Gamescom has kicked off with an explosive Opening Night Live show that was packed with exciting content and a few surprise announcements, including a release date for the long-delayed Dead Island 2. One of the most highly anticipated titles shown during the show was the upcoming survival horror game The Callisto Protocol – a sci-fi project with strong Dead Space vibes and a new take on the genre.
Players have already seen some of The Callisto Protocol in action, including a gameplay reveal during Summer Game Fest 2022, but the most recent trailer showed off a few new features and gave gamers a better look at some creepy environments that they'll be navigating. In addition to a focus on the game's melee combat, cool weapons, and various takedowns that players can perform, the trailer released during Gamescom's opening night showed off The Callisto Protocol's gory and undeniably grisly death animations that might prove stiff competition for EA's Dead Space franchise.
Kicking Death Animations Up A Notch
Gamescom 2022's Opening Night Live show contained some big reveals, with a few interesting new IPs like developer Deck13's Atlas Fallen and the sci-fi shooter Scars Above jostling for gamers' attention alongside sequels like Goat Simulator 3 and Moving Out 2. There were looks at big titles in development alongside reveals and announcements for newer ones, but horror fans were undoubtedly excited for more news on Striking Distance Studios and Krafton's The Callisto Protocol.
It's no secret that the upcoming survival horror has more than a few things in common with the fan-favorite franchise Dead Space, and players have been quick to point out that The Callisto Protocol shares its brutal enemy takedowns and violent protagonist deaths with the horror franchise. The latest trailer for The Callisto Protocol showed a new enemy mutation feature, but it also contained an extended sequence where prisoner Jacob Lee is flushed down a deadly waterway after a gate valve is released.
It looks like players will be tasked with making sure Jacob makes it down the waterway safely after obstructions and other potential hazards try to get in the way. Unfortunately for the hapless protagonist, his watery journey ends in disaster as he's sliced in half by a fan. The game spares no details as blood splatters the scene and his mutilated torso flops down with his viscera very much on show, which is reminiscent of similar sequences in games like 2013's Tomb Raider, although it might be a touch more graphic.
Body Horror Based On Real-Life Gore
It's clear The Callisto Protocol isn't shying away from violence or the gorier aspects of surviving in a mutant-infested facility, and fans of survival horror will be pleased to see the game's commitment to this. The Callisto Protocol has been embracing the Dead Space comparisons in some ways, while also demonstrating how it differs from the popular series in others, like with its melee combat. The upcoming game has also claimed it will be much more violent and include more gore than Dead Space – an impressive feat considering the grisly dismemberment mechanics and protagonist Isaac's own deaths in EA's series.
The design of The Callisto Protocol's mutated enemies shows that the game is taking this ambition seriously, as they are undeniably grotesque and definitely aren't something players will enjoy encountering in darkened prison corridors. The developers are apparently turning to real-life body horror combined with a sci-fi twist for The Callisto Protocol's inspirations, which should help to give Dead Space a run for its money and present a new take on the space-set survival horror.
The Callisto Protocol launches December 2 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
