A decade ago, survival horror was limping towards a slow and agonizing death before Resident Evil 7: Biohazard reinvigorated the scares of the genre. Before then, staples like Silent Hill and, more importantly, the Dead Space franchise did a lot of the heavy-lifting before they, too, were spun off-course with mediocre sequels that crippled their respective franchises. It brought me so much joy to see this fantastic genre finally being given a new breath of life lately. Through The Callisto Protocol, we have a new, intense sci-fi horror romp that checks a lot of boxes while swerving others.



The story of The Callisto Protocol transports us to the near-distant future. Everyman Jacob Lee (played by Josh Duhamel) is a cargo pilot for the United Jupiter Company, tasked with transporting equipment. Something goes wrong and Jacob crash-lands on Callisto, one of the moons of Jupiter, trapped in Black Iron Prison that has now been plagued with a deadly infection that turns people into monstrosities.

The story beats will immediately be familiar to those that played Dead Space. It just so happens that Striking Distance Studios and its lead Glen Schofield were some of the minds behind the Dead Space franchise, so it's not exactly new territory for these veterans. However, The Callisto Protocol proudly wears its inspirations on its sleeve and delivers an experience that's, expectedly, quite thrilling.



The story and characters drew the short straws in The Callisto Protocol. If you're familiar with any form of science-fiction, you might see several twists and plot revelations coming from a mile away. Jacob, like Dead Space's Isaac Clarke, is a bit of a blank slate that players can project themselves onto. His characterization mainly comes in the form of his pursuer, Dani Nakamura (played excellently by The Boys' Karen Fukuhara), and how they unravel each other's history without taking the attention off of the real alien threat at hand.

The Callisto Protocol's story isn't going to win any awards, but it follows a pretty basic narrative framework that allows many of its horror elements to shine. The facial animations and motion capture work is extraordinary, showcasing some of the best I've seen since Death Stranding. The gloomy environments and dimly lit corridors are particularly striking with an immersive atmosphere that held my attention from beginning to end.

The facial animations and motion capture work is extraordinary...

Gameplay in The Callisto Protocol has been a hot point of debate, with players either loving it or hating it. I can confidently report (from my perspective) that it's not terrible. In fact, it's pretty addictive and satisfying.



Combat boils down to what worked in Dead Space with a few sprinkles of original ideas thrown into the mix. Jacob can equip a number of attachments that change how certain weapons perform. These range from burst-fire extensions to explosive rounds and much more. It's surprisingly varied, but shooting isn't exactly the main focus of combat encounters. Melee combat is what separates The Callisto Protocol from your standard third-person survival horror, and while it took me a while to get used to it, I was rewarded with solidly fun and flexible means of dispatching enemies.

When enemies, usually taking the form of the infected monstrosities of the prison, are close enough, you're put into a sort of dodging and swerving rhythm game. Holding down left or right ensures that you can swerve out of the hit range like a boxer, giving you a moment to perform a well-timed melee strike. That would be a bit underwhelming on its own, but I was able to string together flashy combos with both my melee weapons and guns with the same rhythmic satisfaction of a fighting game, oddly enough. Once you grasp the flow of combat, it presents a good balance of dodging and aggressive countering. The game bites back with its difficulty, though, especially in the latter half where it's a noticeable spike.



Pair this with your GRP, a device that essentially grants you telekinesis to fling enemies around the environment, and you've got a recipe for inventive and stylish killing methods. Enemies can be equally brutish, though, as one slip-up can almost always result in an insta-kill, followed by insanely gruesome death animations that wouldn't be out-of-place in a Mortal Kombat game. They're punishments for failure, but I found myself letting these deaths play out just so I could see how creative Striking Distance got with them - and boy, did they deliver.

...one slip-up can almost always result in an insta-kill, followed by insanely gruesome death animations that wouldn't be out-of-place in a Mortal Kombat game.

Similar to how Dead Space allows players to blow selected limbs off of necromorphs, The Callisto Protocol boasts its own gory dismemberment system that's every bit as satisfying. It does have some strategic value like removing legs to slow enemies to a literal crawl, but the incredible sound design makes every limb-pop and blood-curdling splatter with the punch of your guns sound glorious.



Unlike Dead Space, though, The Callisto Protocol's linear level design is fairly basic and leaves very little room for exploration. A vast majority of the game consists of players traveling through long corridors, rooms and small arenas, fighting more enemies along the way. There are some deviating paths that loop around with moments where players must exchange fuses on power boxes, but most of your time is spent in combat. Thankfully, the combat is entertaining enough, but players looking for more to do and see might be disappointed. A little more interconnectedness and variety with the levels could've given The Callisto Protocol greater replay value and encouraged exploration further.

It's unfortunate that the bosses were given so little attention considering that they're such memorable moments in other survival horror games.

Boss encounters might also disappoint. Apart from one major boss encounter in the end (that was the source of endless frustration), you fight one mini-boss along the way that's copy-pasted at least four times. Melee is also useless here as this inevitably leads to another insta-kill. It's unfortunate that the bosses were given so little attention considering that they're such memorable moments in other survival horror games. Striking Distance has room to improve in this aspect should a sequel happen.



From a technical perspective, The Callisto Protocol is a visual treat for the eyes. Besides the excellent facial animations and motion capture work, the detail in the world is astonishing. It's a pity that most of the game is confined to similar-looking prison sections because the textures, lighting and sound design are all exceptionally high-quality.

There were also multiple reports of performance issues on the PC version, but I played The Callisto Protocol on PS5 and for the most part, the performance was rock-solid. There was barely any framerate hiccups or stutters except for a couple of occasions where it dipped in crowded gameplay sections and (especially) one area midway through the game, but it wasn't anything that ruined the experience for me.



The Callisto Protocol isn't going to go down as a survival horror classic that some were expecting, but it might go down as an entertaining, technically brilliant way to spend a few afternoons across its roughly 8-10 hour journey. It's elevated by superb visuals and atmosphere, and an engaging combat system that really opens up once you learn its rhythm. It's slightly let down by its lack of bosses, memorable action set pieces and actual scares, but there's enough good content here to keep sci-fi horror enthusiasts thrilled and satisfied.