Let’s move it out of the way right away, shall we? The answer is: yes. Yes, the Callisto protocol is a dead end in fancy threads.
Yes, the Callisto Accords – like Dead Space – took place hundreds of years later in the deepest, darkest part of space. Yes, Callisto Protocol – like Dead Space – features terrifying zombies who, instead of shuffling and moaning, scream and shoot at you. Yes, the Callisto protocols—like Dead Space—explore not only the horrors of an infectious disease that brings the dead back to life, but also the ruthless, mindless ambitions of humanity. In some ways, it does those things better than Dead Space; in others, it doesn’t. Either way, I had a great time.
Given that these games were created by the same person (or co-created in Dead Space’s case), should we be surprised that these games share so much DNA? maybe not. Having recently rewatched Dead Space, Isaac Clarke’s ordeal was flashing in my head, so — consciously and unconsciously — I’ve pretty much been comparing the two. The similarities are almost too numerous to count – Jacob’s core health bar, inventory menu, dismemberment system, iconic stomping, and even the cable car scene! – i doubt it will be hard anyone People who played Dead Space don’t make those comparisons. It’s a shame that Callisto can never escape Dead Space’s powerful shadow, as what it offers — decent combat, unsettling environments, superb lighting and audio design, effective voice acting — rests entirely on its own advantage.
Sure, Callisto takes a lot of inspiration from Dead Space, but it also innovates there, improving both the gunplay and the world around you to avoid fatigue and repetition. No, it’s not perfect; there are some convoluted choices and a glaring lack of agency here – Jacob’s adventures are tourniquet-tight, and you’re rarely rewarded for exploring the less traveled roads – but if the goal here is Congratulations to the developer for creating the spiritual successor to Dead Space, amazing distance: that’s exactly what it does.
In Callisto, you play not as an engineer stranded on an abandoned mining ship, but as everyman Jacob Lee, a space-age delivery driver who, for some reason, is being held without charge or trial. Black Iron, a terrifying detention center for the most dangerous felons in the galaxy on the moon, Callisto. It’s not the most novel conceit in the world, but it works, and when Lee recovers from his brutal orientation and discovers that the prison has been infected, he begins his escape attempt.
I didn’t care about Lee as much as I did Clark — despite the latter’s muteness — and while I was certainly intrigued by his illegal detention, I wasn’t as invested in Lee’s story either. That’s not to say that Lee’s dialogue or even delivery isn’t right; the performances from Josh Duhamel and his co-stars are impressive. It’s just another game about another guy being imprisoned for another crime he didn’t commit, and while sure it’s just a vehicle for action, it’s a shame the premise couldn’t be more creative.
But what about the above actions? Dear Lord, this is sublime. Cutting down the inhabitants of Callisto is meticulously choreographed, and every shot feels fleshy and punchy.Like its spiritual predecessor, Callisto wants you destroy These things don’t just kill them, so you’ll learn – mostly the hard way – to stagger, maim and dismember your foes instead of instinctively going for headshots. Interestingly–because the creatures have a tendency to charge up and attack you–there’s also a melee system, which means that if Lee has any chance of escaping alive, he’ll have to dodge and dodge blows as carefully as possible while shooting.
But that’s not all. You’ll also learn stealth kills – in fact, somehow striking the precise balance between being too stingy and being too generous is a handy skill given the scarcity of ammo – and you can take advantage of environmental hazards like explosive pods to help improve the odds. Occasionally, you’ll come across terrifying security robots, and you’ll have to decide whether to sneak past them or take them head-on. If everything goes bad – literally – and you find yourself out of ammo, you can whip out your trusty baton to replace it (pro tip: I recommend upgrading it early. You’re welcome).
Fights can feel really tough — and sometimes unfair — but that’s okay; the more you die, the more you’ll see Lee’s bloody death animation. Thanks to the excellent checkpoint system and the option to manually save, the replay sections are rarely frustrating (except for one very annoying trip to the elevator).
Halfway through, you’ll find yourself deep underground and crawling through tunnels where dozens of terrifying new types of inhabitants await. Here, however, you’ll need to move slowly if you want to escape unscathed. Yes, at first, this unexpected part does raise the tension. Later, though, the fear fades away when you realize they have the AI for the shopping cart, and the numerous doodles that ominously instruct “don’t make a sound” should just say “don’t run.” It’s hard to be afraid of anything that might bump into you and doesn’t seem to know you’re there, even if you’re doing noisy stealth kills and stomping dead bodies for ammo.
By the way, it’s not just enemies that look good. The lighting direction is very bright, and while at times it can be a little too “helpful” in highlighting the way forward, the clever use of light and shadow really shows off Callisto’s sickeningly brilliant surroundings. The same goes for the audio design, though I admit that within an hour or two, I realized that the screams and groans were usually ambient rather than a particular thug lurking around the corner. It was beautiful; the blood, the gore, the stickiness of rotting wet flesh in the corners. No, Callisto Protocol doesn’t offer the deep environmental story that I enjoyed so much in Dead Space; yes, there are more varied backgrounds, but they just feel like sets rather than characters in their own right, like Stone Village from Dead Space . It’s a pity that those detailed environments can’t tell us much about the secrets of Dark Iron and the secrets of the Forerunner.
However, this is not the brain.There aren’t really any puzzles – well, other than moving this crate here and endless inventory management – and there’s a special enemy I’m calling Sackboy (it’s a meaty head in the bag), it always Seems to attack before you see it.even when you think The game is opening up to give you a chance to explore, which I can unabashedly confirm it isn’t; branching paths are almost always closed, whether it’s rubble, crates, or the odd dead end.
You also can’t walk around while listening to the audio log, which is a heinous oversight that removes all incentive to slow down and enjoy the background. Even if you do want to listen to one, it’s up to you to remember who left it; the list won’t inform you which logs are new and which ones you’ve already heard. You won’t gradually expand your inventory as you would from one extreme to the other, and even then you’ll find yourself perpetually dropping batteries for GRP – your special gravity gauntlet – to make room for items at a higher price Sell to help you upgrade your weapons.
I also found the GRP’s spin on stagnation to be sadly lacking as well. A lot of times I’ll use it to pull enemies towards me, only to run out of energy and have the zombies fall in front of me and get punched in the face. Admittedly, I’m focused on upgrading my weapons rather than my GRP, so it’s probably a self-inflicted problem, but by the time I’m halfway through, I’m barely using my telekinesis ability.
Perhaps most notably, what it lacks the most is Dead Space’s tiresome atmosphere and thrilling story. I don’t think this will matter to some – Callisto Protocol does a great job otherwise, and it feels a little disrespectful to complain about it – but if you had to choose between Callisto and Dead Space’s upcoming remake, Remember to value storytelling over combat.
Ultimately, Callisto Protocol’s frenetic action and brutal combat still impressed me in just the right way, borrowing all the great stuff from Dead Space and building on that impressive framework. No, it’s not completely better, and no, it’s not nearly as dire as I thought it would be. But if, like me, you’re into Callisto Protocol and think it’s a shallow copy of Dead Space? Well, not exactly.
