The Callisto Protocol Standard Edition – PS5

Venturing into the realm of survival horror has always held a unique allure for me, and The Callisto Protocol for the PS5 managed to capture my attention with its promises of atmosphere, tension, and brutal confrontations. After delving into the world of Jacob Lee and the mysteries of the United Jupiter Company, I’m ready to share my perspective on this pulse-pounding horror experience.

The Callisto Protocol: A Tale of Terror and Survival

As a connoisseur of horror games, The Callisto Protocol immediately intrigued me with its next-generation approach to the genre. The game delivers a potent mix of atmospheric horror, tension, and moments of visceral terror that left me gripping the controller with a blend of excitement and dread. The following points summarize my experience:

Positives:

* A Nightmare Unleashed: The Callisto Protocol wastes no time plunging players into a nightmarish scenario. The atmosphere is thick with tension, and the sense of impending danger kept me on the edge of my seat throughout my playthrough.
* Mysteries of the Moon: The game’s setting on Jupiter’s moon, Callisto, is a masterstroke. The isolated, hostile environment adds a layer of isolation and dread to the already terrifying narrative. Uncovering the dark secrets of the United Jupiter Company was a compelling journey that drove me forward.
* Mastering Brutal Combat: The combat mechanics are nothing short of brutal and satisfying. The unique gravity weapon adds a twist to the usual arsenal, and the combination of hand-to-hand and ranged combat kept me engaged. Disabling opponents limb by limb was both gruesome and oddly gratifying.
* Immersive Isolation: The isolation of Callisto is palpable. The game does an exceptional job of making you feel truly alone in an alien, haunting environment. The ever-present sense that danger could lurk around any corner added to the immersion.
* Narrative Depth: The narrative unfolds with a sense of intrigue and a drip-feed of information that kept me eager to unravel the mysteries. The juxtaposition of the personal struggle with the larger secrets of the United Jupiter Company was a narrative dynamic that worked effectively.

Negatives:

* Technical Stumbles: While the game excels in creating atmosphere, there were moments where technical issues slightly disrupted my immersion. Occasional frame rate drops and minor glitches occasionally pulled me out of the otherwise terrifying experience.
* Occasional Frustrations: Some segments of the game leaned towards trial and error, which led to moments of frustration. While difficulty is expected in a horror game, these instances occasionally felt less about skill and more about random chance.
* Lack of Innovation in Mechanics: The game, while masterfully executed, doesn’t bring significant innovation to the survival horror genre in terms of gameplay mechanics. It adheres to the tried-and-true formula, which, while effective, might leave players yearning for more innovation.
* Limited Enemy Variety: While the grotesque creatures are designed to terrify, a bit more variety in enemy types could have added to the diversity of encounters. Facing the same types of foes repeatedly can lead to a slight sense of predictability.
* Narrative Pacing: While the narrative is captivating overall, there were moments when the pacing felt uneven. Some stretches felt slower than necessary, impacting the overall rhythm of the story.

Final Verdict:

The Callisto Protocol: A Horror Journey Worth Taking

In a world where horror games often aim for quick jumpscares and cheap thrills, The Callisto Protocol dares to deliver a more nuanced and immersive experience. My journey as Jacob Lee through the depths of Black Iron Prison and the secrets of the United Jupiter Company was one filled with tension, terror, and moments of genuine dread.

Despite minor technical hiccups and occasional gameplay frustrations, The Callisto Protocol presents a compelling case for itself as a worthy entry into the survival horror genre. The masterful crafting of atmosphere, the brutal combat mechanics, and the chilling narrative depth create a cocktail that both horror aficionados and newcomers to the genre can enjoy.

If you’re ready to embrace a pulse-pounding tale of survival and unravel a web of secrets in the unforgiving environment of Callisto, then The Callisto Protocol is undoubtedly an experience you won’t want to miss. While not without its shadows, this game shines as a testament to the potential of horror storytelling in the realm of video games.

It’s been a couple of months since I got to within touching distance of finishing this game and I feel like I’m ready to review it, but the shadow of Dead Space looms large in my thoughts. The game looks amazing. The environments – especially some of the early views of the interior of BIP, are stunning and the facial animations are brilliantly realised. The dual shock noises and vibrations are some of the best I’ve experienced too. Problems begin early though – especially if you’re only really experienced in shooters, as this is basically a hack’n’slash. Gunplay is largely limited to waiting for a reticle to appear on an enemy’s head and then shooting, then returning to dance of slash/block/duck until the reticle appears. It’s not a mechanic I ever grew to enjoy, especially compared to Dead Space, where panicy aiming was such a part of the fun. The relief I felt when putting enemies down was less due to story progression and more down to the annoying way even a lowly grunt enemy can down you with a single blow and the occasionally punishing save structure which makes dying a pain. There’s some animations that should have been skippable – not just those that replay on respawn, but when loading up on ammo, each clip is crafted via an animation that is great the first time you see it – and feel it in the dual shock, but frustrating – especially prior to the massively difficult transporter level where you respawn *before* you adjust your load out and ammo so have to i.e., upgrade a gun, buy health and craft ammo every time, each action via an animation. At those moments I really wondered how nobody had spotted the massive and unnecessary frustrations embedded in the game. While enemies are often overpowered, you are too as soon as you discover the telekinesis module. Enemies that would soak up all of your ammo and health? Just pick them up and throw them over the edge of something or onto the ubiquitous spikes. It’s a mechanic I enjoyed – but compared to a similar mechanic in Dead Space, it doesn’t feel like a balanced part of an arsenal that forces you to make choices all the time. Here the choice is simple – is it a boss? Answer = no, pick up and splat. The game also suffers from maddening difficulty spikes – boss fights should be exhilarating – but in Callisto the mechanic grinds in a way that is 100% prescriptive – run run turn shoot shoot shoot, enemy on knees? hit with sword then run run.. On the other side of the coin there’s the TLOU type enemies that you are meant to stealth kill, and while kudos for trying to keep it fresh, when these enemies bunch up they all share an animation that makes the game feel PS3 – they all zombie-breathe in unison. Killing one in plain view of the others triggers nothing as long as you follow the on screen prompt when one is close. Comparing this to trying to take out one of three clickers in TLOU – it’s desperately under baked. As I said at the start, I only got within touching distance of finishing as – already frustrated (I played difficulty normal, but most were dialing it down as low as it would go) I read some reviews that put me off even trying the final boss. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve taken on the final boss in Dead Space enough times to be no stranger to a Glen Schofield grind fest, but it’s challenging in the right ways and fits with the story. In Callisto the boss speaks like an old pinball machine – ‘You’ll have to defeat ME if you ever want to get outta here…’ I just didn’t care enough about finishing to take that section on – which I suppose would make anyone question why I give this 4 stars. It’s a generous rounding up of 3.5 and largely down to some excellent level design, and a strong sense of location. I really enjoyed exploring BIP. It’s not the Ishimura – but it’s still pretty special. I don’t think I’ll play the game again – fundamentally because the combat mechanic doesn’t fit my play style, or if I do play it will be a couple of chapters here and there, but I admire the vision behind the game. It’s a shame that the game is so obviously insired by – and built by – the team behind Dead Space, and somehow – which keeping a lot of the atmosphere, they fumbled the ball with the basics – the combat mechanic, the difficulty spikes and the obvious boring repetition involved in defeating any of the heavier bosses, as well as the overpowered telekinesis which – while fun – really felt more like a cheat than a mechanic. Also highly unfortunate (for them, not me) that the Dead Space reboot was utterly amazing – way beyond my expectations – and this only shone a light on Callisto’s flaws. Like most reviews I read before playing – you get a sense of why bother playing, this will be awful.. It’s not, and at the current price, you have nothing to lose really. Worth a play for the atmosphere.