The Callisto Protocol is the new game from Dead Space's original director Glen Schofield and it shows in the product a lot. What we get is a few advancements of the formula put forward in the Dead Space games while also, unfortunately taking a few back. Callisto boasts itself in the survival horror genre of games and the way that it pulls that off with it's overall atmosphere and tone is brilliant. Throughout all of it's environments there are so many inspired little moments and details that become awfully memorable and grin worthy as you progress through. In particular, around the middle of portion of the game you come across a very long stretching hallway, drowned in darkness. The only light source being what seems to be a smokey, grey doorway at the end of the hall, a shot that feels straight out of Alien. Callisto is also an incredibly beautiful game, one of the best looking games of the generation so far, if the story doesn't entirely sell it for you then the painstakingly realistic blood splatters and gore effects will most certainly get you to squirm at least once or twice.
However, that isn't even my favourite part of Callisto, that honour goes to the ever present and ever rewarding combat. Callisto has one of my favorite combat systems in any of these linear, survival horror games as it both rewards you for playing tactically and taking the time to actually learn the system while also punishing you severely for overstretching you hand and getting too confident. The way that Callisto separates it's combat apart from it's competition is by a complete overhaul of the dodge mechanic. Typically, in almost every game, you'd have your dodge mapped to L1 and R1, it's standard. However Callisto looks to challenge that perception by striking you away from you comfort zone and mapping it to the same thing you use to move, the left analog stick. It's left and right to dodge each way and back to block. This method leaves you constantly thinking and improving your timing as you are consistently looking at the enemies' attack patterns for the opening window. An improvement on something like Dead Space for example as, after a while, the player becomes too used to the dodge almost being a safety net that is all too easy to fall into. Callisto's safety net is challenging to hit but all the more satisfying to pull off.
However, that isn't even my favourite part of Callisto, that honour goes to the ever present and ever rewarding combat. Callisto has one of my favorite combat systems in any of these linear, survival horror games as it both rewards you for playing tactically and taking the time to actually learn the system while also punishing you severely for overstretching you hand and getting too confident. The way that Callisto separates it's combat apart from it's competition is by a complete overhaul of the dodge mechanic. Typically, in almost every game, you'd have your dodge mapped to L1 and R1, it's standard. However Callisto looks to challenge that perception by striking you away from you comfort zone and mapping it to the same thing you use to move, the left analog stick. It's left and right to dodge each way and back to block. This method leaves you constantly thinking and improving your timing as you are consistently looking at the enemies' attack patterns for the opening window. An improvement on something like Dead Space for example as, after a while, the player becomes too used to the dodge almost being a safety net that is all too easy to fall into. Callisto's safety net is challenging to hit but all the more satisfying to pull off.