We played The Callisto Protocol and it’s really very, very gory

The setting of a presentation is often important. When I was invited to discover The Callisto Protocol in an unknown corner of Paris, I did not know where I was setting foot. The storefront did not look like much, when the interior was plunged into voluntary darkness, to marry with the gloomy world of video games expected for December 2 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X and pc.

If the objective was to better immerse ourselves in the atmosphere, we can say that it was a success.

Behind The Callisto Protocolwe find Striking Distance Studios, a subsidiary of Krafton, the publisher behind the phenomenon PUBG (competitor of Fortnite). Originally, The Callisto Protocol was also to be a side project of the Battle Royale. It finally cut ties to fly on its own and become a video game with its own identity. We will follow Jacob Lee (played by actor Josh Duhamel, seen in the Transformers films), locked in a prison that will fall into chaos. And it’s chaos in The Callisto Protocol.

The Callisto Protocol celebrates gore

You are certainly familiar with the famous formula “ Sensitive souls refrain », affiliated with all these works designed to scare and/or shock. It is normally enough to prepare oneself psychologically, to better apprehend horrible events. This expression actually turns out to be much too tender for The Callisto Protocol, a veritable museum of horror that glorifies gore like never before. You have to have a strong stomach to witness the killings of edifying brutality. In this experience instilling a feeling of permanent unease, each game over is a punishment for the player and the player.

Because Striking Distance Studios never tries to spare us. When you get tricked by a monster, you take a repugnant graphic violence in the head. Where our hero has his skull or a member ripped off, as desired, for long seconds. The agony and the feeling of helplessness are all the more striking, which makes players think twice before throwing themselves headlong into action. The developers imagine the clashes as puzzles. Therefore, it is impossible to do anything in The Callisto Protocolunder penalty of ending up without ammunition and at the mercy of vile monsters.

Note that we too can go wild on enemies by trapping them with the environment. The sets, where visibility is reduced to further support the torpor (hello the mist where you can hardly see anything), are full of elements likely to plant or cut the natives. Jacob Lee has access to technology that allows him to use gravity to twirl objects and living beings, like a telekinetic power. It’s often exhilarating, even if you have to be a little sadistic to appreciate this facet of the gameplay. Gore is not just a visual indicator: you have to use it, even have fun with it, to resist the many threats.

Visually, The Callisto Protocol imposes. We feel that Striking Distance Studios is trying to make a beautiful game, whose visual finesse allows us to go even further in horror. We will go so far as to say that the graphic evolution observed in recent years is beneficial for the survival-horror genre, whose representatives can get even closer to reality (and, therefore, scare). Resident Evil Village is glaring proof of this, and The Callisto Protocol is on track to support this observation with its multiple effects that serve a deleterious atmosphere.

The Callisto Protocol looks like Dead Space

The Callisto Protocol is he the spiritual son of dead space who, chance of the calendar, will be entitled to a remake at the beginning of 2023? Yes, definitely. And just look at the names behind the two games to be convinced. dead space was created by Glen Schofield, who now heads Striking Distance Studios. The interested party does not hide it, but nevertheless ensures that his new project has its own identity, in addition to relying on a gameplay, fortunately, deeper.

The similarities are numerous, particularly the fact of being alone in a hostile place, with access to an original and varied arsenal. In addition to the context (we embody an engineer in dead space), The Callisto Protocol stands out above all thanks to the possibility of melee combat.

Jacob Lee is effectively equipped with a stun baton, a useful weapon for getting rid of ex-convicts without wasting resources. Be careful, proximity clashes are not without risk. It is necessary to master the dodges under penalty of quickly putting one knee on the ground. In The Callisto Protocolthe fights are surprisingly demanding, and we didn’t expect such variety in the approaches.

This deeper gameplay than it seems is in total adequacy with the bestiary that rages in what looks like a succession of death rows. Worse, if you don’t eliminate them fast enough, monsters can mutate and become even more powerful. In summary, The Callisto Protocol is the very definition of an oppressive production.

(Very, very) sensitive souls, abstain.

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