Did you know that The Callisto Protocol cost over 160 million dollars? Why so much cash was spent on a game heavily indebted to a series that hadn't produced a new title since 2013 (EA's Deadspace remake would be released early 2023) is anyone's guess. Survival horror is still somewhat of a niche genre, with only Resident Evil games really selling in the millions. Those suits don't know what's up, do they? Anyways, you can tell that money was spent on the graphics. The Callisto Protocol is a very nice-looking Unreal Engine 4 title, with excellent lighting, textures, and character work. Unfortunately, the ray-tracing implementation is extremely CPU-heavy and accompanied by heavy stuttering, making it more or less unusable, not unlike Jedi Survivor. You play as Jacob (Josh Duhamel, who I recognized but couldn't name), a smuggler who crash-lands on a prison planet and is promptly made a prisoner. Very quickly, necromorphs (oh wait, that's Deadspace) overrun the prison and you have to escape. The big innovation that differentiates the Callisto Protocol from Deadspace is the addition of a melee system. It's pretty simple, with specific monsters all having the same attacks, which you dodge by switching between the directional keys. It's only a pain when you're out of ammo and getting mobbed, which happens just a little too often early on. Once Jacob gets his Deadspace suit and starts manufacturing weapons, you engage in inventory management while using your telekinetic glove to toss enemies into spiked walls or off cliffs. Combat is pretty fun, and very similar to Deadspace, although your weapons never get very creative. Monster design is pretty lacking as well, although the xenomoph egg thing with a human head and a telescopic neck is pretty rad. You'll do a lot of crawling through vents and squeezing through crevices, probably because the Callisto Protocol released on last gen consoles, which lack the speedy ssds of the current gen and PCs. Plotwise, every cliche in the book is utilized, from your allies conveniently being disposed of after they've outgrown their use as a deus ex machina, to Jacob frequently being separated from people by collapsing buildings. At the end, when you face a Resident Evil-inspired heavy, you'll roll your eyes at the lack of originality in this game. Why then did I enjoy it so much? Well, space survival horror is pretty much the Callisto Protocol, Deadspace, and Alien:Isolation, so any entry into the genre is welcome. And despite wearing its influences on its sleeve and much of its shirt, the Callisto Protocol does what it sets out to do very well, with a budget we don't often see outside of anything not a major triple-A franchise. It runs pretty great now on PC maxed out (without ray-tracing), and you can currently play it on Game Pass. Just don't expect high art.
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