Directive 8020 is many things when we see the upcoming game’s inspirations. The Thing had the major influence on it, like it had on other forms of media, be it video games or films. The Dark Pictures Anthology will kick off its second season, launching itself directly into space after exploring ghost ships, underground ruins, and more. It will be different altogether but then the upcoming game needs to avert one sci-fi trope if it really intends to stand out.
They need to fend off people trying to steal the day, especially when they go paranoid. The Thing had Blair, who thinks that the alien thing will take over the earth and go on to destroy everything; well, the Thing takes over him eventually. However, that’s not the only sci-fi movie that uses such a theme. There’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1993), where giant pods are replicating humans, rendering them emotionless, and there’s The Faculty (1998), where this student turns out to be a naive and afraid alien queen trying to take over Earth.
Many might say that it is what makes it interesting; yeah, we love to hate the characters, and especially when they are met with a fate, let’s say, like death. Accept it; you loved it when Beni Gabor was devoured by flesh-eating scarabs in The Mummy (1999). Or when Sentinel Prime succumbed to the wounds from the one he made the deal with, Megatron, in Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011). Hated characters the pair, both with infuriatingly selfish motives, but unlike other sci-fi films, they’re at least somewhat grounded in their own beliefs, and Directive 8020 needs to follow suit, and avoid a regular sci-fi trope by doing so.
Directive 8020 Needs to Avoid Falling to the Same Old Tropes
Fearful? Why not. But any character with cowardice traits messing up with the story should be averted as best as possible in Directive 8020. In fact, the plot of the movie sort of resonates with Interstellar (2010) so why not find a way to save humanity? Which is actually what the game is about—save ourselves to let humanity die, or vice versa.
If we go by the Directive 8020 plot explained by Will Doyle:
“Earth is dying, and humankind is seeking a new home in the stars. The Cassiopeia is the initial survey ship sent to scout our chosen planet. Think of it as a test run: the Cassiopeia is fully outfitted as a colony craft but is flying with a vastly reduced crew. Their mission is to test every procedure onboard without ever touching down on the planet they’ve been sent to orbit.”
A sci-fi character acting in a self-serving manner is a trope as old as pop culture, which is why Directive 8020 shouldn’t direct itself that way. It needs to go bigger, maybe if that means working together, eliminating the threat, and instead of finding a new home or developing their own version of Cooper Station, they should better the conditions back on Earth. Maybe that’ll send out a message that their home planet is a better place; at least it’s not infested by such alien organisms.
One thing is for sure though, Directive 8020 absolutely needs to take the route less travelled, and allow us to experience the full range of human emotions with its characters. Instead of relying on the Mimic to do the heavy lifting, can we just have an absolute piece of shit crewmember trying to save their own skin, rather than it be revealed to be the Mimic all along?
For more Thumb Wars Gaming coverage, check out everything that’s confirmed about Directive 8020 or why The Blood of Dawnwalker must avoid the shared pitfall of The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077.
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Anurag Batham is a Writer at Thumb Wars zeroed in on video games but will also throw himself up on anything in association with anime and cinema. As with his favorite video games, give him anything with a linear story, be it Call of Duty or Braid, and he will be happy. He think of stories as food and wants to feed his readers something nutritious, food for thought.
