Each comparison made between Dead Space, The Callisto Protocol, and Resident Evil 4 is slightly unfair or obvious when gameplay design and how far inspiration has trickled down from game-to-game is considered. One of the reasons why The Callisto Protocol was received as poorly as it was around its launch was due to it trying to emulate what made Dead Space special, but not having enough of its own identity as an original IP—although a rocky launch with tons of performance issues did not help it, either. That said, The Callisto Protocol’s Resident Evil comparisons were at least unexpected.
The Resident Evil 4 remake recently shared more footage of a Ganado whose decapitated body sprouts a flailing Plagas tentacle. Any fans of the original Resident Evil 4 will remember this enemy well, and likely have memories of hopping back into Leon S. Kennedy’s attache case in order to equip a meticulously placed flash grenade. This particular kind of enemy is intriguing due to how it instantly mutates in front of the player, and often randomly upon an enemy’s regular death. Dead Space and The Callisto Protocol have both adapted this design since, and they are all interesting to compare to one another.
Without Resident Evil 4 There Would Be No Dead Space or Callisto Protocol
One thing is clear—if there was never a Resident Evil 4, other classic third-person survival-horror games like Dead Space would have never been made, at least not in the same form. Resident Evil 4 is seminal for myriad reasons, and its memorable features have been seen in numerous games since. In many different titles, players can find the same mechanics and designs molded in new ways, or stumble across subtle references and nods to them.
Dead Space in particular has been unapologetic in its inspiration drawn from Resident Evil 4, and with The Callisto Protocol being in direct influence of Dead Space it is obvious how much hold over the survival-horror genre Resident Evil 4 still has to this day. That is why the Resident Evil 4 remake is such a hotly anticipated game, and it will be interesting to see how the remake reimagines the original with modern sensibilities that it has amassed from its last two remakes and last two mainline Resident Evil installments.
Resident Evil Village looks to have been of service to the Resident Evil 4 remake in terms of art design and its rural landscape, for example, but knife parries and other input-based mechanics were needed to supplant the original Resident Evil 4’s relatively outdated gameplay design. Now that more has been shown from the remake, it is interesting to see how it compares to the most recent survival-horror games to have been released.
Resident Evil 4’s Plagas Creates a Perpetual Sense of Dread
Players may remember an homage to the Plagas-infected enemies in the more recent Resident Evil 3 remake, which featured an enemy that is not infected by the Plagas parasite itself, but still has a Nemesis-infested zombie that can tentacle-strike players. This is essentially how the spontaneous Plagas tentacle mutates in Resident Evil 4, and this enemy will be reprised in the remake.
Dead Space’s own necromorph enemies featured a couple different real-time mutating types, including the Infectors that crawl around on the ground or fly before finding a corpse to infect with their proboscis, creating a particularly fearsome necromorph if players are unable to interrupt it. However, The Callisto Protocol’s biophages have an opportunity later in the game to sprout short tentacles from their chests, which indicate to players that they are about to mutate into significantly tougher foes.
This too can be interrupted if players act quickly with several shots to the chest or with a well-timed and well-placed combo finisher, but it is in these comparable mutation animations that all three games share connective tissue. It will be exciting to see how faithful the Resident Evil 4 remake stays to the original, and it will be equally exciting to see how the remake influences third-person survival-horror games in the future.
Resident Evil 4 launches on March 24 for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.