The Callisto Protocol Reviews
The Callisto Protocol is what happens when Developers don't fully utilize thier game's potentiality. poor story, disappointing character development, ample Level Design issues like the excessive Encounters and enemies has held the game back considerably. That being said, I enjoyed my experience in Callisto nonetheless. if you're a die hard fan of linear Survival Horror games, you will have a blast playing The Callisto Protocol.
Review in Persian | Read full review
As a visual treat and atmospheric marvel, The Callisto Protocol has the presentation to be Dead Space's modern-day superior, but shoddy lore, gameplay quirks, and blandness mean it does not quite make the cut.
A pretty but uninspired platformer. Even though one of its developers made Limbo and Inside, don't expect the same level of quality here.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Beauty can be skin deep as the game squanders its strong points as it progresses with baffling design choices that are annoying and frustrating far more than scary and challenging
Review in Arabic | Read full review
The Callisto Protocol is frustrating as a game because it's so easy to see how it could have been great. There's no single thing that drags down the game, but it's an endless stream of annoyances that are exacerbated by the constant reminders of better titles. The Callisto Protocol can be fun, but it's constantly getting in the way of its own fun. It's possible that patches might smooth out some of the combat issues and improve the game a fair bit. At launch, though, it's more frustrating than fun. There's a lot of potential for a sequel that takes the lessons to heart, but for the moment, you're better off waiting for a sale.
As good as it looks, though, The Callisto Protocol is bad horror that has nothing meaningful to say and struggles to have a single original moment within it. I know that there are people out there saying that the game was “rushed out” to meet a deadline of “releasing before the Dead Space remake”… and perhaps it was! That might explain the performance issues on other platforms. However, that’s not really the problem with it. What lets this game down is that the core theme is broken to its foundations, and even if it ran perfectly at all times, in a best-case scenario, all polish would have ever done is ensure that it was entertaining enough to play. It was never going to be a horror experience that anyone remembers, even five years from now.
The Callisto Protocol is brutal, violent and will send chills down your spine. What Striking Distance Studios did is far from perfection, but don't let that discourage you. The Callisto Protocol is a horror experience that is well worth getting to know. Just don't expect it to be a legendary game that changes the industry.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The long-awaited horror action is very contradictory and you can either love it or hate it. Anyway, probably no other game deserves the 18+ label as much as this one. It decides whether you just want an adrenaline-fuelled brutal action ride, or if you expect something more from the game than an interesting, but by the end, just a primitive massacre.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Superb in setting, visuals, sound and other technical parts, The Callisto Protocol is impressive from start to finish and a brutal experience that is lacking these days. Although it is not perfect and some problems can be noticed, as well as the lack of content beyond the main campaign, there is a lot of quality showing that the game delivers what was promised.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Playing The Callisto Protocol made me feel like I'm wasting my time and I rarely feel that way when I play video games. With simple and repetitive combat and a world that's completely void of tension yet still filled with absurd amounts of violence, it can go suck an egg.
The Callisto Protocol is not going to revolutionize the genre, but it does bring some interesting ideas to the table -most notably the melee combat- that add some welcome variety to its gameplay. It could have shot higher though if it wasn't for some missteps.
The Callisto Protocol is a bittersweet survival horror game that doesn't revolutionize the genre as many expected it to do. While this unquestionably stings, we'd suggest people try and look past some of its odd gameplay mechanics, and its slightly dated design. There's an immensely challenging and satisfying experience to be had in Striking Distance Studios' short but sweet first outing.
Although the game suffers from some flaws, they are pretty mild. The Callisto Protocol is visually stunning, but unfortunately, the gameplay is mildly mediocre.
Review in Czech | Read full review
Overall there’s a lot to like about The Callisto Protocol. It’s a tight and well paced 10 hour experience and looks and runs great on the PS5 and It’s art direction and sound design help portray some really unsettling and horrific moments. It’s held back by some frustrating scare choices, repetitive combat and boss encounters and it’s push towards focussing on action in it’s later half. If the team at Striking Distance decide to flesh out the world they’ve established with a sequel, I’d love to see where they could take these characters and build out the setting next while having the benefit of having this first game to look back on.
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 Callisto Protocol seemed to be tailor-made for me based on the trailers and the information we had on it leading up to launch. Crafted by Glen Schofield, co-creator of the Dead Space series, it had all the right elements. Sci-Fi horror set in space, monstrous creatures that need to be dismembered to be killed, a gruff Josh Duhamel in the lead role, it had everything going for it. Unfortunately, none of those things were enough to save what essentially ended up being a re-treading of Dead Space with none of the charm or intensity that made that game so great.
The Callisto Protocol isn't going to go down as a survival horror classic that some were expecting, but it might go down as an entertaining, technically brilliant way to spend a few afternoons across its roughly 8-10 hour journey. It's elevated by superb visuals and atmosphere, and an engaging combat system that really opens up once you learn its rhythm.
The Callisto Protocol gave me nightmares. It's the best horror game of the year, and a bright new contender in the survival horror genre.
With its close-hugging third-person camera and its mood of air-locked foreboding, it's hard not to judge The Callisto Protocol through a lens tinted by Glen Schofield's earlier creation, Dead Space. And while its more violent tendencies diminish the tension somewhat, there's still plenty to recommend here.
From the story to the enemy design and combat, The Callisto Protocol is copy-paste “horror”. I used the quotes around horror because the use of common tropes means that the title fails to provide the most important ingredient in a horror game – fear.