Comparisons to the Dead Space series are unavoidable here. Many of the team behind the iconic space-horror fueled trilogy effectively broke away to found Striking Distance Studios. Development on the studio’s very first game, The Callisto Protocol was even lead by Glen Schofield, co-creator of the Dead Space series.
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And it’s all pitched as a way to capture the essence of the beloved series. Or, at least, the essence of the series before EA got involved. It’s made even more interesting seeing that a spiritual successor of sorts has been released only a few months before EA release a remake of the first Dead Space title.
Not Existing in a Vacuum
Getting a head start can only help The Callisto Protocol. Hype for the EA remake has surely cast more of a spotlight on the potential of the team behind that unforgettable original.
Being the new IP, The Callisto Protocol was always compelled to make its own mark. Something at which it succeeds in doing, even its Dead Space roots run extremely deep within its core design.
A Jovian Mood
The game dripfeeds its tale over its run, as you fill the boots of Jacob Lee, played by Transformers movie star Josh Duhamel. A man who on the surface of things is just running a contract freight transporter, working for the United Jupiter Company.
And you join him as he’s heading from Europa to the UJC-operated Black Iron Prison on Callisto, but this run promises to be lucrative enough that he’ll be able to retire after it. Which let’s be honest is a red-flag situation right off the bat.
Rightly so, as shortly before landing, your ship is boarded by a group called Outer Way, who are lead by Dani Nakamura, played by The Boys star Karen Fukuhara.
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Your craft then crash lands on Callisto where you and your shipmates find yourselves as the latest inmates of Black Iron Prison. All hell breaks loose outside your cell, as something its turning inmates into monsters.
So, it’s up to you to break out, get ‘home’ and find out what the hell is going on. It’s a slow burn in some respects. The Callisto Protocol holds some info back to the death but there is enough there to pull you through. But whether the payoff is to your taste is a different story.
Mixing It Up
Where The Callisto Protocol mixes things up from its spiritual brother is on the combat front. The Callisto Protocol is less about using a plasma cutter to carve up the nasties and more about beating their brains out.
Meaty melee combat is a heavy part of the game, especially in the early stages. Melee attacks are handled by an interesting system. One where you hold the left stick in a direction to dodge but is not linked to any sort of timing.
You can dodge in the same direction twice. This will take time to understand and will lead to you dying more times than you’ll like.
But this feels like a set up for one of the game’s ‘biggest’ selling points – the number of death animations there are in the game. You’ll see more than a few while getting grips with the combat before it starts throwing guns at you.
Weakness in Numbers
Though the combat is weighty and grizzly, it’s a bit unwieldy when you are faced with more than one enemy. The game doesn’t really handle mob battles well. You move too slowly and your foes are way too quick. The combat system feels like it was designed overly focused on 1v1 encounters
The Callisto Protocol is an extremely linear affair with only a few side tracks to explore. Linearity is fine, of course, but the game’s brand of it does make it feel like you are just stumbling from one brawl to the next at times.
Especially when heading off the path. Nine times out of ten, you’ll battle enemies for some extra goodies; it’s very predictable. These encounters are part of a risk/reward loop. Resources often run a little light so spending some of your hard-earned swag to earn a little more seems only fair.
Visually, The Callisto Protocol is nothing shy of stunning at times. From dark and dank prison cells, to blizzard-blasted abandoned outposts – everything looks like trash in the best sort of way. It’s also worth noting that the level of detail in the character models is extremely impressive.
Sound-wise it’s all as you would expect from the house behind Dead Space. Ambient rumbles and bumps and some truly horrific sounding enemies lend a constant edge to proceedings. The voice acting, given the calibre of the talent on show is adequate. Lead man Josh Duhamel may sound a bit too gruff at times.
Jovial Moon
The biggest issue with the game is just how heavy the game was being pushed as a “horror” title. Yet, it’s not scary.
It’s got its moments where an enemy will catch you off guard, but you never feel scared. Likely because you always have a shock stick on your back to beat the snot out of whatever goes bump in the night. The stakes just never ramp up, that sense of tense terror never really develops.
It’s more of an action horror-themed title. This is something you should bear in mind when you jump into it, as it will gear your expectations. Accept this and you’ll find seven to eight hours’ worth of fun with a decent tale and some satisfying combat.
The Callisto Protocol had some huge space boots to fill in some respects. And though it falls short of past glories from the team, it is a fresh new IP that is still a lot of fun. Sure, it’s a little too linear, a little too clunky and may be outdated on a core design front, but it has some incredible moments.