The Callisto Protocol

Opening impressions. The game looks fantastic. The setting is great. I like the story set up. The combat isn’t going to be great. I can tell it’s overly simple and is going to get repetitive. Hopefully there is a decent amount of guns as wel because I don’t think I’m going to love this melee and dodges system.

The dodge system removes any tension or fear the the game has going for it. Why would I be scared of these monsters when they wait to attack me one at a time and the I can just hold to one side to automatically dodge?

The similarities between dead space and this game are hilarious. I get it’s the “same guys that originally made dead space” but the game is so similar. “Shoot the tentacles” written in blood on the wall instead of “Shoot the limbs”. Come on. Be a bit more creative than that. 

Death animations are great.

I’m having more fun with it as I play longer. I like having a few more guns and a few more upgrades. There have been some cool environments so far. The story is meh but not bad. The writing at times is kind of bad but I’m liking it. I don’t usually play for too long at a time. I find an hour or so and I’m often ready to switch it up as the game is pretty repetitive.

I hate Dani though. She’s so annoying. This whole “you know what you did” “no I don’t what are you talking about” banter is what I mean by bad writing. It’s annoying.

The combat has grown on me. And I like the addition of stealth but I think there are too many stealth sections once it’s added. They hit it too hard all at once.

The focus on melee and stealth takes makes the game less scary. And I don’t think the developers realized or intended for that to be the case. The game should be scary. I should be frightened to look around every corner not knowing what monster is going to pop out next. But because I know I’m going to get in a fistfight with this thing and I just have to hold the stick to a side makes there nothing to fear. Or at least less to fear. It’s still got me a few times. Then once they added stealth I was sneaking around feeling invincible taking out everybody. Again. Not scary when all I have to do is not walk into the enemy.

These death animations are brutal. I love them. I make sure I die at least once during boss fights.

Boss fights weren’t bad at the end but also the ending isnt really a full ending. Story had a few cool beats but mostly was pretty meh. I had fun with the second half though. 

Final Score: B+

To me, you can never have enough horror games set in space. You can clearly tell this is an extension of the vibes of Dead Space that the devs bring over. I think the story was decent and it wasn't overly goofy or anything. There was just enough given and not given to keep players interested and moving forward. It does end on a cliffhanger and the DLC wraps it up, poorly I might add. The game plays fine for the most part but there are times where it demands more finesse then it actually has. I can not believe there's no quick-turn. I thought that was an unspoken requirement for horror shooters. I think the cast did a good job with mocap and the overall acting for their characters. It seems unlikely there will be a sequel, which is sad because there was potential for a series here.


Final Transmission Spoilers*


I really can't believe they put out an entire DLC to capitalize on a perfectly fine cliffhanger. I'd have to assume that something conflicted with Duhamel's schedule or something like that because just killing off your main character in such a way is dumb in the long run. Now there's a chance they could bring him back somehow. Maybe as part mutant or robot. Something crazy like that but with the sales the way they were it seems a sequel will most likely not happen. Which begs the question, why even kill him off? Leave it on a happier note at least. On top of the overall story content being bad, the new weapon they introduce is great and destroys enemies. The problem is that you don't get it until right near the end. Literally with under an hour left of the DLC. Overall I was disappointed in this send off and I would not recommend it to anyone. I think it's better to leave with hope that Jacob somehow escapes or survives at least.