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[Shadowstar39]

So glad I ignored all the noise sneering at the game. When anyone asks me how Callisto Protocol is:

Finished it a few days back and I loved the entire ride. Definitely in for NG+ next month and the story dlc they release later.
It was also a great way to exacerbate my appetite for the Dead Space remake.


And lol at the hate towards the combat. It's straightforward and satisfying.

My thoughts exactly. I asked my gf for this and crisis core for Xmas. I got both and haven't been disappointed. Both games strike a different itch. Loving this game.

Haven't beat it as don't have much time to game so I am only on chapter 5 (I think), right after the thrilling sewage water slide of dismemberment. There was a reason this game got banned in Japan. Holy shit that section was fun.
There has a been a few environment places so far like that, like the shredder trap a few stages back.

Critism sure... It coukd use a damn map. And the save system sucks. Combat has been great so far. Don't understand the problem people have. I just mix and match with pistol and melee. Occasional some force glove... That part reminds me of dark messiah with the spike walls. Loving it so far. Hopefully holds up.

 

[Shadowstar39]

He requested it. Sucks. So long tommib . Going to miss you.

Again, why this time, what did I miss? He'll be back. You can never escape muhahaha...

 

[Agent_4Seven]

The comparisons are natural, but it doesn't mean they're trying to reinvent the wheel. Having melee combat isn't trying to reinvent the wheel, just because it wasn't the focus of a 15 year old game from the same developers.

What it is then if not reivention of the wheel? I mean it's not the same as reinvention of the genre, but it's different enough from all other games in similar genre etc. Changing something in the tried and true formula of any genre is to reinvent/change something about it to make it feel fresh., which is exactly what SDS did in TCP.

I still have yet to see how it's difficult to deal with multiple enemies in this game. People keep saying this, but it's survival horror. You're not meant to be blasting through everything. That's the point.

But it's not a survival horror game, there's barely any traditional survival horror elements in the game and it's at no point scary at all imho. It's far more like an action space thriller the main focus of which is to built as much tension as possible and put you in stressful situations, which again - not scary. Also, you blast through everything by shooting and killing lots of enemies at close range using melee or from a far. There is horror elements in the game, but they're used in so very select and few instances to show you something, that it feels like they're barely there and not the main focus of the game. Also, when you have to knife the same enemy that looks like a head with a long neck like dozens of times, it's not scary, it's annoying and boring.

I mean, even backtracking to previous areas to take something from the ground or a box is at no point risk for you in any way, unlike in true RE games (for example) or Signalis where you have to deal with enemies and you literally don't have many resources for that if any at all. In TCP you just kill everything (which is not hard) and them free to roam around and not worry about anything or anyone to try and stop you. And yeah, there's no way do deal with multiple enemies - try and kill dozens of enemies on a moving platform without using GRP (which is the best and at the same time the most boring thing you can do here), you'll be killed in like 10-20 sec. There's no force puch attack which you clearly see being used by Ferris when you first encounter him, it could've helped you to stun multiple enemies and give you some time to breath and kill a few of them, there no AOE attack of any kind to clear an area around you to prevent being surrounded, all you can do is with the GRP is grab and throw and it sucks., cuz GRP had a lot more potential which is simply not being used or no one thought about it.

That's the point. If you have to run away for a few seconds and try to use your GRP, ammo, or just melee one at a time, then that's how it goes. If you have to shoot environmental hazards like gas tanks, that's your choice. Again, there are choices. Is it repetitive? Yeah, most gameplay loops are repetitive. I'm not saying it's perfect. You're quoting me and arguing as if I'm saying it's flawless, which is something I never stated.

Repetitive? Yeah, it sure is, but that's not my problem with it tbh cuz combat loop even as it is now in the game is pretty cool and satisfying. The main problem with the combat is that it is in no way as interesting as what Dead Space has, even considering that Dead Space didn't had melee combat. You can easily bast limbs like you did in Dead Space, so it much harder to slow enemoes down and put them in a weaker state which could give you some tactical advantage. Combat in TCP has potential to be something better, but it wasn't fully realized and it might not be at all cuz sequel is not a given. What's repetitive, boring and awful though, is 4 exact same boss fights (if you can even call them that) cuz you deal with them in pretty much exact same way as with regular enemies with just one difference - you can't kill them using melee attacks and one boss requires you to destroy the shield.

The game definitely isn't perfect, but I'm still having a blast with it. I was expecting more Dead Space, and that's what I got. It's more streamlined, no doubt about that. And there are many improvements that could be made. But my initial point still stands. I don't see how the melee isn't effective. It's supposed to frustrate you and make you feel a bit helpless. That's the entire point of having it as the focus. If people don't understand this and just think that a plasma cutter will be the saviour, then you can play the DS remake.

Oh my, you think I had problems with the combat and that's why I complain about it? No, that's not true, melee combat is easy to understand, not difficult at all and pretty simple... way too simple and very limited, if I'm being honest, that's what I don't like about it - all you have to do is hold left stick left or right, read enemies well and that's it. I understood how it all works right from the start and it's not rocket science.

 

[Ristifer]

What it is then if not reivention of the wheel? I mean it's not the same as reinvention of the genre, but it's different enough from all other games in similar genre etc. Changing something in the tried and true formula of any genre is to reinvent/change something about it to make it feel fresh., which is exactly what SDS did in TCP.

But it's not a survival horror game, there's barely any traditional survival horror elements in the game and it's at no point scary at all imho. It's far more like an action space thriller the main focus of which is to built as much tension as possible and put you in stressful situations, which again - not scary. Also, you blast through everything by shooting and killing lots of enemies at close range using melee or from a far. There is horror elements in the game, but they're used in so very select and few instances to show you something, that it feels like they're barely there and not the main focus of the game. Also, when you have to knife the same enemy that looks like a head with a long neck like dozens of times, it's not scary, it's annoying and boring.

I mean, even backtracking to previous areas to take something from the ground or a box is at no point risk for you in any way, unlike in true RE games (for example) or Signalis where you have to deal with enemies and you literally don't have many resources for that if any at all. In TCP you just kill everything (which is not hard) and them free to roam around and not worry about anything or anyone to try and stop you. And yeah, there's no way do deal with multiple enemies - try and kill dozens of enemies on a moving platform without using GRP (which is the best and at the same time the most boring thing you can do here), you'll be killed in like 10-20 sec. There's no force puch attack which you clearly see being used by Ferris when you first encounter him, it could've helped you to stun multiple enemies and give you some time to breath and kill a few of them, there no AOE attack of any kind to clear an area around you to prevent being surrounded, all you can do is with the GRP is grab and throw and it sucks., cuz GRP had a lot more potential which is simply not being used or no one thought about it.

Repetitive? Yeah, it sure is, but that's not my problem with it tbh cuz combat loop even as it is now in the game is pretty cool and satisfying. The main problem with the combat is that it is in no way as interesting as what Dead Space has, even considering that Dead Space didn't had melee combat. You can easily bast limbs like you did in Dead Space, so it much harder to slow enemoes down and put them in a weaker state which could give you some tactical advantage. Combat in TCP has potential to be something better, but it wasn't fully realized and it might not be at all cuz sequel is not a given. What's repetitive, boring and awful though, is 4 exact same boss fights (if you can even call them that) cuz you deal with them in pretty much exact same way as with regular enemies with just one difference - you can't kill them using melee attacks and one boss requires you to destroy the shield.

Oh my, you think I had problems with the combat and that's why I complain about it? No, that's not true, melee combat is easy to understand, not difficult at all and pretty simple... way too simple and very limited, if I'm being honest, that's what I don't like about it - all you have to do is hold left stick left or right, read enemies well and that's it. I understood how it all works right from the start and it's not rocket science.

Okay. If you think melee combat is a reinvention of the wheel, then I can’t help you here. Again, I already agreed that it wasn’t that scary. Unless you’re ten years old, these games are more about the eerie atmosphere than general scares. I already said the complaint about the scares was lame.

Like I said, there are flaws with the game. You keep doubling down as if I’m saying it’s perfect. I don’t know what your issue is here. But the combat being easy to figure out and yet so frustrating for you doesn’t make much sense. If it was so easy to figure out, then it wouldn’t bother you so much when facing multiple enemies.

More varied boss fights would be nice. I’ll agree. Still doesn’t really bother me as much as it seems to bother you. I still don’t see this game as being the space age thriller you’re claiming it to be. Still has plenty of horror elements, still has similar pacing throughout. It’s not ME2. It’s not bursting at the seams with action.

If you’re that bothered by the game, that’s fine. You’re still not going to convince me that the arguments about the combat are justified. Just sounds like some don’t know how to approach it properly, or think it’s just another DS.

 

[Agent_4Seven]

But the combat being easy to figure out and yet so frustrating for you doesn’t make much sense.

Where have I said that it's frustrating for me? I haven't said that and I didn't mean it.

If it was so easy to figure out, then it wouldn’t bother you so much when facing multiple enemies.

It bothers me cuz I want more options in combat and the game don't and won't have them. It does not mean that there's no way to deal with multiple enemies, it's just this way is not interesting and boring - throwing enemies to bottomless pits or at spiked walls is nowhere near as satisfying as beating them with the electric baton or shooting them.

I think it's pointless to continue this conversation further, both of us will not agree on certains stuff anyway, so it's better to just leave it at that.

 

[jaysius]

Where have I said that it's frustrating for me? I haven't said that and I didn't mean it.

It bothers me cuz I want more options in combat and the game don't and won't have them. It does not mean that there's no way to deal with multiple enemies, it's just this way is not interesting and boring - throwing enemies to bottomless pits or at spiked walls is nowhere near as satisfying as beating them with the electric baton or shooting them.

I think it's pointless to continue this conversation further, both of us will not agree on certains stuff anyway, so it's better to just leave it at that.

Yea, the dodging to so simple and easy that it feels like a dumb mechanic because, at least early on you end up doing it all the time, so it makes a stupid rhythm to the combat, you're wailing away on a low level enemy and then it's somehow fighting back despite all your successful hits, it's only fighting back to force the shitty mechanic.

I'm very early on, but it's a hard game to want to play, the checkpoints are also shit, if you go off exploring, and die, then you'll restart way too far away from the exploration area.

The game isn't fun, the atmosphere is great, but the gameplay is blah.

 

[Agent_4Seven]

I'm very early on, but it's a hard game to want to play, the checkpoints are also shit, if you go off exploring, and die, then you'll restart way too far away from the exploration area.

Yeah, checkpoints and save systems are broken and needs fixing. Manual saves for example simply don't work like it should and when it comes to checkpoints, you just don't know what'll be saved when you reach checkpoint and whether or not you have to redo some of the stuff you did moments ago (upgraded weapon, looted chest etc.). The game needs new save systems which'll be creating multiple hard autosaves after 5 min each and hard manual saves at any point in the game - somehow I doubt they'll make it happen in any upcoming patches.

 

[jaysius]

Yeah, checkpoints and save systems are broken and needs fixing. Manual saves for example simply don't work like it should and when it comes to checkpoints, you just don't know what'll be saved when you reach checkpoint and whether or not you have to redo some of the stuff you did moments ago (upgraded weapon, looted chest etc.). The game needs new save systems which'll be creating multiple hard autosaves after 5 min each and hard manual saves at any point in the game - somehow I doubt they'll make it happen in any upcoming patches.

Yea, I feel like I'm playing a game from PS3 era, it's really odd.

From the way the rest of the game works, I'm guessing it's "working as intended" aka "we don't know how to fix this and we won't".

 

[Agent_4Seven]

Analysts lower sales targets for Callisto Protocol

Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox After the title's performance, analysts ha…

www.gamesindustry.biz

Well, it does not look like after that the game will get a sequel. If I'd take a wild guess, I'd say the majority of the $2 milliion sales were on consoles and all they can hope for now is to sale the game at discounts during regular sales, which won't help them break-even for how knows how long to recoop development cost as well as DLCs, which are still planned for this year. Not sure if fixing PC version will help cuz that train is either gone already, or will be gone for good if by early February and with the release of NG+ update, they won't fix performance issues.

 

[TonyK]

Question: have they fixed the resolution of RT reflections in XBOX series X? I played the game in PS5 and I loved it and I would want to buy it and replay it in the future in the series X, but the last time I saw a comparison the RT reflections were very blurry compared with PS5. Do you know if it has been fixed or there are plans to fix it?

 

[Agent_4Seven]

January patch is out... and outside of adding NG+ and making shader compilation much faster, it did absolutely nothing to improve performance. There's still huge frametime spikes from 16 to 50ms, RT is still unplayable and RT shadows just as broken as before. I can't even get stable 30 FPS with NIS at 20% and render scale at 70% on top of that in the game @ 4K. CPU utilization is just as awful as before, hovering around 15% at best when the game is not loading new parts of levels on the background. Native 1440p is still unplayable with 60 FPS. At this point it is safe to say that PC port is beyond saving and will never get fixed.

[v. 3.01] January 17, 2023

NEW GAME+

• Users who previously completed the game will have access to NewGame+ after the patch.
  • Application restart may be required.
  • Requires an active save file from game completion.

GLOBAL

• Fixed an issue where some users were not correctly granted the "The Protocol is About Life" achievement
• Added New Game Plus. Complete the game to unlock New Game Plus and carry your pression over to a new save. All weapons, upgrades, and Callisto Credits can be collected at the first Reforge
• General performance optimizations across all platforms
• Players no longer take damage when vaulting over obstacles
• Fixed multiple issues where certain camera angles or progression paths could cause environments to stream out and allow Jacob to fall through the ground
• Consistency pass on cabinets, lockers, and shelves to display correctly in High Contrast mode
• Voice leveling and subtitle mismatch adjustments across localized languages

PC

• Fixed low frequency crash in the Tunnels level during the Two Head fight
• Skip Cinematics button has been mapped to the Interact/Pickup input
• Fixed a long hitch when enabling Ray-Traced Shadows in the main menu
• Prevented mouse cursor from displaying during some area transitions

 

[Agent_4Seven]

January patch is out... and outside of adding NG+ and making shader compilation much faster, it did absolutely nothing to improve performance. There's still huge frametime spikes from 16 to 50ms, RT is still unplayable and RT shadows just as broken as before. I can't even get stable 30 FPS with NIS at 20% and render scale at 70% on top of that in the game @ 4K. CPU utilization is just as awful as before, hovering around 15% at best when the game is not loading new parts of levels on the background. Native 1440p is still unplayable with 60 FPS. At this point it is safe to say that PC port is beyond saving and will never get fixed.

Ok, so, here's what I discovered after testing the game more and this is only related to PC.

Forget about playing the game without FSR 2.0, just forget it cuz either 1) SDS has absolutely incompetent coders / programmers and we'll have to brute-force the game in the future with very serious hardware to play at native resolitons (just like with Arkham Knight or Quantum Break) or 2) there is no hardware yet capable of running the game at native 4K maxed (without RT), with constant 60 or even 30 FPS and without huge frametime spikes and hitches. Also and RT aside, for whatever effin' reason Shadows set to "High" is a HUGE performance hog! To give you guys an example I've recorder benchmark test at 1440p, at 4K it's even worse and that's after shader compilation:



As you can see, with shadows set to "Medium" it's a lot more stable, even with a few and breef 1-2 FPS drops. Now, I can up the resolution to 3135x1764 and still get much more stable 60FPS with "Medium" shadows, while at 3413x 1920 or 3620x2036 I can lock the game to 45FPS easily with FSR 2.0 set to "Quality". BUT! At certain spots in the game FPS still drops below 60 or 45 and I can't explain this. It's like 99% of time everything it's great and then there's just either nothing happens on screen, but turning camera to other direction will get you FPS drop, or either a cut-scene playing (excavator ride with Dani for example) and FPS drops here too (probably loading but CPU utilization during the whole scene is at 20-25% at best) but that's at resolution above 1440p (I haven't tested in this resolution during such FPS drops). I can't blame this on limited VRAM cuz at these points the game wasn't even close to using all 8GBs of VRAM on my 3070 and I'm playing the game from NVMe SSD with 3500Mbp/s read speed.

 

[R6Rider]

I was thinking NG+ was coming next month.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

January patch is out... and outside of adding NG+ and making shader compilation much faster, it did absolutely nothing to improve performance. There's still huge frametime spikes from 16 to 50ms, RT is still unplayable and RT shadows just as broken as before. I can't even get stable 30 FPS with NIS at 20% and render scale at 70% on top of that in the game @ 4K. CPU utilization is just as awful as before, hovering around 15% at best when the game is not loading new parts of levels on the background. Native 1440p is still unplayable with 60 FPS. At this point it is safe to say that PC port is beyond saving and will never get fixed.

New Game Plus already? Hell yeah. I thought they were waiting until the story DLC to add that in.

 

[Agent_4Seven]

I was thinking NG+ was coming next month.

New Game Plus already? Hell yeah. I thought they were waiting until the story DLC to add that in.

Well, the plan was to release an update on Feb 7th with NG+, I guess they've finished the work on NG+ early and released it yesterday along with improvements to shader compilation process and FSR 2.0 performance. Story DLC is planned for summer of this year, we'll have to wait and find out if they'll manage to make it happen. Recent reviews on Steam are "Mostly Positive" now

 

[Agent_4Seven]

Recorded this just for laughs

Spoiler

I mean, even after all this bs, there is no frametime consistency whatsoever even if FPS counter says 60 - which means nothing here, it says 60, but it sure as hell does not feel like it, even in 768p with everything on low (where possible) or turned off and FSR Performance.

 

[R6Rider]

Newest Patch is out!

Size: 13.5GB (PS5)

[v.3.02] February 7, 2023
Hardcore Mode
A challenging take on The Callisto Protocol’s survival-horror experience, intended to push you to your limits, Hardcore mode is not for the faint of heart. Here’s what you can expect;

• Ammo, health and credits are harder to come by and not every Biophage will drop loot.
• Increased enemy damage
• Decreased Stun Baton damage
• Increased enemy mutation speed
• Contraband value is reduced
• Hardcore Mode New Game+ (requires completion of standard Hardcore Mode playthrough)
• New Achievements / Trophies to hunt

Global

• Players that were not correctly granted the “The Protocol is About Life” achievement upon completing the game will be automatically granted the achievement
• Localization fixes for leveling and VO/subtitle mismatches
• Optimized enemy combat AI when player is surrounded by multiple enemies

Steam Deck

• Updated font rendering and UI elements for readability
• Created a rendering functionality profile specifically for Steam Deck with the best settings for smooth gameplay
• Updated control schemes for SteamDeck controls

PC Specific

• Ray tracing performance improvements

 

[saintjules]

 

[VeganElduderino]

I wonder what is dismemberment mode !?

 

[Bartski]

I wonder what is dismemberment mode !?

I'd gladly replay on Hardcore NG+ if only I didn't have to play it twice as you need a regular NG hardcore to unlock NG+ hardcore, that really sucks

 

[drotahorror]

So I grabbed this on PS5 through gamestop's b1g1 free sale this week. I typically go with PC, but knew the PS5 version was pretty solid.

I had low-medium expectations for this but definitely was eager to play it.

The Good:
- Graphics are amazing
- Voice acting is really good
- Sound design is solid
- Art direction is very good (creatures and some environments were top notch)
- Story is fine
- First half of the game is pretty fun (although my main complaint still stands for this part of the game as well)

The Bad:
My biggest complaint and #1 reason why I will not buy this on PC to play ever again (and sold my ps5 copy on ebay before I even beat the game)
- The crawling through vents, the shimmying through tight spots, the forced walking for NO reason. Like you can be running and then you're literally walking for no reason at all, no talking is happening, no muck on the ground, it just decided you needed to walk (I guess it's loading? which shouldn't be an issue with PS5's nvme drive). The chapters "Below" and "Colony" were absolutely awful. Tons of forced walking, shimmying, tons of crouching/stealthing. Straight up destroyed the pacing of the game.
- Enemy types, barely any. They all fight the same, the strategy never changes, and it's just not that fun to fight them. You either have single/double/triple attackers then you bash them and shoot when it tells you. It's repetitive as hell. One mini boss that's just as easy as any other enemy that they recycle 3 or 4 times. And a main boss that wasn't very threatening either.

5/10

That being said, I would love to see what they would do for a sequel. The groundwork has been laid, but I don't know how bad the game did sales wise or if there is even enough interest for a sequel. Some straight up baffling design choices that I can't believe got the greenlight, ruined this game (performance on PC was brutal as well I heard, especially at launch).

 

[Nickolaidas]

Biggest gaming disappointment for me since I don't know when. Insultingly mediocre, which hurts when you remember what came before this game by the same people.

 

[analog_future]

Just finished this game, and I must say, I’m shocked by the super low review scores.

Production values were phenomenal, sound design was excellent, story was solid, and I found the melee focused gameplay to be quite fun.

Biggest complaints were lack of a map, odd lack of clarity on which direction was “extra section to get more items or collectibles” and which direction continued the main story, some strange pacing/health & item placement/save & checkpoint placement stuff, and the final boss was a grating chore to get through.

It really felt like a very ambitious but flawed first entry from a really promising new developer. I hope the disappointing reviews and sales don’t force them to scale back, because this game makes me supremely confident that this team could put together a true masterpiece down the line.

As is, great game with some significant annoyances. 7.9/10

Oh and I played Gotham Knights just before this and I can’t even fathom that that fucking piece of shit game has a higher review average than this. Just absolutely insane to me.

 

[Karppuuna]

It took me 6h to beat this one easy difficulty, and the ending was disappointment, specially if the sell DLC to continue the story.

 

[solidus12]

Has the game gotten better? with all the patches and game modes added?
I'm planning to get the game in a few days after I finish Dead Space remake.

 

[R6Rider]

Has the game gotten better? with all the patches and game modes added?
I'm planning to get the game in a few days after I finish Dead Space remake.

Well, I've enjoyed it since launch, but they have made some improvements overall. Only thing they changed for the worse (been a while since I played though) is the faster healing and animation.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Has the game gotten better? with all the patches and game modes added?
I'm planning to get the game in a few days after I finish Dead Space remake.

It's nowhere near as good as the Dead Space remake. As soon as i'd finished dead space I was ready for seconds. Even my wife was jelaous.

Calisto? It's like the fat girl after a few pints.

 

[Agent_4Seven]

Has the game gotten better? with all the patches and game modes added?
I'm planning to get the game in a few days after I finish Dead Space remake.

It's mostly fixed when it comes to problems Dead Space remake will have forever (traversal stutters), but CPU utilization is not fixed, at some points in the game loading stutters are still present and there's only shitty FSR and no DLSS.

 

[Sleepwalker]

Sign me up for the DLC.

Rip tommib

 

[Werewolf Jones]

I'd get the DLC but gotta wait for sale.

 

[Con-Z-epT]

 

[Inuteu]

playin the game right now on PS5 and enjoying a lot

dont believe the bad reviews

it has some flaws but its not that bad

graphics wise I think is one of the best if not the best I saw this year

 

[Kakax11]

Another day and another 12gb+ patch on PC

 

[Nickolaidas]

Speaking of PC ... it runs MUCH better now on my 2080Ti. Sure, I have the settings on Medium with Super AMD up-rez but half a year ago the game ran like shit even with that. Now I get a butter smooth 60fps!

 

[semiconscious]

so, what with it being available as a ps+ monthly game as of today: am i the only one congratulating themselves on having not bought this game? the moment-to-moment structural similarities to dead space are pretty bizarre, & the absence of any kind of personality, or environmental distinctiveness, at least so far, makes it kind difficult to maintain interest. it all just feels very 'fabricated', like a game developed by an ai exposed to a batch of survival horror titles. there's nothing (other than maybe the lackluster combat/enemies) inherently bad about it, but there's nothing that's managed to grab me & make me want to see what happens next, either. basically, it's even worse than i thought it might be. i'm surprised...

 

[Mobilemofo]

so, what with it being available as a ps+ monthly game as of today: am i the only one congratulating themselves on having not bought this game? the moment-to-moment structural similarities to dead space are pretty bizarre, & the absence of any kind of personality, or environmental distinctiveness, at least so far, makes it kind difficult to maintain interest. it all just feels very 'fabricated', like a game developed by an ai exposed to a batch of survival horror titles. there's nothing (other than maybe the lackluster combat/enemies) inherently bad about it, but there's nothing that's managed to grab me & make me want to see what happens next, either. basically, it's even worse than i thought it might be. i'm surprised...

No, I too am glad I never bought it. I was on the fence about it originally, and now I'm off the fence, and I have my big boy pants on.

I'm not even sure I'll download it, or even add it to my library...it's screams 'meh'.

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

No, I too am glad I never bought it. I was on the fence about it originally, and now I'm off the fence, and I have my big boy pants on.

I'm not even sure I'll download it, or even add it to my library...it's screams 'meh'.

Its actually pretty good game, not meh. Just at the time whoever paid $70 got a buggy game with limited checkpoints and kinda repetative gameplay but it still kept the gameplay interesting, I never felt bored. Actually I could barely keep it down once I started to play but then again I paid only $10 so for me it was worth it. Reviews shit on it way too much, theres 20 other modern games I can say that scored better that are absolute MEH compared to Calisto. Game is worth your time for sure, especially if its free.

Id say this is the Driveclub scenario. Buggy release that actually had a pretty good game underneath it that did get fixed but now the main guy left and studio disolved? There was potential for Calisto 2 to kick ass but we will never see it. Just like we wont see Driveclub 2 or Days Gone 2.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Spent the last few days thoroughly playing through The Callisto Protocol, enjoyed it enough to go for the plat trophy. Happy I gave it a chance and downloaded it but let me start at the beginning.

My immediate first impression was "Jesus Christ what is this low FOV?", felt myself getting dizzy within a couple of minutes. Checked settings, no FOV slider, I'd usually delete the game right there. I *could* turn off camera shake/motion blur and that always helps so I decided to stick with it and eventually adjusted (FOV is still trash though).

The very first battle had me laughing with glee! The melee combat is brutal, kinetic and - date I say it - *visceral* lol. Definitely sets itself apart from Dead Space in some way which is important because it copies it in so many others. The combat overall is the highlight of TCP. Mixing up melee, gunplay and telekinesis never got old, blood and brain matter dynamically painting the environment, limbs tearing, skulls shattering, bodies impaled, it's quite the spectacle.

The visuals are likewise impressive, most of the time looking "next-gen", here are some photo mode shots I took for emphasis (relevant to point out in Performance Mode):

Having said that the overall aesthetic and tone of the environments is very one note, this penal colony has nothing on the Ishimura and it's surrounding environs. Everything is overly dark, lots of reliance on flickering lights and narrow corridors (with a short, midgame exception. There is one gameplay "mechanic" that goes beyond annoying into the comical in how much it's overused: crawling through vents/squeezing through tight spaces. Let me be clear, in all my years of gaming I've never seen this used to such a degree, I kind of have to admire how obnoxious it's implementation is!

Voices overall are solid, story is mostly "been there, done that". You've got your classic audio logs to collect which help flesh out the narrative and it's characters otherwise the game is quite linear. Bosses are another weak point, needed more and with greater variety in design but overall I dug the enemy variety and look. As much as TCP it borrows from Dead Spaces it also has shades of Resident Evil and The Last of Us, think T virus shenanigans and duckwalking to sneak up on clickers to silently take them down.

On a recent episode of Sacred Symbols Colin mentioned the budget of the game was close to $170 million, that is absolutely outrageous and no surprise it didn't meet internal expectations. We know Schofield has left the studio and chances of a sequel are zero to none. Shame, despite it's flaws there is something solid and enjoyable here to build upon, could have been the next big franchise in action-horror, guess it wasn't meant to be.

In closing if you dig this genre of game and have PS+ give it a shot, might surprise you.

 

[Power Pro]

I know this game has gotten a lot of negative criticism, and I didn't really plan on getting it, but Gamestop had some good deals today, and I was able to get a new copy of this for PS5 under $5. Some people seem to think that it's not even worth that. Wondering what some of you who have played it would say.

Also was hoping that some folks might have talked about if the DLC was any good, but doesn't seem like anyone here got it, or no one commented on it.

 

[Mobilemofo]

I know this game has gotten a lot of negative criticism, and I didn't really plan on getting it, but Gamestop had some good deals today, and I was able to get a new copy of this for PS5 under $5. Some people seem to think that it's not even worth that. Wondering what some of you who have played it would say.

Also was hoping that some folks might have talked about if the DLC was any good, but doesn't seem like anyone here got it, or no one commented on it.

I'm waiting til it hits the £2.00 mark. Another year or so, I'm golden...

 

[Chuck Berry]

Spent the last few days thoroughly playing through The Callisto Protocol, enjoyed it enough to go for the plat trophy. Happy I gave it a chance and downloaded it but let me start at the beginning.

My immediate first impression was "Jesus Christ what is this low FOV?", felt myself getting dizzy within a couple of minutes. Checked settings, no FOV slider, I'd usually delete the game right there. I *could* turn off camera shake/motion blur and that always helps so I decided to stick with it and eventually adjusted (FOV is still trash though).

The very first battle had me laughing with glee! The melee combat is brutal, kinetic and - date I say it - *visceral* lol. Definitely sets itself apart from Dead Space in some way which is important because it copies it in so many others. The combat overall is the highlight of TCP. Mixing up melee, gunplay and telekinesis never got old, blood and brain matter dynamically painting the environment, limbs tearing, skulls shattering, bodies impaled, it's quite the spectacle.

The visuals are likewise impressive, most of the time looking "next-gen", here are some photo mode shots I took for emphasis (relevant to point out in Performance Mode):

Having said that the overall aesthetic and tone of the environments is very one note, this penal colony has nothing on the Ishimura and it's surrounding environs. Everything is overly dark, lots of reliance on flickering lights and narrow corridors (with a short, midgame exception. There is one gameplay "mechanic" that goes beyond annoying into the comical in how much it's overused: crawling through vents/squeezing through tight spaces. Let me be clear, in all my years of gaming I've never seen this used to such a degree, I kind of have to admire how obnoxious it's implementation is!

Voices overall are solid, story is mostly "been there, done that". You've got your classic audio logs to collect which help flesh out the narrative and it's characters otherwise the game is quite linear. Bosses are another weak point, needed more and with greater variety in design but overall I dug the enemy variety and look. As much as TCP it borrows from Dead Spaces it also has shades of Resident Evil and The Last of Us, think T virus shenanigans and duckwalking to sneak up on clickers to silently take them down.

On a recent episode of Sacred Symbols Colin mentioned the budget of the game was close to $170 million, that is absolutely outrageous and no surprise it didn't meet internal expectations. We know Schofield has left the studio and chances of a sequel are zero to none. Shame, despite it's flaws there is something solid and enjoyable here to build upon, could have been the next big franchise in action-horror, guess it wasn't meant to be.

In closing if you dig this genre of game and have PS+ give it a shot, might surprise you.

Chances of a sequel are zero. Play the DLC.

 

[Bernardougf]

Just playing it on PS5 ... game is boring as fuck .. zero personality ... I just find myself walking from A to B because reasons and killing the same enemys the same ways over and over and over ... And I fucking hate this mysterious storys this fucking games keep trying to do, YOU ARE NOT SOME GENIUS WRITER, wright a fucking simple competent story and be done with it

Shitty game 4/10

Dead Space is infinitely better.

 

[xVodevil]

Got this with the current humble choice keys going for cheap, played it for like 2 hours last night. This seems like it's gonna be real fun, looks pretty awesome too! Especially for a first time horror experience on my new OLED, goddamn hello darkness baby! Expected much worse, but so far my only complaint is the missing DLSS, but hey whatever..