The Callisto Protocol Reviews
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.
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.
If you still really want to play The Callisto Protocol it would be wise to wait for any upcoming updates and significant price drop.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Overrun by mutants, Jupiter's moon is the setting for this spiritual Dead Space successor
This intense, gory horror game is steadfastly old-fashioned and lacking in internal logic – but it's fun anyway
The Callisto Protocol delivers the violence, intensity and horror that lives up to its Dead Space predecessor, but with deeper strategic combat. However, a clichéd story and lack of original ideas means that it has one tentacle stuck in the past.
The Callisto Protocol succeeds as a desolate and brutal survival horror experience in its opening hours. But the second half is hindered by massive difficulty spikes and clunky melee combat.
This isn’t to say there isn’t a good game oozing within the sticky flesh of this Frankenstein, though; it just feels like it’s not what Striking Distance wanted it to be. It’s not the next step in horror gaming, the evolution of Dead Space, or a proposition unlike anything you’ve seen before – it’s the opposite. An amalgam, less than the sum of its parts, whose main focus becomes overwrought and frustrating by the time you’re halfway through its short run-time. The scariest thing about The Callisto Protocol, sadly, is all the potential that’s been wasted on a small moon in Jupiter’s orbit.
Slightly above average or simply inoffensive. Fans of the genre should enjoy them a bit, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled.
If you wanted anything more out of this second crack at making a new sci-fi IP in survival horror, or something markedly different that acknowledges just how far gaming has come since 2008, The Callisto Protocol is not your answer.
A fantastic looking game that builds a great sci-fi world only to trash it with an unenjoyable combat challenge.
Dead Space 4 in all but name, except with no puzzles and surprisingly little suspense. The Callisto Protocol has plenty of gritty action but that's not quite enough to sustain interest for its entire duration.
It’s pertinent to note that there have been many reported issues of crashes and fluctuating frame rates when entering a new area. I did encounter one crash in my playthrough, but nothing that disrupted my experience. With that said, The Callisto Protocol is an old-school game where everything was more simple (a lackadaisical story, straightforward linearity, basic upgrades) with a coating of some of the most impressive PlayStation 5 graphics I’ve seen.
The true horror behind The Callisto Protocol is how much it wants to be Dead Space without directly being tied to the franchise. The Callisto Protocol’s style and gameplay feel like hollow shells of what it’s trying to emulate, without any genuine, risky attempts to make the formula feel distinctly unique.
The Callisto Protocol is about as close to Dead Space as it could possibly be without bearing the same name. And for many players that will be more than enough to leave them satisfied... Nevertheless, the more you play of The Callisto Protocol the more its flaws stand out.
The Callisto Protocol simply isn't scary, doesn't play well and has nothing to hook you into its world. It's a poor excuse for a horror game and you're better off waiting for Dead Space Remake than spending $70 on this one.
The combat, when it’s clicking, is genuinely fantastic for a more action-driven horror title. But much of what is built around that combat lets it down: the pacing and atmosphere are largely non-existent; the level design, UI, and checkpoint system are very player-unfriendly; and there just aren’t enough set pieces and gameplay diversions to prevent the combat from getting somewhat repetitive by the game’s end.
Its a shame that the combat do let the game down when you face multiple enemies and you will face multiple enemies a lot. Otherwise the game is stunning, one of the best looking games out there, and story scenes are well directed with the aid of life-like characters.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
The Callisto Protocol is a competent survival horror game but a poor man's Dead Space, making it only worth it for those diehard fans of the genre.
A horror that does not bring new elements to the genre and suffers from several conceptual problems, although not so serious as to reject the experience as a whole.
Review in Italian | Read full review
