The Callisto Protocol Reviews
As a spiritual successor, the game adopts many traits that are similar to Dead Space. The HUD is implemented within the design, the limbs of your opponent can be blown away and the tight camera obscures your view. While comparisons are expected, The Callisto Protocol does differ. The melee-focused combat cranks up the intensity of encounters but ultimately stumbles when facing numerous enemies. Some may not like the linearity but I felt that this helped with the pacing of the game and the effectiveness of scares. Although it never reaches the heights of its predecessor’s first two outings, it still offers a trembling trek through a terrifying detention center.
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.
This game wants to be Dead Space really, REALLY, bad, but what’s interesting about that is I haven’t even finished the first Dead Space game and I can see it. Is this a bad thing? No, it’s really not as Callisto Protocol isn’t a trash game at all, they tried some new things with the controls and stuff some of it worked but for me a lot more of it didn’t. The game’s depiction of excessive violence is fun but even it wears on to the point of feeling overboard, especially when you think why they have giant grinding machines in the open like this in the middle of a prison. The story, while predictable, was an enjoyable adventure, but as far as graphics this game looks incredible. But as most of us know by now, looks aren’t everything and so it is with Callisto Protocol.
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 stylish and entertaining space action that doesn't reinvent the wheel. Rather, the entire foundation of the game is built on tried and tested concepts and we hadn't objected to a bit of innovation.
Review in Swedish | Read full review
It's a shame that, despite looking great and having a good concept at its core, some poorly-executed ideas lead to a frustrating experience overall. For a new studio to produce a brand new IP is obviously a mammoth task and commendable, so here’s hoping the team get another chance to get a grip on this universe and tighten up the experience.
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
Certainly a "good first" for Striking Distance Studios
Review in Italian | 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.
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
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 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 Callisto Protocol feels like a throwback title, for better and worse. While the Dead Space comparisons are unavoidable, director Glen Schofield's return to survival horror does bring with it several new concepts, but many, like the melee combat system, suffer from poor execution. Still, if you're looking for a fun, B-movie disaster story with some famous Hollywood faces and a more straightforward, linear single-player experience, you could do worse-at least until the Dead Space remake launches next year.
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 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.
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 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.
The Callisto Protocol is a modest starting point for what I hope will flourish into another heavy-hitting horror franchise. It's gory and gratuitous, with an endlessly satisfying combat system. But the lack of enemy variety scares, and surprises, even if engaging, stop it from being the horror game masterpiece it's trying to be. Despite all of its shortcomings, it's an immensely enjoyable romp that's left me desperate for more.
The Callisto Protocol aims its sights at being an uncompromising vision of terror, frequently succeeding through oscillating tension and stellar sound and lighting that toy with players' fears and expectations.
