The Callisto Protocol assessment: terrifying horror with terrifying issue spikes

The primary few hours of The Callisto Protocol are a few of the finest horror I’ve performed in current reminiscence. It merges basic Resident Evil-style survival horror with the manufacturing values of a next-gen sport to create one thing actually terrifying — I sincerely dreaded having to slowly make my manner via the crumbling area jail the place the sport is about, figuring out that some new horror awaited me. It’s not very authentic, however the sport is brutal and violent and genuinely scary. Sadly, that sense of terror was ultimately changed by frustration, as the sport turned plagued with jarring issue spikes that fully destroyed the stress.

First, a disclaimer: I haven’t really completed The Callisto Protocol. But it surely’s not for a scarcity of attempting. After round 10 hours, I made it to what I consider is the ultimate boss (that could be wishful pondering, nevertheless it certain felt prefer it), solely to spend one other few hours fruitlessly attempting to defeat it. I’ve given up for now. There are solely so many occasions you’ll be able to watch the principle character get ripped in half earlier than you want a pleasant, lengthy break.

Early on, although, I used to be very a lot having fun with my time with the sport. The Callisto Protocol is developed by Placing Distance Studios, a brand new staff from PUBG firm Krafton that’s helmed by Useless House creator Glen Schofield. (At one level, the sport was really set within the PUBG universe in an ill-fated try at model synergy.) It takes place in a most safety jail on Callisto, a supposedly lifeless moon of Jupiter, and also you play as Jacob, a contract supply man who takes a nasty job and finally ends up locked inside. Virtually instantly, issues go flawed when a virus begins turning the inmates into zombie-like creatures. Earlier than he may even get acquainted together with his cell, Jacob is compelled to seek out his manner out of the jail and off the moon.

There’s little or no about The Callisto Protocol that’s authentic. The obvious affect is Useless House. It principally looks like a religious successor, from the holographic UI to the fight that entails eradicating zombie limbs to the truth that it’s important to stomp on corpses to get ammo and well being. There are many different clear references as nicely — enemies that look ripped proper out of Resident Evil, or the brutalist jail that appears prefer it belongs in an Alien spinoff.

This by no means actually bothered me although, primarily as a result of it’s all so nicely performed. Callisto is an old-school survival tackle horror, which suggests it’s extraordinarily linear; most of your time is spent slowly trudging via hallways, whether or not they’re underground caves or corridors linking the jail collectively. It’s the form of extremely directed expertise that’s turn into one thing of a rarity in blockbuster video games. It really works as a result of each facet of the expertise — the sound design, the darkish ambiance, the sluggish and heavy fight — is tuned for optimum scares. Few of the strategies the sport makes use of are novel; in truth, it’s filled with online game cliches. There are plentiful bounce scares to make you assume twice about opening a locker searching for ammo, lest an alien parasite leap onto your face.

I’ve seen all of this stuff earlier than, and but I used to be nonetheless terrified. Partly this comes all the way down to the extremely lifelike visuals, which make each area zombie look excruciatingly grotesque, notably once you’re beating them to demise with a metallic bar and seeing the blood fly. A few of the demise animations are downright disturbing. Callisto’s builders additionally use tried-and-true strategies like dim lighting, fog, and even a snowstorm to obscure the terrors, making the jumps hit even tougher. I additionally couldn’t play this sport with headphones on as a result of the 3D audio was merely an excessive amount of; listening to zombies skitter round within the vents above made me rip the headphones proper off. I needed to pause the sport commonly to catch my breath.

And regardless of being a largely linear sport, Callisto offers you a shocking quantity of freedom for a way you strategy issues. There’s melee fight, a variety of weapons you improve over time, and even a high-tech glove that principally offers you Pressure powers so you’ll be able to decide up issues (or zombies) and toss them round. I used to be a fan of stealth as a lot as I might handle, however as a result of this can be a survival horror expertise, with comparatively restricted ammo and well being, I used to be compelled to make the most of just about each device to fend off the zombies. This was very true as soon as I used to be confronted with extra difficult foes; there are zombies that evolve if you happen to don’t kill them quick sufficient, and others that skitter across the partitions like spiders. Some crawl as much as you simply to blow up. (I hate them.)

For the primary half or so of the sport, it has glorious pacing. I’d discover myself methodically clearing out areas of the jail, stepping into some tense scrapes alongside the way in which, earlier than with the ability to catch my breath (and make amends for the numerous, many audio logs) in one of many secure rooms. It was a pleasant stability between exploration, storytelling, and fight. I didn’t even thoughts a few of the hilariously misplaced online game conventions, just like the copious graffiti (it’s onerous to consider anybody would write “shoot the tentacles” on a wall in blood earlier than they die) or the someway still-functioning 3D printing merchandising machines for upgrading your weapons and equipment. Up till then, Callisto was proper there with Signalis as my favourite horror sport of the yr thus far.

After which I hit the problem spikes.

The primary concerned waves of enemies that I needed to battle off whereas ready for a service elevator to succeed in its vacation spot. Quickly after that, the sport began throwing big bosses at me that required virtually good timing to defeat, since one hit would imply demise. Even after I turned the problem to its lowest doable setting, a few of these sequences would take me an hour or extra to efficiently get via.

These moments have been irritating as a result of they destroyed that rigorously directed pacing, but in addition for a number of different causes. To begin, Callisto’s fight is sluggish and brutal, which is ideal for a steadily-paced horror sport. However the enemy waves and boss battles felt extra like an motion sport, and the controls are far too clunky to be working round and taking pictures (and utilizing the Pressure) on the identical time. I died loads of occasions simply because it took so lengthy to modify my weapon. The sport additionally tends to have checkpoints begin on the worst doable second, so that you just’re returning to the sport on the actual second a boss is dashing at you, providing you with no time to arrange. And a few of the bosses simply really feel downright unfair. One-hit kills in a sport that’s in any other case surprisingly forgiving do nothing to make the sport extra enjoyable or scary. They’re simply irritating.

These points are exacerbated by Callisto’s linear nature. Should you’re caught at an unforgiving sequence, there isn’t a lot else you are able to do moreover brute power your manner via it (or take a pleasant calming stroll, as I did a number of occasions).

I wished to surrender many occasions all through the sport, however I powered via due to how a lot I dug the start of the sport. However ultimately a multi-stage boss battle broke me and I needed to cease. That is what makes The Callisto Protocol so disappointing. It does a lot nicely, and an enormous proportion of the sport is a blast. It’s the form of high-end horror expertise that doesn’t actually exist exterior of Resident Evil. However then it sours issues with issue that provides completely nothing to the expertise. In the long run, the scariest factor is the wasted potential.

The Callisto Protocol launches December 2nd on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Sequence X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.