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The Callisto Protocol

Developer: Striking Distance Studios Publisher: Krafton
02 December 2022
The Callisto Protocol - cover art
Glitchwave rating
2.70 / 5.0
0.5
5.0
 
 
108 Ratings / 2 Reviews
#4,130 All-time
#170 for 2022
Jacob is a smuggler, but crash lands on the prison moon on Callisto after his ship is raided. After being wrongfully held in Black Iron Prison, all hell breaks loose and Jacob must attempt to fight through vicious monsters in order to escape.
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A broken brawler which could've been a mid Dead Space copy if it was a simple third-person shooter, that part was quite ok and meaty, but that's not the primary mode of combat in the game. The presentation is great (the graphics are superb and the dialogues/cutscenes are alright), the game is super linear and the story predictable, though serviceable - it takes place in a space prison where all hell breaks loose, you can guess the rest. The combat system is where it trips and falls, it breaks down in anything other than 1-1 fights, which is a common occurrence less than mid-way through the game. There's no control over which enemy the camera locks onto (it's automatic, based on proximity of the enemy), there's no proper way to escape the fights, the movement is done with the same analogue stick as dodging. It just seems like an afterthought, something done without proper playtesting, maybe it was put together quickly to differentiate it from the Dead Space remake. I dropped the game towards the end, it's just not fun.
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Nifel 2023-10-03T21:31:37Z
2023-10-03T21:31:37Z
4.0
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Mid
All technical issues aside, the game is mid.
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Quadropuss 2022-12-05T01:31:53Z
2022-12-05T01:31:53Z
3.0
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I tried. I tried, I tried, I tried. To be fair, seeing others post their dismal technical issues leaves me out of step because outside of some awful dialogue sync in cutscenes, this is the best looking game I have on the SeXboX. A couple of cool moments of subtle horror also feature, and conceptually I can see how the game could have panned out into something magical. A melee-focused survival horror, with deep interplay between melee, guns and kinesis, set in an oppressive prison complex on a cold dead moon, featuring much of Dead Space 1's creative team, sounds like a recipe for great action-leaning survival horror. And, well, the game certainly is a nightmare to play, but not for the right reasons.

I knew I was in for a rough time when I kept waiting for the linear intro sequences to end before realising the whole game was going to railroad me, which undercuts the whole point of rationing resources in games like these. As does a combat system based on melee, a resource that never runs out, which would be tolerable for a linear action game if it didn't feel like horseshit. Repetitive combo strings and static blocking and dodging flow mean one-on-one encounters are boring, and the lack of a true lock-on or crowd control options make one-vs-many encounters very annoying. The ideas of dismemberment to make combat easier, and precision aiming to stop enemy transformations, don't amount to much when the core exchanges are static and completely interchangeable. Even the flip from kinesis being a pure puzzle mechanic to a pure combat mechanic don't save it; combat is simply a chore.

And unfortunately, the game simply has nothing else going on. A simple story does not have to be a bad thing, but a game with journal entries that explain or hint towards nothing, a setting that leaves lore unexplained for far too long, when our characters should be caring about it much earlier, some obvious bait-and-switches in the narrative and no frills besides leaves the whole experience feeling rather milquetoaste. It sucks because the setting of Black Iron Prison starts with so much promise, like an even grittier Butcher Bay, but it just fails to deliver any excitement, intrigue or tension.

So there's no hook, no atmosphere, no real narrative thrust, jumpscares even more predictable than those in the Dark Pictures games, and only mildly interesting combat that never rises above okay and is frequently just boring and predictable when it's not totally frustrating. At no point is Callisto gratifying or engaging, the game only gets better in the second half with some gear upgrades that make the combat more palatable. I didn't click with it more, I just stomached it more. With some bizarre combo videos showing up, it seems like Callisto might be gearing up to be the next Resident Evil 6, with some cool combat mechanics hidden away behind a shallow and frustrating exterior. But even if Callisto has the flow and creativity of RE6...which it does not, your kinesis will never have enough charge to make it a go-to combat option, but even if it did, it still has RE6's drab setting, dull pacing, lackluster story, and honestly it's even worse than RE6. I'm not a "gameplay first" person; if a game makes concessions to its pure fun in play to make some kind of statement or artistic sacrifice, I can be there for it.

But if the best things about your game are the graphics and the concept of how your game could have been good, that's how you know it's just rotten.
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Lowlander2 2022-12-04T17:48:20Z
2022-12-04T17:48:20Z
2.0
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Catalog

CaptainPlasma The Callisto Protocol 2024-02-24T19:33:11Z
Windows
2024-02-24T19:33:11Z
2.5
1
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
crp1994 The Callisto Protocol 2024-02-11T17:28:12Z
2024-02-11T17:28:12Z
2.5
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
wargrl The Callisto Protocol 2024-02-08T12:30:07Z
PS5 / PS4
2024-02-08T12:30:07Z
2.0
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Wormwood_ The Callisto Protocol 2024-02-04T22:19:28Z
Xbox One / XSX
2024-02-04T22:19:28Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
Xbox series x Physical
PonyPower The Callisto Protocol 2024-02-03T00:43:14Z
2024-02-03T00:43:14Z
3.5
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
candycanefish The Callisto Protocol 2024-01-23T14:57:30Z
Windows
2024-01-23T14:57:30Z
4.0
1
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
manofwar2 The Callisto Protocol 2024-01-08T02:36:25Z
2024-01-08T02:36:25Z
2.5
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
mickilennial The Callisto Protocol 2024-01-04T20:23:44Z
Windows
2024-01-04T20:23:44Z
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
dazfafara The Callisto Protocol 2024-01-03T18:52:06Z
2024-01-03T18:52:06Z
3.5
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
bellz The Callisto Protocol 2023-12-30T22:40:14Z
PS5 / PS4
2023-12-30T22:40:14Z
4.0
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
forkfiferplus The Callisto Protocol 2023-12-30T06:43:25Z
2023-12-30T06:43:25Z
3.0
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
MaisonDeli The Callisto Protocol 2023-12-27T20:53:15Z
2023-12-27T20:53:15Z
2.5
In collection Want to buy Used to own  
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  • Previous comments (38) Loading...
  • gudvardarson 2023-09-20 20:09:19.849772+00
    yeah i give up. wait for subscription. im playing on easy mode and this just gets impossible near the end. watched a little youtube walkthrough for help and everyone in the comments seemed to agree with me
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  • INoLuv 2023-10-17 17:16:04.344062+00
    Extremely dull and boring game, glad i played through ps plus, playing full price for that most be awful
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  • Jodas 2023-11-22 23:37:46.155126+00
    I'm halfway through it and TCP is far from a bad game. Just an average Action Horror with great combat mechanics buried under deficient level design. Linearity really hurts the game and it would benefit from wider, more complex exploration and setpieces.
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  • wargrl 2023-11-28 13:03:47.942487+00
    I cant believe I paid full price for this day one. It is not a bad game by any meanss but its not worth 70$ cause its like a bargain bin-ish game
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