What a round game was ripped out of the sleeve Striking Distance Studios as a debut. Ok, it’s true that the studio has some industry and genre veterans in its ranks, but a first job is a first job and I didn’t expect the consistency and finesse of the final product.
Not that the impressions in the Zaragoza studio were unflattering. Nothing could be further from the truth because I had little fault with that session, although I wondered if the full game of The Callisto Protocol would keep the pace, excitement, surprise, curiosity or satisfaction as high. And the main summary of my experience with the game is that it almost always borders on a very high level in all these qualities.
But I want to start with something that’s neither so abstract nor perhaps so celebrated about the Callisto Protocol: be Artistic Director. Clever levels and frenetic combat aside, the first three or four hours Ferronegro They seemed like a gallery of plans and shots that you could frame or loop. Sometimes it’s the contrasts, sometimes the geometries and almost always with it the light as a protagonist, but the truth is that entering some rooms or their transformation has overwhelmed me with their beauty, with many horrors they contain.
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In fact, The Callisto Protocol is perhaps the most realistic game that offers the most creative and varied uses the lighting in recent times. Undoes the full darkness, dazzles with some unexpected reflections, aims and reveals, colors the areas to orient, dizzy to confuse, highlights the visual cues, participate in the fights, play with the shadows…
Of course, all of this would be less compelling without the technological display that the game offers. Elements such as materials, faces (human or biophage) or the special effects (the mist and the splash!) really stand out and the set is so impressive that I couldn’t keep my beloved one performance mode just to enjoy the view to the fullest. Yes, it’s a fast-paced reaction game that plays much better at 60 fps, but, rare for me, in Xbox Series X I didn’t want to miss a single detail, not a ray-traced shadow. I really want to play on PS4 and Xbox One to see if they’re worth it.
Then there’s the narration. Yes, oddly enough, The Callisto Protocol has more to tell than it seemed, and while the story’s load or depth doesn’t quite match that of, say, The Last of Us, what I expected was a lot less, and the fiction was created There is much chicha here to accompany this story and to feed many others. It’s not devoid of horror and sci-fi clichés, but it knows how to find its point, just as the whole game knows how to evolve in terms of distinctiveness ADN by Dead Space.
And also in reference to some clear sources of inspiration that he likes to honor and honor. In between, only with the previously described, exciting scenes in the style of Foreignermore contemporary touches of Stranger Things and obviously the great bad vibes of Total Recall, but it also has overtones of classic prison movies and moments reminiscent of the aforementioned Naughty Dog classic, especially in the second half of the game.
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To continue with the surprises, although I lost my mind at this test in Zaragoza, here’s what else happened to me with the Callisto protocol I’m not that scared as expected. I have not been afraid to reveal what horror awaits me in the next room, or to contemplate the next disgusting and miserable death Jacob Lee. It’s gritty, of course, and the monster designs are absolutely nightmarish, but the game itself is tense rather than exciting, much like the leap that once existed in Resident Evil 4’s exploration or in the shock of the next horror.
Art, light, writing… I wasn’t expecting to start packaging The Callisto Protocol, but the impact it had on my game changed priorities. Is exploration and combat, the essence of this title, not so good? Not at all, they were just the most obvious.
That level design won me though my time in habitation Turning out to be promising, it could always belong to a creative squish zone surrounded by more direct or linear sections. There is, of course, a corridor and a good handful of ventilation ducts, along with many others “to pass the body in profile between two very narrow walls (or pipes or rubble). But they never seem to be the rule of design, rather small connectors of more elaborate spaces. It feels better than normal not to be sure if this long path you are following will be the main route to advance (with the risk of a point of no return) or if it is one of the hard-fought detours you have to follow as a general rule, lead to a very juicy booty.
Both are very dynamic sets that encourage you to move in many different ways, looking closely at the possible entrances and exits, and maintaining your attention. Without them, it’s easy to get lost, leave secrets behind, or suffer an attack without proper preparation. And another artistic note: while maintaining the common line, the game knows how to change environments and settings at any time, even within the same environment. The same prison, for example, offers amazing variety.
And since we’re talking about variety, we finally have to get to that Battle. It was the element that would basically make the whole game work or not work. Based on many of the usual concepts found in third-person titles, but with very personal ideas like these dodges and movement stick blocks. And in the end it came out again, certainly good for a first job. The confrontations always work to the death, are mostly a lot of fun and actually require you to vary the strategies and express different playstyles. Once the effects of brutality are overcome, everyone must consider what is most useful at each moment, adapting to enemies, landscape, weapons and other resources with the constant feeling that ammo is scarce and that reloading or injecting health is scarce Luxury you have to make room for.
weapons They’re a delight, and 3D printing them in Reforge is a great pleasure. I came to sell health injectors to be able to afford the next upgrade for my pistol or shotgun and I’ve never looked back since expanding the ways of playing and punishing the biophages is something that is in good harmony with progression that is departure. And beyond those of fire that GAR (Retention Autogravitational Generator) and the Damn stunning They powerfully complete the range of actions, the first as an idea that’s necessary rather than preferred (you’ll have to figure out when their magnetic launches work best) and the second, in my opinion, as an original extension of your body.
The sensations on the controls of all these weapons, as well as moving and steering Jacob, made a lot of her part. The transitions between the movements are smooth and natural, with the exception of a small reaction, and the vibrations give signals of all kinds. Better the bells and whistles of the DualSense control PS5but in the sound sector, whoever has a good surround sound system with a little more than 5.1 (especially with height channels and/or Dolby Atmos) will enjoy it on the Xbox series with one of the full best surround soundscapes of the generation.
You live a thousand and one hardships and, more importantly, miraculously save your skin on many occasions, and you advance with Jacob to unravel the mysteries of the moons of Jupiter and the different characters, but above all investigating, investigating places to advance further and pop dozens of nightmare creatures in all possible ways. The pace at which all of this is happening can hit a downside, but it has to be said that it easily loosens the stealth parts and that agility is often mostly dependent on how each player is equipped (upgrades and ammo can complete a section change), so the overall result is compact and the duration is grateful.
It can happen that it overwhelms you full inventory for the completers that a particular checkpoint doesn’t seem to be the most successful, or that the final death was more protocol than fair (and you’ll hate them on stairs or against walls), but what they call “moment-to-moment”. , makes sure you forget Also on a technical level it shows that they polish and optimize the product in the final stages, but the occasional jerking, slightly heavy load or the occasional bit of floating meat have never been uglier problems than the most beautiful biophages. In fact, all the technology that SDS has developed already deserves more games.
I said when I tried it that the Callisto Protocol was the game I wanted to keep playing and it didn’t disappoint. It is necessary to celebrate that we are closing the year with a magnificent production that is so entertaining, spectacular and inspired, bringing the survival horror of a lifetime back to the front page in style. Drive to the CJU Charon Play with Jacob Lee in Callisto and be enchanted by Ferronegro.
