This article contains spoilers for the story of The Callisto Protocol.The story-driven horror game The Callisto Protocol came out in 2022 to polarized reactions, in large part due to the slow movement and combat, linear progression flow, and the story. For instance, a particular moment of Jacob Lee's story in The Callisto Protocol near the finale contains a jump scare that contradicts major plot elements.
The Callisto Protocol’s gruesome dismemberment, the desperation of the player character, and environmental storytelling are the game's prime horror elements. With all of these coming together, the game was on pace to be among the best horror games that don’t rely too much on jump scares, until it breaks character and gives in. The jump scare is so out of place in The Callisto Protocol that it’s almost unintentionally funny rather than sinister. Ultimately, Players will have to wait until additional content for the game releases to see whether the jump scare ending is canon to the story or not.
The Callisto Protocol's Ending Jump Scare Analyzed
With a lot of The Callisto Protocol’s plot points left unanswered, certain distinguished events build up the game’s finale. Jacob’s story begins when Dani Nakamura crashes Jacob’s cargo ship and both become captives of the Black Iron Prison. The Warden's staged outbreak scheme at the prison is exposed and from here on out Jacob attempts to atone for his unwilling involvement. To stop the Warden, Jacob and Dani agree to work together and Dani gets infected soon after, with the antidote requiring samples from the Alpha infected. During the Warden’s last resort destruction of the planet, Jacob gives the only escape pod to Dani, and she escapes with a preserved infection sample. For some reason, the Alpha then reappears to confront Jacob and possibly kill him.
The biggest issue with the game's ending is the jump scare that revives Alpha. The entirety of The Callisto Protocol's strictly linear story is a staged outbreak intended on reproducing a powerful patient zero, Alpha, who possesses the strongest variant of the infection. Players' hope that Jacob survives Black Iron is questioned by the game throwing another infected Alpha into the picture, which raises the question of how Alpha's reappearance is made possible. The plot that was leading up to delivering a positive conclusion on Jacob's behalf ultimately turns into a theme of inevitable failure despite all efforts. Dani escapes in Jacob's place and Jacob is presumed dead on a derelict planet.
The ending insinuating that Jacob dies downplays his entire journey and struggle to survive throughout the course of the story. With Jacob's assumed death, the only surviving hero is Dani, the character that players are encouraged to despise earlier in the game. The shift into cooperating with the previously despised Dani character heavily relies on her usefulness to Jacob, and players' empathy for her as a victim of the Infection. The story fails to establish a strong enough connection between the player/Jacob and Dani to justify saving her, especially since Dani is the reason Jacob crashed onto Black Iron’s planet. It's absurd that Jacob ends up sacrificing himself for Dani, who comes nowhere close to being one of the best companions in video games.
Jacob’s sacrifice, just like the jump scare, is abrupt and impulsive. With the infection, Alpha, and the Warden surviving, Jacob has nothing to show for his struggle other than saving the person who caused him to be involved in the first place. Coming from the same director, the concept of (allegedly) killing the main character is quite a major difference between The Callisto Protocol and Dead Space storylines.
Leaving Dani alive and seemingly killing off Jacob is a bold direction for the game's story. With so many main characters besides Jacob surviving, the potential for a sequel and narrative-focused expansions for The Callisto Protocol is high. Regardless, bringing back Alpha for a final jump scare is more harmful to the story than the jump scare is worth as a tribute to horror and the original Dead Space. It not only leaves fans confused about whether Jacob has died, but has them wondering how Alpha has returned and shrunk down to its previous form.
The Callisto Protocol is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
