The first few hours of The Callisto Protocol are some of the scariest I have played in a long time. It combines Resident Evil-style survival horror with the production values of a next-gen game to create something truly terrifying. The game is brutal and frightening. The sense of terror was replaced by frustration, as the game became so difficult that it destroyed the tension.
I have yet to finish The Callisto Protocol. It is not for a lack of effort. I made it to the final boss after 10 hours and spent another few hours trying to beat it. I haven't given up yet. You can only watch the main character get ripped in half a few times a year.
I enjoyed my time with the game early on. The Callisto Protocol was developed by Striking Distance Studios and ishelmed by Dead Space creator Glen Schofield. The game was set in the PUBG universe in an ill-advised attempt at brand synergy. It takes place in a maximum security prison on Callisto, a supposedly dead moon of Jupiter, and you play as Jacob, a deliveryman who gets locked up for taking a bad job. Things go wrong very quickly when the inmates are turned into zombies. Jacob is forced to find his way out of the prison before he gets to know his cell.
The Callisto Protocol isn't an original one. Dead Space is one of the main influences. It feels like a spiritual successor to the game, from the combat that involves removing zombie limbs to the fact that you have to stomp on corpses. The brutalist prison that looks like it belongs in an Alien spinoff is one of many clear references.
This didn't bother me at all because it's all done well. Callisto is an old-school survival take on horror, which means most of your time is spent slowly trudging through hallways, whether they're underground caves or corridors linking the prison together It is a rare experience in blockbuster games. The sound design, the dark atmosphere, the slow and heavy combat are all designed for maximum scares. The game uses a lot of video game cliches. It's a good idea to think twice about opening a locker if you're going to get attacked by an alien.
I was terrified even though I had seen all of these things before. The incredibly realistic visuals make space zombies look gruesome, especially when you beat them to death with a metal bar. There are some death animations that are very upsetting. Dim lighting, fog, and even a snowstorm are some of the tried and true techniques used by Callisto. I couldn't play this game with headphones on because of the 3D audio, and I ripped my headphones right off. I had to stop the game to breathe.
Callisto has a lot of freedom for how you approach things. There is melee combat, a wide range of weapons, and a high-tech glove that gives you Force powers so you can pick up things and throw them around. I was partial to stealth as much as I could, but because this is a survival horror experience, with relatively limited ammo and health, I was forced to use every tool in my arsenal. There are zombies that evolve if you don't kill them fast enough, and others that skitter around the walls like spiders. Some people are going to explode. I don't like them
It has good pacing for the first half. I would have to clear out areas of the prison before I could catch my breath and go to one of the safe rooms. There was a balance between exploration, stories, and fighting. I didn't mind the out of place video game conventions, like the graffiti and 3D printing, as long as they didn't involve bloodshed. Callisto was my favorite horror game of the year to date.
The difficulty spikes for me.
I had to fight off waves of enemies while waiting for the service elevator to reach my destination. The game threw huge bosses at me that required perfect timing to defeat, since one hit would mean death. When I set the difficulty to its lowest possible setting, some of the sequences took me an hour or more to complete.
The moments were frustrating because they destroyed the carefully directed pacing. Callisto's combat is brutal and slow, which makes it a great game to play. The enemy waves and boss battles felt more like an action game because of the clunky controls and the fact that you can't run and shoot at the same time. It took me a long time to change my weapon. The game has a tendency to start the game at the worst possible moment so that you don't have time to prepare. Some of the bosses feel like they're being treated unfairly. The one-hit kills in the game do nothing to make the game more fun or frightening. It's just frustrating.
The issues are made worse by Callisto's linear nature. There isn't much else you can do besides brute force your way through it if you're stuck at an unforgiving sequence.
I was able to keep going because of how much I dug the beginning of the game. I had to stop the fight because it broke me. The Callisto Protocol is so disappointing due to this. A lot of the game is fun. The kind of high-end horror experience that doesn't really happen outside of Resident Evil is what it is. Difficulties add nothing to the experience. The most frightening thing is the wasted potential.
On December 2nd, The Callisto Protocol will be available on the following platforms.
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