The Callisto Protocol had a huge presence at Summer Game Fest, but Glen Schofield returned to the stage with Host Geoff Keighley once again for Gamescom Opening Night Live. For the uninitiated, Schofield is responsible for Dead Space and, as such, there's been a lot of anticipation around the upcoming title.
The Callisto Protocol is set in the Black Iron prison colony on Jupiter's moon of Callisto, in the far future of 2320 too. Players take on the role of Jacob Lee, who finds himself dealing with an alien invasion on top of everything else. Already, everything from gameplay and horror conventions of The Callisto Protocol have been compared to Dead Space, but the game does set itself apart in a few ways.
For example, The Callisto Protocol dials the gore to 11 and this has been seen in every trailer, including the new gameplay showcase that appeared at Gamescom. As seen below, players can see Lee sneaking around, fighting enemies, sliding down water pipes, engaging in tense melee, and dying in horrific ways. It's definitely a hype-inducing trailer, and it also showcased one unique feature.
The Callisto Protocol's alien enemies seem much like zombies or The Last of Us' clickers, but on the spot, they are capable of mutating right before someone's very eyes. A decapitated enemy seen above, for example, is consumed by tendrils before it tears off its own arms and becomes more bulbous and seemingly stronger because Lee did not kill it fast enough. Between this, the dismemberment feature, and the sheer gore, it stands to reason that Callisto Protocol isn't just one of the most anticipated horror games of the year, but the most anticipated period.
Given too how giving Schofield has been at event after event, fans will likely see more of the game elsewhere, if not through material simply released online, ahead of its December releases. It's hard to imagine how The Callisto Protocol could generate even more hype for itself, but it also stands to reason that the company behind it has a few tricks still up its sleeves. After all, very little of the story has been touched, and while its gameplay could easily prove to be its defining feature, there are definitely a lot of questions left to answer.
The Callisto Protocol launches December 2 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
