Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2026
Directive 8020
Developer Supermassive Games
Directive 8020 is a 2026 interactive drama and survival horror video game developed and published by Supermassive Games. It is the fifth game in The Dark Pictures series. Taking place on a colony spaceship called Cassiopeia, the crew crash lands on Tau Ceti f, a planet 12 light-years from Earth, where they must survive a shapeshifting alien threat. Lashana Lynch, who plays astronaut and co-pilot Brianna Young, was… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
428 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Oct 7, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
56
Mixed
151 positive · 121 negative
95% range 50–61%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 151 | 121 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
156 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mixed
1,431 of 2,294 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Split audience: some love the story and paranoia, others hate the stealth and writing.
Many players praise the narrative and atmosphere, calling it one of the best Dark Pictures games with a strong paranoia element. One fan says the growing uncertainty about who is human is where the game really shines. [6][11]
However, a large portion of the audience criticizes the overuse of stealth sections and poor writing. One player describes the game as "8 hours of the same sneak and stealth event" and another calls the writing god awful. [28][25]
Praised story and paranoia · graphics and performance
Criticised stealth sections · writing quality
Summary drafted by an AI model from the 36 reactions it cites ([n] links open each post), then checked by code: every paragraph cites real posts and every quote is verbatim. Written Oct 8, 2026. Method
Reactions
60 of 428 · most liked firstThis review is not negative because of the lack of shared story. It is not negative because I thought the story was bad, in fact, I thought it was pretty good and made better by having played all of the other games in the series. It isn't even negative because because they went more experimental with this one. It's negative because this game has the same copy/paste stealth gameplay that you will do for the 6 out of 9 hours it will take you to beat this game. It doesn't iterate, it irritates.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The "pretend this isn't a part of The Dark Pictures Anthology" game! Honestly, I have given Supermassive Game a monumental amount of crap over the years for their absolute lack of ability to produce any sort of meaningful game since their inception. And honestly, this game is mostly a return-to-form for them after the atrocity they released - Little Nightmares 3. How to tell it's a Supermassive Games title? 1) Spend most of the budget casting a bunch of b-list actors to poorly deliver the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good. I dont have to complain about the lack of multiplayer because i can read. And it clearly says on the store page couch co-op only.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have played every single game these devs have made and if you are a fan of dark pictures I think you should stay away from this game. -it doesn't have the same voice acting quality -the graphics are full of ghosting -the writing is bad, but not "funny bad", just bad -the plot doesn't really develop properly (I haven't finished it yet so maybe i'm wrong) -boring -no immersion, even though these guys usually cook on the immersion side -a lot of useless, slow walking to dodge the refund window…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TLDR: I'd rather play Little Hope again. I'm nearly finished with this and this is easily the second worst game by Supermassive. The first still being The Casting of Frank Stone. The narrative choice to jump ahead, jump back, takes away from any idea of tension or urgency when dealing with things that take place in this. I literally knew I could go save Mitchell because Anders was alive in a scene early/later on. Additionally, none of the characters are likeable or intelligent. They'll see…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Truly god awful writing. This game continously manages to get worse and worse as it goes on. I will never get my money back. Don't be like me.If you want to watch body horror. You're better off watching the thing or watching the video of a man shoving a jar up his ass. Both have better writing, gameplay, and characters over this "game".
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It started off good, but took a turn. I’ll keep this spoiler-free. I wanted a paranoia-driven social horror mystery, but the game gradually pivots into more conventional monster horror, and that’s where it lost what made it interesting for me. The early chapters were genuinely strong because they played on trust, fear, and uncertainty—not just fear for the characters, but fear for you as the player. "But I saw so-and-so over there... so who the hell is THIS?" That kind of tension is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In the first half I was excited and loved what they were setting up, in the second half I lost my mind over how hard they fumbled the setup. Having the mimic aliens almost felt entirely pointless, outside of a few short scenes with barely any build up or tension there is almost nothing done with this concept. The only time you have to test someone on being a mimic or not it's basically just a "click the button on the obvious mimic" instead of you needing to actually test anything interesting…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →8 hours of the same sneak and stealth event. They didn't add any breathing and aiming sections, so every level feels like a never-ending stealth tutorial. The design is cool, but the story somehow manages to be both painfully predictable and completely incomprehensible at the same time. The ending felt less like a conclusion and more like the writers just gave up halfway through. ( I liked all the previous games, just not this one. )
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Instead of "The Thing - In Space", it's more of a stealth game with few good ideas. The only part I really liked was the setting itself and contacting the crew members and see how they respond. Sadly, it's another horror game ruined by bad gameplay and a mediocre story.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Struggling to even get this running. Constant Fatal errors upon launch, in the main menu and In game. Might just be unlucky on my part but refunded nonetheless.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is by far the worst "Dark Pictures" game ever made, I am literally in disbelief and very sad. There is no actual quick time events gameplay( revised ITS ALL IN THE VERY LAST CHAPTER). Nothing feels impactful at all, By the time i hit the end of chapter 2, i was in shock. Literally everything that is present in ALL OTHER DARK PICTURES GAMES, is basically gone. And its been replaced by the worst stealth in gaming history. WHY CHANGE WHAT WAS WORKING!? I see why this was delayed, likely…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I genuinely love The Dark Pictures Anthology as a franchise and that’s exactly why this ended up being so disappointing to me You can clearly see the huge graphical improvement and honestly it's probably the biggest technical jump the franchise ever had. The new branching system is also really good, exploration feels smoother and replaying chapters doesn’t feel as repetitive anymore. But at the same time, it barely even feels like a Dark Pictures game anymore. One of the biggest things I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm sorry to say this.. but I can't in good faith recommend this game. I was heavily disappointed by both the story, gameplay and even the facial animations. I'm not going into full detail here on the story itself but my god was it bad.. From the same studio who gave us Untill Dawn I expected much more and much better than what we got here.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love the prior Dark Pictures entries. This one leaves a lot to be desired. The writing took a considerable dip and the gameplay got even more stripped down. Poor start to Season 2, seems like they may have needed Bandi after all.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've always loved the Dark Picture Anthology games, and I was so excited for this game to come out (which we have waited years for). Unfortunately this game was a far cry from it's predecessors. The characters seemed very flat and although I did not necessarily mind the stealth challenges, it got old pretty fast because of how often they came up. This game is a bit of a slow burn, and did not have as much scare factor as House of Ashes or even Little Hope. Also, I was really bummed out about…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Directive 8020 is the first game I’ve ever played where the loading screens have more tension than the actual story. It’s a sci‑fi horror experience in the same way a microwave is a gourmet kitchen: technically the components are there, but you’re not getting a meal out of it. Let’s start with the pacing, which is so slow it makes glacial drift look like a Fast & Furious chase sequence. Chapters last about six minutes each, which is impressive because absolutely nothing happens in them. It’s…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A NEW DARK PICTURES ANTHOLOGY GAME ??!!!! 😭😭😭 DIRECTIVE 8020 LOOKS SO GOOD
unlabelledView post →I’m playing this on the SteamDeck and locked at 30fps. There’s a preset in settings already set…it’s under “ SteamDeck “ and most of everything is low. The game still looks amazing though and gameplay is smooth too. There’s other setting for the actual gameplay ie I set it so instead of mashing the corresponding button I just press it instead ( I’m too slow at mashing it ). Others you can tailor to your preference. I’ve just started this about an hour ago and quite enjoying the story so far…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →boring mechanics, story has some interesting elements. characters are so bland its nearly painful. voice acting is awful. some ok music here and there. wouldn't buy the game for more than 15 dollars tops.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Know what you're getting into... and love it anyway Let me be upfront about something before you read a single word of this review: I am almost certainly not an objective voice here. This is a Supermassive Games title, the studio behind Until Dawn, The Quarry, and the Dark Pictures Anthology game series, and I have played and enjoyed those games. I went into Directive 8020 already knowing exactly what kind of experience I was signing up for. If you're new to Supermassive's work and expecting…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game was enjoyable until it turned into a crappy stealth game, but it's worth a playthrough. Steam needs a rating between negative and positive like neutral or something
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have loved every other one of Supermassive Games' games but i cannot understand why they would make the core gameplay of this one sitting in a dark room crouching boringly waiting for an NPC to walk somewhere
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As a massive fan of Suoermassive Games other entries I have to express my utter disappointment. I was looking forward to the release of the game for a long time, and so eagerly bought the game at launch. It all went well at first, the story seemed interesting and the atmosphere was tense. As the story progressed I was really looking forward to The Thing style paranoia and mistrust of crew members, as well as Dead Space's unsettling atmosphere.... Instead I got a Temu version of Metal Gear…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →-Overpriced. It is being marketed as a longer "Until Dawn/The Quarry" size game but has the same amount of content as their $30 Dark Pictures titles, (less if you count the fact that there's also no multiple perspectives for a full co-op campaign.) I have nine hours, 3 of those were spent AFK. -The acting is the worst it's ever been. Dark Pictures has never really had good acting (at this point I have to assume it's the direction because there's no way it can be this consistently a problem)…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Stealth was a really bad idea. Stealth is the worst type of gameplay if you're not capable to do it right. It cant be bad, it can't even afford to be mid. And your decisions seem to matter very little since the crew is incredibly stupid and seem to instantly forget what they know about the situation. Like, they find someone's body, then they find that same person alive, and they don't for a second doubt that person's identity.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →just bring back QTE for stuff like sneaking also, this is so lame. If I want to play a survival horror with sneak mechanics (I don't) I'd chose those games. The thing about supermassive games is that your games used to be different from the rest and more focused on choice and the story. Now it's just sneak section after sneak section and story shifts depending on if you make them or not I guess. *edit* I forgot to mention that performance is good and smooth, graphics are nice too. But…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →«Until Dawn» came out in 2015. It was masterfully using genre tropes to create a fun and unique experience of playing a horror movie with your friends on one couch. And it is completely baffling to me that after eleven years and six other games Supermassive is only regressing. And I am not talking about gameplay – that is an interactive novel, here a lot could be forgiven. But the screenplay is a complete mess. Worse – it is simply abysmal. Majority of the characters are just bland and game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[Upcoming game] Supermassive Games' Directive 8020 has now a release date: October 2. "The brave astronauts of the Cassiopeia embark on a deadly mission to save humanity, but their ship is infected by an alien lifeform that perfectly imitates its prey. When friend could be foe, who do you trust?"
unlabelledView post →I love almost all the Supermassive games (I was willing to call Casting of Frank Stone a collab based outlier) but now I'm wondering if poorly written story and boring mechanics is just the new norma- *sneak past the entity* Maybe the studio was under tight deadlines or low budget, maybe there's a good reason, but it doesn't negate the fact that the writing was boilerplate and rushed, the dialogue was stilted and unrealistic, the choices were vague and unintuitive, and the - *sneak past the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Maybe the Germans have a word for people like me but my appetite for horror far exceeds my capacity for it. I’ll be like “let’s check out that scary movie/show/game” then when we’re actually in it I want to nope out almost immediately. Enjoying Widow’s Bay and From so far, Directive 8020 up next.
unlabelledView post →overall this game is really good for anyone who enjoys the dark pictures series and games in the telltale style with very little gameplay and a much bigger focus on narrative, characters and the consequences of your choices leading to different outcomes, and not just at the end of the game either, but throughout the entire story your decisions are what determine which characters will die or survive and most of the time you end up choosing wrong without even realizing it, because the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don’t think Directive 8020 is a particularly good game but it’s the first Dark Pictures game I’ve been curious enough to play through more than once in a while.
unlabelledView post →Whoever decided to cancel online co-op made the biggest mistake and is killing the dark pictures anthology... I hope they learned from this and in the next game there is co-op included
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Starts off slower, and early on it’s pretty easy to tell who’s infected and who isn’t. But as the story progresses, the alien begins mimicking the crew more convincingly, to the point where you genuinely stop knowing who’s human and who’s not. That growing paranoia is where the game really shines. The graphics are another huge improvement over previous entries. Facial animations look more natural, lighting is more cinematic, and the environments feel far more detailed and realistic. With each…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall pretty good with a few hiccups Minor spoilers ahead People calling this the worst Dark Pictures game is absolutely insane to me. This is by far one of the more competent Dark Pictures we've had. For me this is #2 right after House of Ashes. I think having real time gameplay is a great addition, but it's very overused, especially towards the latter half of the game where the stealth sections tank the pacing. Hopefully in the future there is a more balanced mix of QTE and stealth…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's such a great time to love space and space horror. Directive 8020 is so damn great - the cast, the acting, the game design, and how fresh the Rewind feature feels even when we expect it. The way even small choices ripple through the story is utterly fantastic. My review 👇🏽
unlabelledView post →Directive 8020 | Reviews 9.5 - ButWhyTho 9.5 - LootLevelChill 9 - GameSpew 9 - TheSixthAxis 9 - GAMINGbible 8.5 - PC Gamer 8 - IGN 8 - PSLS 8 - Shacknews 8 - GameReactor 7.5 - TechRaptor 7.5 - GamingTrend 7 - PSU 7 - TheGamer 6 - Eurogamer 5 - Gamespot 5 - Game Informer MC: 71 OC: 76
unlabelledView post →Directive 8020 — just another failure from Supermassive Games? I spent a long time thinking about what to say about this game, and here’s what I’ve come to: Honestly, this is a failure. The first thing that surprised me was the price — 25,100 tenge. That’s more expensive than in the US or Europe, where it costs $50. It’s unjustifiably high, especially considering that in my region their previous project, The Casting of Frank Stone, launched at around $20 (about 9,000 tenge). Prices have gone…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As much as I like Supermassive and the "choose your own" horror games they've made, this is one of the weaker ones. The overall story is just average at best and the "twist" makes the entire playthrough feel useless. The choices you make in the game are minor at best and the tough decisions don't make much of an impact in the story that continues. But I think the worst offender of this has to be the stealth sequences. Not only are they exactly the same, they show up all the time where I think…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very disappointing overall. The game starts with an interesting atmosphere and strong visuals, but quickly becomes repetitive and predictable. Almost every chapter follows the exact same formula: walking, dialogue, simple puzzle, hide from enemy, repeat. The enemies are not scary, stealth sections feel outdated, and the AI is weak enough to break immersion completely at times. The game constantly builds up the idea that your choices matter, but the overall payoff feels underwhelming. Not…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →$50 AI generated ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, there are entire dialogue sequence lifted from Alien 1979, literally watch the movie its better than this and its 1/5 of your life that you have to spend. I cant take this.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly I can't really recommend this to anyone. I'm a big fan of the supermassive games and all the dark picture series. This new addition to the horror choice games was just a bad Idea in all. It has the right idea to a good story and game but it was just made all wrong and none of it feels good to play, it felt more like a hassle to play rather than fun. I honestly had to force myself to play after the 3rd episode cause it was that bad. I wanna break down what's wrong with this.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Amazing game. Very good story, with a massive twist, very good graphics as well. A blast of a game. I enjoyed it so much, I played it in one sitting. Performance-wise, it ran flawlessly, all graphics settings maxed out, without ray tracing, at 4k, steady 80-100 fps, depending on the areas, with 65-70 1% lows. No glitches, no bugs, a single instance of mild stuttering during a cutscene in chapter 8. Great optimization as far as I am concerned. I highly recommend it. Cheers to Supermassive Games.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Directive 8020's expert use of Unreal Engine 5 sets a new standard for interactive cinema. All the consoles covered, plus PS5 Pro RT vs PC path tracing: www.digitalfoundry.net/reviews/dire...
unlabelledView post →Me and my group of friends have played every game that Super Massive has done (aka the Dark Pictures and Quarry) games in co-op. It's been so long since their last release. Now that Directive 8020 is out, I've got a planned Saturday later this month event for pizza, beer, horror, & the 5 of us!
unlabelledView post →We've got a hot cup of news for YOU! We got @lexluddy.xyz on the show today to chat about LEGO Batman, Forza Horizon 6, Directive 8020 reviews, and more! giantbomb.com/live/chat twitch.tv/giantbomb youtube.com/live/674uMj-...
unlabelledView post →It's like alien isolation but less scary and interesting and compared to older dark pictures games, the choices mattered less, characters were lacking personality and 100% more sneaking also cant play it in steam remote play or in online in general unless you let your friends remote control your pc, disappointed.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Expected this to be multiplayer like the rest of the anthology, but it doesn’t have that option.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →#Playstation #StateofPlay My highly idiosyncratic pick of games I am, or might be, interested in. 1. Digimon Story: Time Stranger A new #digimon game 2025 - yes please and thank you. 😀 2. Directive 8020 (Dark Pictures Anthology), Oct. release. I have all Dark Pics games in my physical library.
unlabelledView post →I see a lot of mixed reviews for this game, and honestly, each side makes valid points. Here are my thoughts: Storyline-wise, I actually quite enjoyed it, though that might just be me. It did feel a bit rushed in certain areas, and some of the stealth sections got a tad tedious. My major gripe, though was that my save file got corrupted after about an hour of playing! It was incredibly frustrating having to rewatch cutscenes with no option to skip them. However, the main highlight for me…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Supermassive Games has invited us aboard the Cassiopeia and sent along a mission kit in preparation for their new survival horror game, DIRECTIVE 8020. Look for the next terrifying chapter in The Dark Pictures on May 12! Read our hands-on preview: bloody-disgusting.com/video-games/...
unlabelledView post →Supermassive Games has delayed its next space sci-fi horror game, Directive 8020, from October 2025 to 2026, following a round of layoffs affecting up to 36 employees.
unlabelledView post →TL:DR this game is pretty mediocre, It has some amazing potential and could of been a great game but was squandered by some questionable gameplay and story choices. Still worth picking up on a sale. If there was a mid option thats what i would give this review. Starting with the positives: The initial story beats with the "Trust no one, they could be an alien!" really hasn't been done that much in gaming and the space aesthetic ontop of that is a really good choice. The game does initially…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game, a lot of good storylines and separate segments that change based on your decisions. Only possible complaint I understand is that there are ALOT of stealth scenes. BUT, this game is pulling from Alien, The Thing, and possibly even like last of us and matrix at the same time. They are including mechanics that reference other games. Don't be a chud and complain when you don't get it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[Upcoming game] Directive 8020 (October 2): New video "The brave astronauts of the Cassiopeia embark on a deadly mission to save humanity, but their ship is infected by an alien lifeform that perfectly imitates its prey. When friend could be foe, who do you trust?"
unlabelledView post →Super boring! My god, how repetitive it was sneaking around, turning the power on switching the power off, picking up battery cells. YAWN! I wish I didn’t pay full price!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It was pretty good, not Supermassive's best work but worthy of a playthrough or two for sure. I would probably rank it better than The Quarry but not quite as good as Until Dawn, overall sitting somewhere in the middle of the Dark Pictures Anthology. I don't think there's a character here I dislike which is a huge plus, and the overall narrative takes some twists and turns to an interesting direction that I didn't see coming. I enjoyed the quirk of having 3 NPC's too which are just as much of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TLDR; decent game, buy on sale. I feel that this is a solid game and worth a playthrough, everybody always wants it to live up to the magic that Until Dawn had but that game was lightning in a bottle and lightning never strikes twice. If you know what a Dark Pictures game is like then you know what to expect here. (They probably shouldn't have dropped the subtitle.) A lot of people giving this game hate that I don't think it fully deserves. I personally didn't encounter any bugs, maybe a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →D8020 is honestly one of the best Dark Pictures games for me. I went into this game expecting some cool space horror stuff, but by the end I was genuinely questioning who was even human anymore. What makes this game even scarier is that some of the stuff in it doesn’t even feel THAT unrealistic anymore. We already have AI voices, deepfakes, and technology that can imitate real people almost perfectly, so the idea of not being able to tell what’s real in the future is actually terrifying. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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