By now, almost everyone who has heard of The Callisto Protocol would know that the game is being directed by Glen Schofield - the co-creator of the EA-owned Dead Space franchise. While EA has its hands full with the upcoming remake of the first Dead Space, Schofield formed his own studio - Striking Distance Studios - and has been hard at work on what everyone now knows as The Callisto Protocol. Schofield's newest endeavor takes place on the Black Iron prison colony located on Jupiter's moon, Callisto. As inmate Jacob Lee, players find themselves in the midst of an alien invasion that seems to have been orchestrated by the prison's overseers.
Despite a new coat of paint, it is clear that Schofield took a lot of inspiration from his work on Dead Space when making The Callisto Protocol. For starters, both titles are third-person survival horror games set in the backdrop of outer space. They also happen to take place in the midst of an alien invasion/ infestation. What's more, both games star unlikely protagonists who have little to no experience when it comes to fighting these creatures. These are but a few elements of The Callisto Protocol that take cues from Dead Space. As the game nears its December release and more gameplay is revealed, players will start to see just how similar Jacob Lee's story is to that of Isaac Clarke's. The recent release of the new Gamescom gameplay trailer does exactly that.
The Minimalist Interface Returns
Just as Dead Space kept its HUD elements to a minimum, The Callisto Protocol looks as though it will provide players with all the information they need just by taking a quick glance over Jacob Lee's shoulder. Along the back of Jacob's lower neck is an obvious green health bar as well as what looks like a small energy bar just above it. Jacob's health can easily be identified thanks to its bright color scheme, which changes depending on the character's remaining hit points. If viewers look closely at the Gamescom trailer, they can see that taking damage causes the bar to turn from green to orange and then red when health becomes critically low.
The bar over Jacob's health is a bit more difficult to decipher, as it is much smaller and less obvious. This segmented white line may show just how much energy Jacob's telekinetic module can use, but it's still too early to tell what this element of Jacob's suit actually does. Oddly enough, The Callisto Protocol doesn't make full use of the real estate on Jacob Lee's back. Unlike Dead Space's Isaac Clarke, whose entire back was filled with easily readable information such as his current health, Stasis, and oxygen levels, most of the integrated elements on Jacob Lee's suit seem to be crammed onto the back of his lower neck.
The weapon HUD looks largely unchanged from Dead Space, however, as The Callisto Protocol uses an easily readable ammo counter found on the back of each weapon. By placing the ammo counter here and allowing Jacob Lee to aim at a certain position, the game smartly creates more screen space so that players can see the environment and potential threats. When players are playing a game as dark and terrifying as The Callisto Protocol, they're going to need all the spacial awareness they can get.
A Tough-As-Nails Alien Species
Much like Dead Space's Necromorphs, it looks like enemies in The Callisto Protocol will be difficult to kill. Aliens require multiple bullets to kill and headshots don't seem to work on them. What's more, it looks as though some enemies can regenerate lost appendages, which can make players feel relieved that they aren't playing the limb-cutting Isaac Clarke anymore. While the dismemberment system of Dead Space appears to be absent from The Callisto Protocol, it looks like the game will allow for some light stealth and melee combat. The Gamescom trailer shows Jacob Lee crouching and stealthily taking out an enemy using a contextual button prompt as well as dodging some close-range enemy attacks and retaliating with a shock melee weapon of his own.
Telekinesis and Stasis Make A Comeback (Sort of)
Two of Isaac Clarke's most indispensable tools in Dead Space were his Kinesis and Stasis modules. With them, he could move heavy machinery, solve puzzles, and most importantly, repurpose sharp objects as throwable weapons and temporarily freeze enemies. The Callisto Protocol looks like it will combine Kinesis and Stasis into one resource that Jacob can use. The Gamescom trailer shows that players can pull enemies from a distance and freeze them in place.
From here, players have several options. They can carry the frozen enemy around and use them as makeshift cover from other enemies' attacks. They can also throw them at other enemies. But quite possibly the coolest option has to be throwing the immobilized enemy into one of The Callisto Protocol's many environmental hazards. Such a powerful ability must come at a cost, which could allude to the supposed energy bar over Jacob's health bar. By making this telekinetic ability a limited resource, the game can switch between making the player feel vulnerable and powerful at different moments.
Lots and Lots of Death Animations
The second part of The Callisto Protocol's Gamescom trailer was a relatively linear piece of gameplay. As Jacob Lee is exploring what looks like a sewer system, he gets carried away by an oncoming wave of raw sewage. This kicks off a scripted action sequence where players have to dodge obstacles while navigating Jacob down a series of large pipes. One obstacle is a series of rotating fan blades which Jacob fails to avoid. This causes the character to get caught in the fan blades which violently chop his body in two. Anyone who has played a Dead Space game will know that the franchise is notorious for its gruesome death scenes. There are multiple ways the protagonist can die, which shows just how violent the world they are inhabiting can be. It looks as though The Callisto Protocol will continue this tradition and provide many ways for Jacob Lee to die a horrible death.
All in all, it looks as though The Callisto Protocol will feel very familiar to fans of the Dead Space franchise. But thanks to components such as a new setting and fresh melee and stealth mechanics, there seem to be just enough elements for the game to feel like its own thing. Players are going to enjoy a surplus of horror games at the end of 2022, and The Callisto Protocol looks to be one of the titles spearheading the movement.
The Callisto Protocol launches on December 2 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
