Opinion by Tristan Ogilvie, translation and localization by Álex Pareja.
You know how this is: you go years without a sci-fi survival horror game set in the far depths of space, and then two come in consecutive months. The first, The Callisto Protocol, a spiritual successor to the Dead Space saga directed by Dead Space creator Glen Schofield and reportedly endowed with a monstrous development budget, released last December to notable performance problems and ultimately missed its sales targets. The second, a remake of the original 2008 Dead Space crafted with considerable care and creativity by Motive Studio, arrived last week and managed to outperform the original in almost every way. In early 2022, Schofield was said to be “a little bummed” that he didn’t take part in the remake of the survival horror game that he put his name on the map for. Wonder how you feel now.
To be clear, I really enjoyed The Callisto Protocol, even though a number of problems kept it from achieving greatness, and I think outshines Dead Space in a handful of ways. I’d say the performances of its lead actors, Josh Duhamel as Jacob Lee and Karen Fukuhara as Dani Nakamura, are slightly better than the USG Ishimura cast, and The Callisto Protocol also takes the prize for most uncomfortably convincing level of gore. , with a level of on-screen gore that would make even the hungriest gamer consider going vegan in video games. That said, in almost every other comparison to the original Dead Space and now even more so with its remake, The Callisto Protocol falls short of a necromorph with knocked-out knees.
Like Dead Space, Striking Distance Studios’ prison break game is all about breaking the arms and legs of its mutated inhabitants, but the tools you’re given to get the job done aren’t quite quite the style of Dead Space’s iconic arsenal. Isaac Clarke of reused mining tools. The Callisto Protocol has an ordinary arsenal which is limited to pistols, shotguns, and an assault rifle, which is quite satisfying to shoot with but is ultimately indistinguishable from the firearms that appear in many other action games. In its favor it must be said that in the first hours it focuses on melee combat, with axes and stun batons, but although facing two-headed titans is not an easy task, the melee combat mechanics are a bit picky, which means it’s more of a glancing blow than a knockout.
However, towards the middle of Dead Space, Isaac is spoiled for choice when it comes to creative killing. The rotating head of his plasma cutter might as well have been designed by the Gillette razor company, for its efficiency in shaving necromorphs’ limbs, regardless of the angle their bodies take. The Ripper’s rotating saw blade allows you to prune the parts of each monster with vengeful glee as if you were attacking pesky tree branches sticking out over your neighbor’s fence. For its part, the contact beam literally strips the rotting flesh from the bones of each necromorph as if you had stumbled upon an 18+ update of PowerWash Simulator. Each one works perfectly in tandem with the abilities Kinesis, which launches objects, and Stasis, which slows down enemies, giving you a wide variety of ways to work your way out of each room full of angry undead astronauts.
Jacob from The Callisto Protocol is a blunt instrument, while Isaac from Dead Space is a sci-fi Swiss Army knife.
While there is unfortunately no stasis in The Callisto Protocol, there is an equivalent of kinesis. However, it is too powerful and too easily abused, allowing you to pick up enemies off their feet and throw them into the always conveniently placed spiked walls and exposed fan blades, which means you are capable of of clearing entire areas of threats with a few hand gestures before they’ve had a chance to notice. It’s fun to quickly push mutants to their doom like you’re a Jedi running late for a council meeting, but it barely keeps the feeling of tension going. When it comes to the variety and balance of the fights, there is nothing to object to: Jacob from The Callisto Protocol is a blunt instrument, while Isaac from Dead Space is a sci-fi Swiss Army knife.
Isaac also faces a group of ghouls far more terrifying than Jacob.. As I’ve said before, don’t underestimate The Callisto Protocol’s vivid portrayal of viscera, but most of its enemies are gross, like roadkill reanimated. Dead Space’s monsters, on the other hand, are typical of nightmares of cosmic terror. There’s a reason horror maestro John Carpenter would love to make a Dead Space movie, and that’s because game recognizes game. Or I suppose a movie gamer recognizes a game inspired by a filmmaker’s movies. In any case, it’s clear that Dead Space’s creature designs are above average and come in all shapes and sizes.
The Callisto Protocol’s level structure is only as limited as its number of enemies. It’s true that it offers some flashy and haunting locations, like the opening prison cell block and fetid waste management, but it rarely gives you a moment to stop. It just slides you through them in a surge of forward momentum, closing the door behind you at the start of each chapter with no chance to go back for secrets you may have missed. The artists at Striking Distance Studios did an incredible job creating each area of Ferronegro Prison, so it’s a shame that everything happens so quickly and there’s no reason to stop and scan your surroundings.
Secondly, in the remake of Dead Space you are offered the possibility to go back and forth between the different decks of the USG Ishimura, and you’re incentivized to do so with locked doors that you can access as Isaac’s security level increases. In doing so, you’ll gain access to valuable resources and upgrades, as well as a side quest where you’ll need to locate various “RIGs” discarded by deceased crew members that, over time, can be combined to create a Master Key to access all of them. the rooms and closets of the ship. Plus, as you return to areas you’ve already visited, Dead Space surprises you with additional enemy ambushes so you never really feel safe, and reserves some interesting environmental puzzles for you to discover that add welcome fun to all the death and destruction. Dead Space encourages you to truly immerse yourself in its haunted house of horrors, while The Callisto Protocol is a truly fast-paced, linearly directed roller coaster.
The Callisto Protocol is a roller coaster that eventually runs out of track
The Callisto Protocol campaign takes less than eight hours to play, and while you find out how the outbreak came to be at the end, the abruptness of the credits screen leaves you feeling like you’re a few hours away from finishing an entire season of The Callisto Protocol. television, at least when it comes to the fate of certain characters. On the other hand, despite the fact that Isaac’s story is much longer, as the existence of Dead Space 2 and 3 proves, Dead Space resolves the events aboard the Ishimura in a very satisfying wayeven more so in the remake, which makes some clever changes to the characters to better sell the plot twist of the climax.
To be fair, some of the flaws in The Callisto Protocol could be remedied over time. A New Game+ mode, which was sorely absent at launch, has recently been added as part of a free update, while additional gory animations for deaths, new weapons, and story DLC have been promised by the end of the year. although all this will be part of the content of the paid season pass. There’s a lot to build on in The Callisto Protocol, and I too would welcome the announcement of a sequel, but… not so much as the announcement of a Dead Space 2 remake developed by Motive Studio. Because ultimately, while The Callisto Protocol isn’t without its charm, Dead Space still treats it like it’s a suspicious-looking corpse: by stomping on it.
