The Callisto Protocol: Re-imagining Dead Space

There's a reason why space has become such a popular theme in the horror genre; it is a backdrop that allows our imaginations to go wild. The Dead Space series, which featured engineer Isaac Clarke as he fought swarms of zombie monsters and discovered the strange cult that had been abetting their growth is one of the greatest instances of space horror in video games. 

The debut game from Striking Distance Studios, 'The Callisto Protocol', might easily be confused for a 'Dead Space' offshoot. Afterall, Glen Schofield, CEO of Striking Distance, was a co-creator of Dead Space, and it shows. The two games are comparable in terms of plot, presentation, and mechanics — which isn't always a negative thing. 

Dead Space was a fantastic game, and many of the references to it work in The Callisto Protocol's favour.

The Callisto Protocol does not mince words when it comes to instilling fear in humans. Dread, curiously, is surprisingly pleasant for us, the gamers of this determinedly terrible horror game.

However, the familiarity made several story moments feel predictable. Moreover, unlike Dead Space, The Callisto Protocol suffers from sloppy writing that left me with little reason to care about the universe or the people. Furthermore, the game's poor PC optimisation and lacklustre weapon selections ruined what should have been a conventional but totally fine horror game.

The Callisto Protocol opens in the same way that many excellent prison films do: with a sense of impending catastrophe. After a known terrorist cell boarded his cargo ship, workingman pilot Jacob Lee crash-landed on the lifeless moon of Callisto. Someone else perished in the collision in a curiously horrible manner, and we are given sufficient time to investigate this disaster. Lee is then caught, and it is made plain that he will spend the remainder of his life in the moon's Black Iron jail. But very quickly, the jail is hit by a strange tragedy that transforms its inmates into crazy mutants.

During the first half, these events flow well, and what better option to set the tone of a persistently brutal survival horror game than with a calamity, an injustice, and then the unexpected intrusion of some walking pus buckets? 

The Callisto Protocol does not mince words when it comes to instilling fear in humans. Dread, curiously, is surprisingly pleasant for us, the gamers of this determinedly terrible horror game. The stakes are obvious: Lee, portrayed with stoicity by Josh Duhamel, is in big trouble and needs to dig himself out. Perhaps we will discover more about that terrorist organisation. Subplots will inevitably emerge, and we will meet some folks who will keep us company.

Combat is the game's single novelty, but it is a huge one, serving as both a selling point and a stumbling barrier. Following the tutorial section, we are introduced to the Callisto weapons triad: long-range guns, the Stun Baton, and the GRP — a telekinetic magic glove that allows Jacob to draw enemies closer, lob bits of scenery at them, or hurl them onto one of the aforementioned spike walls for an instant kill.

The integrated HUD sort of works against The Callisto Protocol's battle. The Callisto Protocol, like Dead Space, lacks a typical user interface. Jacob's health is instead communicated through the life support device grafted on the back of his head. Rather than an ammo counter in the lower right corner of the screen, it appears as a holographic image on the gun Jacob is carrying. 

It's far simpler to rapidly check the displays on Isaac's armour and keep tabs on the incoming necromorphs in a game like Dead Space, where protagonist Isaac Clarke is combating necromorphs from a regulated distance. It also helps that Isaac does not move much when shooting his weapons, allowing him to maintain all of his systems in view at all times. Though in The Callisto Protocol, Jacob moves a lot more, shifting his body as he dodges strikes or swings his stun baton in the heat of battle. 

It is challenging to keep track of your resources since not only is the threat more imminent, but the displays showing pertinent information are shifting more.

The game also uses cheap jump scares much too frequently, even recycling the same scares many times. Hearing a biophage crawling through the vents and anxiously turning every direction in a futile attempt to monitor its movements, just to have it explode through the floor behind you is thrilling. But having a screaming slug come out of a locked locker a dozen times throughout the game is a bit excessive. Having that happen either once or twice would have sufficed to put the players off accessing lockers in quest of ammo, but its regularity merely assured that the players expected it to happen all the time.

The Callisto Protocol is the graphically spectacular spiritual twin of Dead Space that mirrored its big brother's style and story, but did not attempt to make any of these elements fresh in the context of a distinct game. 

The premiere of Striking Distance is a swing and a miss, but The Callisto Protocol finishes on a cliffhanger. If the studio decides to bring the series back for a second instalment, one can only hope that it will be better than the original.