The Callisto Protocol Reviews
Glen Schofield and Striking Distance Studios deliver exactly what their audience want: a new horror sci-fi epic with intense combat and cinematic elements that will make you sit on the edge of your couch from the first to the last minute. Worst or better than Dead Space? You decide!
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Callisto Protocol, throughout all of the tension and suspense, can't mask the terrors within might only be surface deep.
The Callisto Protocol brings high-def sci-fi horror to current-gen consoles, but it suffers from a lack of dynamic gameplay ideas outside of its gore.
The Callisto Protocol is a consistently good game that, when it's at its best, gives many of the survival horror greats a run for their money. However, there's no getting around the fact the game has very little to truly call its own.
A wonderfully exhausting exercise in futility is probably the best way of describing The Callisto Protocol as no matter the strength of my own resolve, I was constantly on edge and reveling in those fleeting moments where the game allowed me to breathe following yet another life-threatening fight. The constant fear and dread incited by the phenomenal visual and sound design are only complemented by the compelling story. The Callisto Protocol is, hopefully, the start of an exciting new franchise, and is another sign that survival horror is anything but dead.
First out of the gate in what will be a bevy of survival titles in the coming months, The Callisto Protocol is a solid maiden effort from developer Striking Distance Studios and one that has laid the groundwork what is hopefully to come.
The Callisto Protocol is a gorgeous and gory science fiction horror experience that lives up to its big brother Dead Space in many ways, but fails to do so in others. The high production value, stellar cast of characters, top notch audio and visual design, and an excellent mix of adrenaline pumping action and terrifying horror are all overshadowed by a frustratingly designed dodge mechanic.
The Callisto Protocol shines best in its visceral, moment-to-moment combat, which strikes a good balance between feeling tense, and intuitive. What lets it down is a story that feels a little too unfinished and a few design choices that stick out like a sore thumb in this day and age.
The game’s dedication to graphical fidelity feels like a blinder to thinking outside the box in every other regard. It can’t help but feel like intensive overcompensation for inconsistent, tension-less stealth, one-note combat, level design that doesn’t reward exploration, generically fleshy enemies, upgrades that don’t reward experimentation, and ineffective jump scares, from enemies that get cheap hits in on Jacob every single time, regardless of how well-prepared the player is. Much has been made of the fact that this was meant as the heir apparent to beloved survival horror series Dead Space, a game that, 12 years later, can still induce goosebumps just from its terrifying attract sequence. By contrast, if not for its graphics, The Callisto Protocol feels like a relic from 1998, undone creatively even by the decaying likes of Shadow Man.
All in all, it may sound like I’m really down on The Callisto Protocol, and in some ways, I am. For those who were expecting the next Dead Space, I’m sad to report that The Callisto Protocol just isn’t quite it. Instead, Striking Distance Studios has crafted a largely by-the-numbers horror-action title with terrific presentation that could’ve been something truly special. Unfortunately, while your journey across the titular dead moon is a sporadically fun and entertaining ride, it fails to authentically push the genre forward in any meaningful way. Still, despite all that… at least you get to stomp on stuff, right? Phew!
The Callisto Protocol is just the new survival horror AAA game that we've been expecting. Despite not being the revolution that Dead Space brought almost 15 years ago, it's new ideas, atmosphere and general concept, are a win.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The Creator of Dead Space is back to horror and it hits hard. The Callisto Protocol is an intense, violent and old-school survival-horror. A game with a sense of horrific aesthetics that hits the nail on the head, a delightful atmosphere carried by a devastating sound design and a solid, brutal and gore combat system. Very Good.
Review in French | Read full review
The Callisto Protocol is the true successor to Dead Space. All the good things about the first title can be found in it, but enhanced with state-of-the-art graphics and a cinematic sense that makes it spectacular from beginning to end.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
A spiritual successor to Dead Space that blends and riffs on ideas from the best horror games of recent years, with plenty of blood and guts to go around, though a lacklustre plot is its one minor flaw.
Certainly a "good first" for Striking Distance Studios
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Callisto Protocol is an atmospheric graphics blender that can only compete with Dead Space in a playful way.
Review in German | Read full review
Amazing visuals and stellar atmosphere notwithstanding, The Callisto Protocol is held back by a cumbersome combat system, technical woes, and other issues.
The Callisto Protocol is a unique and often good game which is hindered by its own ambition. The fighting system is sure to be hit and miss with audiences, and the difficulty coupled with the slow movement and weapon swapping will surely turn a few people off. Despite this, Protocol builds a unique world that would benefit from further entries diving more into its backstory and is brought to life with incredibly detailed graphics, fantastic sound design, and gorgeous lighting. The Callisto Protocol may not be the survival horror game many had hoped for, but it does successfully carve out its own niche.
The Callisto Protocol has occasional bouts of fun melee combat and fantastic graphics, but too much of the game is simply not fun to play to be worth it.
An unflinchingly violent and gruesome survival horror that ratchets up the tension from the get-go and doesn't let up, The Callisto Protocol is superlative stuff, and a must for anyone with even a passing fancy for Dead Space and its ilk.