The Callisto Protocol Review – Space-Out

The Callisto Protocol is an odd spiritual successor to Dead Space that rarely captures what made that series so great. The rigid melee and average gunplay drag down the incredible visuals and serviceable atmosphere, making for an entirely forgettable game.

The Callisto Protocol
Developer: Striking Distance Studios
Price: $60
Platform: PS5 (reviewed), PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
MonsterVine received a PS5 code for review

The first Dead Space game is a horror favorite of mine, as it combined a remarkably unsettling atmosphere with immensely satisfying gameplay mechanics that revolved around severing enemy limbs. Upon learning that Glen Schofield, who was a big part of the original Dead Space, would be making a new space horror game, I got excited. While what’s here isn’t abysmal, it’s disappointing, to say the least.

The first thing that stuck out to me about The Callisto Protocol was its bizarre melee combat. There are already many memes comparing it to Punch-Out!!, which is quite accurate. Approaching an enemy puts you into an invisible lane of sorts just across from them. Your movement becomes comprised of directional dodges and a block, which you use to avoid enemy attacks. In between dodges, you can attack enemies as well, though they are sometimes resistant to your attacks and will strike you through them. This can be frustrating, as there’s very little indication of when they’ll be invincible, making it easy to die unexpectedly – especially at the beginning.

The biggest problem here is that two or more enemies can’t fit in this “lane,” making the many instances of you being attacked by multiple enemies incredibly frustrating. You’re effectively dead once a few enemies surround you, as combat was very clearly made with one-on-one encounters in mind. Shooting foes isn’t something you can do too frequently, given the limited ammo, but even then, shots don’t feel as impactful as they could.

“The environmental kills (primarily achieved with the telekinesis-esque GRIP skill) can be fun to pull off, though there aren’t too many of them throughout the game.“

Weapons and skills can be upgraded using currency, but it always feels like you’re just slightly too short on funds. Even if you frequently explore – which you likely will since it can be hard to parse where you’re meant to be going at times – you won’t find enough sellable items to get too many upgrades. Given the (admittedly refreshingly) short runtime of The Callisto Protocol, you’ll probably not see the full potential of most of the weapons in your inventory.

The story is never especially intriguing, as most of it is a straightforward prison escape that revolves around pulling switches or turning things on. This sort of progression is fine when it’s not noticeable, but nothing between these objectives is diverse enough to make you forget that you’re performing rudimentary tasks. You vary between slow stealth sections and combat encounters, which vary in quality. The environmental kills (primarily achieved with the telekinesis-esque GRIP skill) can be fun to pull off, though there aren’t too many of them throughout the game.

One thing that The Callisto Protocol nails are its visuals. Josh Duhamel, Karen Fukuhara, and the rest of the cast look practically photorealistic. The stunningly detailed enemies evoke fond memories of Dead Space’s necromorphs, though a bit more variety would have been appreciated. The sticky, slimy, and overall nasty environments are excellent and keep you from ever feeling very comfortable.

Much like Dead Space, there’s no overt HUD in The Callisto Protocol. You can see your health on the back of the playable character Jacob’s neck. This is just as welcome now as it was back in the day, as the lack of HUD makes the game more immersive, especially since your health is now part of the game’s story. The menus you navigate for your inventory and weapons can be annoying to go through, though, despite being similarly implemented into the world and gameplay.

The Final Word
The Callisto Protocol has potential, but its strange melee combat, average story, and average gunplay keep it from standing out in any way. It looks great and has fun moments, but the majority of my time with The Callisto Protocol wasn’t especially memorable.

MonsterVine Rating: 3 out of 5 – Average