With the new choice-driven game Directive 8020, you can expect several hours of playtime. How long exactly and why things can quickly spiral out of control, we’ll explain here.
With Directive 8020, Supermassive Games once again throws you into an interactive horror story, this time with a sci-fi setting. The big question before release is the same as always: Is this just enough for a weekend or will you end up spending way more time with it? That’s exactly what we’re taking a closer look at here.
- Note: Josef already got to try Directive 8020 at the latest Gamescom. Find out what his first impression of the game was here.
How Long Does One Playthrough of Directive 8020 Take?
If you play through Directive 8020 once in the traditional way and focus mainly on the story, the developers estimate around eight hours. That lines up pretty well with what I’ve experienced in previous games from the series. Personally though, I usually ended up spending two to three hours more than the original estimate.
One important thing to keep in mind: In Directive 8020, your choices can lead to characters dying earlier or entire story branches disappearing. That means a playthrough can also end up shorter if things go really wrong. Especially during your first run, that happens faster than you’d think.
- A standard playthrough with clear decision paths should take around eight to nine hours.
Why You’ll Probably Spend More Time With the Game
Directive 8020 isn’t the kind of game you finish once and then move on from. If you’re curious about how different decisions play out, that’s when things really begin. That alone has already added a huge amount of playtime for me in previous games.
The developers themselves said that some test groups spent over 20 hours trying to see as many story paths as possible. That sounds like a lot at first, but it makes perfect sense. You try different choices, save characters who died before, or deliberately look for alternative endings.
If you know these kinds of games, you already know how it goes. “I’ll just quickly see what happens if I choose differently here” and suddenly you’ve spent another two hours playing. But that’s exactly what makes a choice-driven game so good.
- Multiple endings and branching choices can easily double or triple your playtime. Expect well over 20 hours.
Turning Points Save Time, But Also Extend the Game
New in Directive 8020 is the “Turning Points” feature. It lets you jump back to major decision moments and try different paths without having to restart the entire game. Honestly, that’s a really smart addition. In older entries, it often became frustrating having to replay several hours just to test one different choice. Now you can experiment much more directly.
The downside is pretty obvious though. You’re definitely going to use it. Instead of finishing the game once, you’ll constantly jump back, test different outcomes and ultimately spend far more time with Directive 8020 than you originally planned.
Comparison to Previous Supermassive Games
If you’ve already played titles from The Dark Pictures series, the playtime of Directive 8020 will feel pretty familiar. Most games in the anthology landed somewhere around five to seven hours for a single playthrough.
- Personal experience: For “The Devil in Me”, I ended up spending a massive 12.5 hours instead of seven. But I also explored several different decision paths.
Directive 8020 is planned to be slightly longer overall, but it still stays within a similar range. The biggest difference mainly comes from the new options that let you revisit and change decisions more easily.
Is Directive 8020 Worth Your Time?
If you only want to experience the story once, you can comfortably finish Directive 8020 over a weekend. Eight hours is very manageable, even with breaks in between. But if you enjoy experimenting with different choices, saving characters or seeing every ending, you’ll be busy for much longer. In that case, 20 hours is definitely not unrealistic.
