The subsequent title in Supermassive Video games’ horror sequence The Dark Pictures Anthology will change issues up from its predecessors, as a science fiction sport set in outer house, however Directive 8020 threatens to utterly bounce the shark for the franchise. The 4 core video games that make up Season One in all The Darkish Footage all observe an analogous theme, as crimes of the previous result in deadly penalties within the trendy period. Switching to a futuristic setting completely clashes with the established vibe and tone. The framing gadget of The Curator and his library could really feel anachronistic when juxtaposed with sci-fi.
The primary season of the franchise ended on a excessive be aware, as The Devil In Me delivered scares, stable character growth, and genre-appropriate storytelling. An anthology online game sequence like The Darkish Footage was a novel thought, and Supermassive has executed the undertaking masterfully up till now. Actor Pip Torrens’s portrayal of The Curator supplies a narrator who’s one thing of a cross between Rod Serling’s ethical musings in The Twilight Zone and The Crypt Keeper’s gallows humor in Tales From The Crypt. A shift to science fiction horror in Directive 8020 may undo the whole lot The Darkish Footage has constructed.
The Darkish Footage Has An Established Tone
The First 4 Video games Have Shared Themes And A Comparable Vibe
With the announcement that The Dark Pictures was going sci-fi with its subsequent entry, many followers had been stuffed with dread, and never the type the franchise goals to create. The anthology format is likely one of the trickier ones to tug off efficiently. Anthologies depend on self-contained tales, however they want greater than a shared narrator performing as a bookend to their tales to really feel cohesive. Probably the most well-known and profitable anthology sequence of all time, The Twilight Zone, featured a mixture of science fiction and fantasy narrative premises, however its tone remained constant, no matter an episode’s particular story focus.
Nevertheless followers could rank The Dark Pictures Anthology’s games up to now, they’ve persistently shared related tone and themes throughout all 4 titles. There’s a clear tonal distinction between the cryptic moralizing of Rod Serling and the themes clearly reflecting on social justice and societal ills of the day within the Twilight Zone and the extra nihilistic darkish comedy of Tales From The Crypt. Equally, Supermassive has completed an admirable job preserving its Darkish Footage video games distinct from its different tasks, like Till Daybreak and The Quarry. These distinctions transcend sport size, or the presence of The Curator.
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There may be each a tonal consistency and a shared storytelling format that’s widespread throughout every sport in Season One of The Darkish Footage. Some horrific or tragic choices are made previously that get folks killed, and within the modern-day, a gaggle of individuals enterprise someplace they don’t belong (willingly, or in any other case) and the previous repeats itself in some type. The Satan In Me took this to an excessive, as its antagonist was obsessed with real-life killer H.H. Holmes, and recreated that assassin’s modus operandi. The Darkish Footage video games have all felt like Darkish Footage video games.
Sci-Fi Typically Spells Doom For Horror Franchises
Taking A Horror Sequence To House Normally Feels Determined
Any franchise that takes an enormous swing and strikes outdoors its consolation zone takes a substantial threat. Followers of horror motion pictures are conversant in the sample of horror sequence which might be persistently set within the modern-day abruptly making the leap to science fiction settings and the way that is often a really unhealthy signal. Regardless of The Casting of Frank Stone disappointing fans with a weak narrative, Supermassive has maintained the standard and narrative integrity of The Darkish Footage, to date.
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The Friday the thirteenth and Leprechaun franchises took their slasher tales into house with Jason X and Leprechaun 4: In House, and these are each sturdy examples of how this will go unsuitable. Removed from treasured entries of their sequence, the choice these movies made to move their murderous icons into house was clearly seen as a gimmick for franchises working out of concepts by most followers.
The fourth Hellraiser film did the identical, and although it had ambitions of a hellish epic spanning generations, manufacturing woes turned it right into a film that had worse critiques than Leprechaun 4: in House. Whereas the trailer for The Devil In Me excited followers, Directive 8020 could trigger flashbacks to those earlier horror missteps, the place a sequel set in outer house confirms a sequence has jumped the shark.
The choice to drive an outlier like Directive 8020 into The Darkish Footage doesn’t really feel like a call by writers and creators, however a corporate-level mandate.
It’s attainable that the identical themes and tone may transition right into a futuristic setting, however the framing gadget of Pip Torrens’ Curator and his archaic library feels weird when juxtaposed with science fiction horror. The primary season confirmed sins of the previous being revisited within the current. It’s laborious to think about a deep-space horror sport that has the identical magnificence in exhibiting the sins of the current impacting the longer term. The Darkish Footage started strong with Man of Medan, kicking off a profitable season of video games. Directive 8020 may doom Season Two to thematic and tonal incoherence.
Directive 8020 May Be A Separate Sport
Making It A Darkish Footage Sport Feels Like A Company Determination
Online game followers have proven their love for sci-fi horror within the medium, starting from classics like System Shock and Doom, to Alien: Isolation, The Callisto Protocol, and the recent excellent Dead Space remake. Many of those beloved genre-blending video games had been authentic mental properties, not sequels, licensed merchandise, or titles nested inside a sequence. Supermassive has had some uneven titles, however there may be each cause to be optimistic in regards to the high quality of Directive 8020. The larger query is why it must be part of The Darkish Footage quite than a stand-alone sport like Till Daybreak and The Quarry.
Whereas publishers are sometimes sequel-hungry, keen to show the whole lot they’ll into an annual iterative franchise, online game followers, notably horror followers, have a tendency to guage the standard of particular person works, not on identify recognition. The choice to drive an outlier like Directive 8020 into The Darkish Footage doesn’t really feel like a call by writers and creators, however a corporate-level mandate. There could also be a notion that the established status of The Darkish Footage identify may help gross sales for Directive 8020, however it is perhaps devastating for the established tone the anthology has labored so laborious to construct.
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The Dark Pictures Anthology
The Darkish Footage Anthology is a sequence of interactive drama and survival horror video video games developed by Supermassive Video games. Every installment presents a standalone narrative impressed by varied horror genres, emphasizing participant selection and branching storylines. The anthology is deliberate to include eight video games, with every sport impressed by a distinct horror style.
