of having characters live (or die) with their decisions, without the option to rewind, can play in survival mode. To balance out the ease in rewinding “bad” choices, new real-time threats pursue players, adding an extra dose of pressure and introducing stealth mechanics into the franchise for the first time.

The premise in the demo is a familiar one for sci-fi nerds. You play as Carter (Jack Green), a stoic Sleep Technician with a passion for horticulture. Carter and Simms (Jess Khan-Lee) – his optimistic, British Northerner “stay awake” buddy – are responsible for maintaining the integrity and trajectory of the Cassiopeia space vessel whilst the rest of the crew are in cryosleep. Simms is perky and, unlike Carter, she seemingly chooses not to lament on the voyage being humanity’s last hope, and instead looks forward to the possibility of a new home planet… so, of course, something happens.

Don’t expect a never-before-seen story in the 30 minute demo. The atmosphere of Directive 8020 is immediately intimidating with Alien-like tension which makes sense given Alien serves as one of the game’s inspirations alongside Event Horizon and Sunshine. Playing through, the story beats were extremely familiar: Cassiopeia’s hull is breached allowing an unseen alien lifeform to sneak onboard, and later Carter saves Simms from being lost in space whilst attempting to fix the breach – I’ve definitely seen this movie before. But Supermassive Studio Director (and I must say, super chill guy) Daniel McDonald, isn’t worried about tropes or spoilers in the demo as there are so many more twists and turns to come in the full game. But even if that were not the case, I was too engrossed in the demo to worry about the sci-fi typicalities I’d seen thus far.

If you’re new to the Supermassive universe, you’d be forgiven for believing their games were adaptations from the big screen. Though far from the first studio to cast an actor in a video game, Supermassive Games have regularly brought Hollywood into their releases.. On top of their recent live-action adaptation of Until Dawn, their alumni of in-game actors includes Rami Malek (Mr. Robot), Justice Smith (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Amongst Thieves), Ashley Tisdale (High School Musical), Will Poulter (The Bear) and Hayden Panettiere (Heroes, Bring It On: All or Nothing – Lord have mercy that “krumping”), and now the vast backdrop of space in Directive 8020 has led them to cast their biggest star yet; Lashana Lynch.

Though this is Lynch’s first appearance in a video game, she’s no stranger to the bigger screen. “Lashana is the biggest star we’ve ever had,” McDonald reflected, recalling working on set with the Captain Marvel actress “We shot [the game] some years ago, but I remember sitting outside with her in SoHo, just talking about family and she’s such a personable person.” 

The British-Jamaican actress first appeared in nerddom and the global mainstream in 2019 when she played Maria Rambeau in Captain Marvel alongside Brie Larson. Her career has since gone from strength to strength, quite literally, with frequent returns to the Marvel Universe, roles in Matilda, One Love and No Time To Die, not to mention undergoing one of the most intense training processes to transform into The Woman King fan fave Izogie. 

In the demo we only manage a glimpse of Lynch’s character (Brianna Young) whilst in cryosleep; but she will be one of five main playable, and killable, characters. Brianna is the Pilot of the Cassiopeia under Commander Stafford played by fellow British actor Danny Sapani (Killing Eve, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.)  

Supermassive Games has never been known to skimp on acting quality and, despite the current turbulence in the industry, the cast of Directive 8020 is clearly no exception. McDonald attributes the studio’s ability to attract great actors to the current generation of Hollywood execs who are “taking the games industry seriously”. He states that “Execs are more familiar with games and games are pulling more people in”.

Lashana’s casting adds her to a growing number of Black women protagonists in games; following Hazel Flood in South of Midnight and ahead of Tati Gabrielle’s upcoming role in Naughty Dog’sIntergalactic: The Heretic Prophet – a far cry (pun intended) from the gaming industry we knew in 2016. McDonald highlighted his own identity as a Person of Colour when explaining the efforts the studio undertook to ensure authenticity and quality. “Though Lashana and Danny can do American accents, we hired a script writer who’s American to ensure it was authentic.” Performance Director Allita Collins and Downton Abbey dialect coaches were also enlisted during the game’s development. It’s no doubt that Directive 8020 stands to be another hit in The Dark Pictures Anthology with a quality cast, a harrowing sci-fi atmosphere and some promising new features to heighten and expand gameplay.