The Callisto Protocol Feels Poised to Carry On the Legacy of Dead Space
Outside of various remakes and remasters, the survival-horror genre has been pretty slim with new releases over the past couple of years. Long-running franchises like Resident Evil continue to chug along, but it's been quite some time since we've seen a wholly new property enter the fray. Fortunately, the end of 2022 will finally be changing this trend in a major way with The Callisto Protocol, which is poised to be a spiritual successor to Electronic Arts' Dead Space series. And while The Callisto Protocol seems like it isn't going to drastically change the formula that was seen in the Dead Space trilogy, it should definitely scratch the same lingering itch that fans have had for nearly a decade.
Within the past month, I was able to check out a vertical slice of The Callisto Protocol from one of the game's opening chapters. My experience only lasted a little more than an hour in total, but it verified to me that The Callisto Protocol is shaping up quite nicely. Much of my time within Callisto saw me sleuthing through dark corridors, encountering various alien monsters, and then dying in horrific ways to said monsters. The level as a whole was somewhat straightforward, but it hit all of the same notes that I loved from the Dead Space saga.
From a pure tonal standpoint, The Callisto Protocol seems to be doing horror properly. While the section of the game that I played had a handful of jump scares, I was more impressed with the atmosphere that developer Striking Distance Studios has created. Sound design played an important part in this as there were plenty of sections throughout my demo where bumps and creaks in the distance instilled more fear in me than coming face-to-face with actual aliens did.
When I did square off with these vicious monsters, though, much of the combat of The Callisto Protocol centered around melee-focused moves. With ammo being quite limited in the game, you have to rely more on beating away foes with a baton-style weapon, which is much more visceral. Simply spamming light or heavy attacks won't always work, though, as the game's monsters are quite dangerous. As such, a dodge system has also been included, which leads to melee encounters feeling more tactical than brutal.
Even though melee attacks play a big role in The Callisto Protocol, there are guns and other abilities to use as well. Despite this, I have to say that one of my biggest issues with the game is that the weapons don't feel all that intuitive. The Dead Space series was always somewhat synonymous with its Plasma Cutter weapon, which was quite unique in that it was used to chop off the limbs of Necromorphs. Comparatively, what I played of The Callisto Protocol lacked a standout weapon of any sort. The two main guns I used in my own play session largely resembled a pistol and a shotgun, which was pretty underwhelming. Again, though, what I experienced of The Callisto Protocol was quite early in the game, which means that more inventive weapons could be unlocked later on.
Beyond these basic tools, the ability within The Callisto Protocol that I used the most was known as "GRP." Basically, GRP is an anti-gravity ability that lets you fling objects and enemies around to deal damage. GRP proved to be vital in some of the more difficult combat situations I came across, specifically because it let me launch foes off of ledges for instant kills. I hope that GRP will evolve over the course of Callisto in some novel ways, but even in its most simple form, I still got a kick out of using it.
Other than crawling through grimey spaces and punching aliens in the face, the most notable moment of my Callisto Protocol demo came during an on-rails section about halfway through the level. This sequence saw my character sliding through a waterway at breakneck speed. Crashing during this section resulted in a gruesome, over-the-top death animation, which is something that I always loved about Dead Space. I'm not sure how many set piece moments like this will be present in Callisto, but I'm hoping they'll be plentiful.
One aspect of The Callisto Protocol that I'm still uncertain about involves its story and characters. With actor Josh Duhamel playing the game's main protagonist Jacob Lee, I felt like Duhamel's involvement might be a bit more front and center. Based on my own demo, though, this wasn't really the case. Lee seems to be a bit mild-mannered and didn't boast a ton of charisma. On the story front, I also wasn't shown anything in particular that hooked me. Given the nature in which I was dropped into one of the game's chapters, though, my feelings on this front could change when I play chronologically.
I've been quite excited about The Callisto Protocol ever since it was first announced back in 2020, and based on what I've now played, I'm pretty confident that the game will meet my expectations. While it remains to be seen if it can reach the same heights as the Dead Space games it's so clearly trying to emulate, I can justifiably say that this is now one of my most-anticipated releases in the final months of the year.
The Callisto Protocol is set to release later this year on December 2, 2022. When it does arrive, it will be playable across PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC platforms.
Our demo of The Callisto Protocol was played during a preview event hosted by Striking Distance Studios and Krafton. Travel accommodations were paid for by the publisher.
