Announced during the Game Awards 2020, The Callisto Protocol made everyone agree on the day of its release. Developed by Striking Distance Studios and directed by the co-creator of the Dead Space license, Glen Schofield, The Callisto Protocol promises us a good dose of chills, horrors and anxieties.
As soon as the game was announced, Glen Schofield confirmed that his primary goal is to make the scariest game on the new PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. Naturally, the game is greatly inspired by Dead Space and intends to follow its path, in its own way. The Striking Distance Studios teams want to focus on new lighting techniques and 3D audio systems to provide players with a terrifying experience.
We weren’t able to get our hands on The Callisto Protocol during Gamescom 2022. On the other hand, we had the right to a presentation with its developers and thus get a first glimpse of the gameplay. Here is our first opinion on this title which is likely to strike a blow in the world of survival-horror.
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The Callisto Protocol: fear and anxiety
Welcome to the year 2320, on Jupiter’s moon Callisto. You are a prisoner locked in the Black Iron colonial prison. The good news is that you will soon be able to go out. The bad news is that this happy event stems from an alien invasion that seems to have been engineered by the prison warden. Alas, you are not facing very friendly aliens and your chances of survival are very slim.
According to the developers, several words can characterize The Callisto Protocol. Atmosphere, tension, brutal, distress, or even humanity. If we have fun putting all this in order, after the presentation we discovered, we can say that the game plunges us into a gloomy and heavy climate, constantly under tension, with a brutal environment, which will provoke your distress, and will put an end to all humanity.
© Striking Distance Studios
The demo we discovered highlighted new mutations that will make enemies more aggressive, more dangerous and more powerful. There are several stages of mutations for creatures. At the first level, the latter look like humans. Then, tentacles begin to grow on your enemies and it is these which are responsible for the mutations. It will absolutely be necessary to kill the creatures and destroy the tentacles to avoid other mutations (even on the corpses of your victims).
The Callisto Protocol offers you to handle various and varied weapons. But the title also offers the possibility of fighting melee with a dodging system where you will have to have good timing. The arsenal of weapons seems to be very complete, moreover, with the possibility of improving them and adding additional components to them to make them more powerful thanks to a 3D printer of the future allowing us to create the modules we need. .
© Striking Distance Studios
The atmosphere of the game is very dark, gloomy, we feel the danger and anxiety at every moment. The soul and legacy of Dead Space are there, whether in the gameplay, the staging or the enemies. The AI seems very developed and some creatures will hide in the dark to set traps for us. Some monsters have abilities that allow them to become invisible. Thus, at many times, we have seen creatures hiding in the dark, becoming invisible and waiting for the right moment to attack us by surprise. You have not finished being surprised and startled.
Graphically, the title gives us a nice copy. There are a lot of details. We are immersed in very dark environments, often underground, the kind of scenery that is not the easiest to put forward. We are far from the beautiful landscapes. But it’s still very clean. There is an excellent play of light allowing certain creatures to hide and completely disappear in the dark. Colors and the interplay of light and shadow play a big role in the terrifying atmosphere of The Callisto Protocol.
© Striking Distance Studios
There are many creatures in the levels. You will have almost no respite. Stress is present all the time. Fortunately, we can use our environment to destroy creatures and attack them by surprise. The game allows you to do some infiltration, you don’t have to rush into the heap or suffer attacks from your enemies.
Besides, the creatures will not be the only threats, there will also be your environment. The level design seems very well done with some pretty cool sequences.
To stay in the dark, the deaths of your character are brutal. Very brutal. Whether it’s when the latter is caught by a monster, or when he dies impaled against a wall or another object in his environment. Sensitive souls will have to go their way.
Our first opinion on The Callisto Protocol
© Striking Distance Studios
A very satisfying first approach to The Callisto Protocol. We are fully in a good survival-horror which will put our nerves to the test. The title suffered from a few drops in framerates, nothing too bad, knowing that there are still a few months of development. The game is set to arrive December 2 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Several editions will be available for purchase with the simple version and the deluxe edition.
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