Highlights

  • The Dead Space remake by EA Motive rejuvenated the franchise and hopefully opened up possibilities for future games.
  • The Callisto Protocol attempted to emulate Dead Space but fell short in terms of mechanics and gameplay.
  • Dead Space's protagonist, Isaac Clarke, is a compelling character due to his role and engineering skills, while The Callisto Protocol's Jacob lacks distinctiveness, authenticity, and memorability.

EA Motive’s Dead Space remake revived a long-dormant survival-horror IP and the promise of subsequent remakes helps to reinvigorate the possibilities of where the franchise could be headed. There’s no telling whether a new Dead Space game will ever be made, but if EA Motive does get the chance to remake all three original games they’ll hopefully all stir that conversation until one does get greenlit. Of course, it isn’t as if games haven’t tried to tread similar paths, with The Callisto Protocol brushing up a little too closely to Dead Space for its own good and bearing the brutal weight of that comparison as a result.

The Callisto Protocol stood on its own narratively as a science-fiction survival-horror game, but its mechanics and gameplay were arguably stiff and unengaging when they weren’t explicitly taking from elements that made Dead Space special and unique. One big issue with the game, though, is how its protagonist is depicted. Dead Space’s Isaac Clarke may not have the biggest personality of any survival-horror icon—that’s certainly true of the original Dead Space, anyway—but the significance of his role in the story made him fascinating to play as opposed to The Callisto Protocol’s Jacob Lee.

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Dead Space’s Isaac and Callisto Protocol’s Jacob Couldn’t Be More Unalike

The Callisto Protocol’s Jacob Lee is a Fully Competent and Unmemorable Protagonist

The Callisto Protocol’s Jacob had star power with actor Josh Duhamel playing him, but the character himself was hardly memorable and didn’t have any distinct qualities. Jacob is inexplicably composed in combat scenarios and can easily handle himself, as seen in The Callisto Protocol’s QTE-style combat tutorial when fellow inmates attack him. Jacob doesn’t stumble through the altercation or barely make it out unscathed; rather, he dispatches the gang members quickly and with a level of grace that makes him look like a seasoned fighter compared to Dead Space’s Isaac.

Perhaps Jacob has seen his fair share of knuckle sandwiches, but having a survival-horror protagonist so well-composed in combat and for seemingly no reason in particular is a letdown. Jacob is a cargo ship pilot, too, which should’ve given him some sort of similarity to the mundane job Isaac has, but it is not as relevant beyond a story twist near the end.

Dead Space’s Isaac Clarke Works Because He’s a Mild-Mannered Engineer

Isaac can be incredibly competent in the player’s hands, but the character himself is a lowly engineer whose abilities in combat are oriented around his engineering skills as opposed to a stylish close-quarters aptitude. This creates an immersive character depiction since players wouldn’t naturally assume that an engineer is a great fighter, and the game doesn’t give players any reason to think that he would be.

Instead, Isaac’s sheer terror and dry determination allow him to persevere, with the only melee combat available being Dead Space’s iconic stomps or wild, flailing haymakers. Isaac is never ducking and weaving enemy attacks like Jacob does, for example, and meanwhile his knowledge of unconventional contraptions and engineering tools translates to the arsenal of weaponry he wields.

It might be easy to forget because of how often Isaac uses it as an offensive firearm, but Dead Space’s Plasma Cutter is a mining tool, not a gun in the traditional sense, and it’s through Dead Space’s inventive weapon options that it gains a lot of character and ingenuity. Isaac does use legitimate assault weapons, to be fair, but they’re far less paramount or substantial in the player’s overall inventory. The Callisto Protocol, on the other hand, gives Jacob a small handful of ordinary and uninteresting weapons, which doesn’t help how insignificant its protagonist’s impact in the game is.