Chris InglisThe Callisto Protocol is a third-person survival horror game developed by Striking Distance Studios and published by Krafton. The game released on December 2, 2022, on PC, Xbox and PlayStation and is the spiritual successor to the Dead Space series. Set in the year 2320 on the Jupiter moon of Callisto, we play as Jacob Lee (voice acted and motion capped by Josh Duhamel) where he gets trapped in the maximum-security penitentiary Black Iron Prison. Inmates start turning into terrifying creatures and we need to find a way to escape.
I loved 2008’s Dead Space, which is getting a remake in January, and the original game’s director Glen Schofield is the CEO of Striking Distance Studios and now director of The Callisto Protocol. Going into this new game, I was cautious about comparing it to Dead Space despite this connection. The trailer for Callisto certainly shows off the power of current technology with excellent motion capture and voice acting from Josh Duhamel (Transformers), Karen Fukuhara (The Boys), Sam Witwer (Star Wars the Force Unleashed, Battlestar Galactica) and more, in a creepy and dark setting with terrifying monsters to contend with. There were similarities to Dead Space, but I was excited to explore this new world and see what the story was about.
Upon opening the game, the logos showing on the screen were chugging along at a measly 10fps, which had me worried for the main game. Thankfully it seemed localised to the loading sequence, which can’t be skipped, as once in the game it had smoothed out. As of the writing this article a huge patch had just been released and it loads shaders when you first load into the game post-patch. The menu runs better though still chugs a little. I did experience a number of crashes to desktop, pre and post this latest patch, which was frustrating especially when losing progress between checkpoints. After the first gruesome scene in the opening sequence, I was ready to face what was to come or so I thought, as I had the bageezus scared out of me plenty. The creatures you come across certainly look horrifying. These are called the biophage and range from diseased humans to hulking beasts that will break you in half.
After being processed in the prison, Jacob has a device implanted into his neck that looks very similar to the health bar of the suit you wear in Dead Space. There is more emphasis on melee combat in this game, at least early on, as we swing wildly with a pipe before obtaining a stun baton. We need to dodge attacks which I kept stuffing up and getting punished for it. I kept seeing the enemy’s left arm swing at me, and my immediate response is to dodge left… straight into the punch. I suffered several horrific, skull bashing defeats (sorry Josh for ruining your face, a lot), until I worked out a rhythm.
Damn there are a lot of jump scares in this game. There were a few moments where I yelled, “that’s what got me in Doom 3” as a monster jumps out of a vent above me. Or when we learned to stomp enemies to get loot, I yelled, “that’s Dead Space!”, but as we explore the depths of Black Iron Prison, I was totally immersed in the story and not dying a horrible death that it was a separate experience, and one well worth playing for yourself. The game’s music and audio are fantastic, instilling a sense of fear and dread as I approached every vent, corner or door. There are also audio logs to collect that give a good amount of backstory.
Creeping through a vent, I could hear bad guys in the room ahead of me, so I was ready for them, and as I turned a corner in the vent, another monster threw itself against a grate to my right. I was glad to have been wearing brown pants that play session. My biggest jump scare though was when I was trying to open a door, which has the camera focused on my hands, and as the door opened, BOOM out came a monster, and yell I did. My wife came into the room laughing, promptly closing the door as I interrupted her episode of Arrow – fair enough.
I came across a hand cannon which is able to be upgraded using credits but has extremely low ammo. Where Dead Space had a focus on guns and fighting from range, The Callisto Protocol has you fighting face to face with all sorts of ugly critters. There are pods growing on the floor, aka Aliens, and they make a certain sound before a critter leaps out and latches onto your neck, pulling you in as you hack away with your shiv. Some monsters have tendrils and tentacles that, if you don’t get rid of them quick, will morph them into an even tougher monster.
You can shoot limbs and heads off, and also when you’re fighting a monster with melee, occasionally you will expose a weak point that prompts you to shoot it for higher damage. This is alright if you have plenty of ammo, but if the clip is empty and you try this, it will cause you to stagger for a second, which is plenty for the monster, or monsters behind you, to mess you up good. Sometimes it’s worth shooting a monster’s legs off to slow them down while you deal with others, but combat got really versatile when I came across the Gravity Restraint Projector.
The GRP is a device that lets you grip, push and pull objects, and if you’re near a ledge, spike wall, fan blades and a number of killing devices, you can throw monsters into them for a gratifying insta-kill. Again, it is difficult not to compare this to the similar mechanism in Dead Space, but there’s enough in Callisto Protocol to forge its own path, particularly in terms of environment design and the awesome sound production that really had me on edge the whole time.
You can upgrade your baton and hand cannon, as well as the GRP, so long as you have enough credits, and there are alt-fire modes to unlock as well. Straight credits are hard to come by, so selling spare cartridges and other things in your limited inventory is recommended. You can also find blueprints to new weapons like the shotgun if you explore off the beaten path. I tended to do more melee fighting than ranged, given the shortages of ammo. I specced out my melee weapon first and the rest into enhancing the GRP, as power cartridges are hard to find too though the GRP does recharge slowly over time.
Despite unavoidable comparisons to Dead Space and a number of crashes, The Callisto Protocol has an engaging story in a thrilling setting. Backed up by great voice acting from the cast, the music and sound keeps you on the edge of your seat with plenty of jump scares. Combat is solid with an emphasis on dodging and using the GRP to spread out combatants, or splat them on some spikes, but be prepared to die, a lot.
This review utilised a Steam key provided by Five Star Games Oz and The Callisto Protocol is out now on Steam, Xbox and PlayStation.
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Written by: @ChrisJInglis
