the Alien Covenant to Dead Space's Alien. everything is more modern and sleek, the rusted over hard-laboured charm of the original has been sanded smooth. there are very edges to this game. everything about the first Dead Space made you feel like you'd a tetanus shot just playing it with a controller.

conversely, The Callisto Protocol feels like a smooth-edged, highly developed completely sterile tech demo. You will spend more time shimmying through loading screens disguised as nooks and vents, and QTE'ing your way through more tightly scripted, if crisply designed linear corridors. this uncharted level of game design is catnip to me but even I grew bored of this and it's only about an 8 hour game.

creative director Glen Schofield clearly has one idea: Resident Evil 4 but what if in a space mine. and to his credit, it's a nice idea. but it's kind of laughable to play through all the exact the same shit again. same basic controls, enemies, settings, and weapons - except this time there's an added emphasis on brutal melee combat that leaves your guy covered in blood. again, nice. but leaves you bored after a while.

this started as a PUBG tie-in of sorts. i remember playing Remedy's CrossfireX tie-in shooter campaign, and exactly as was the case with that game, this game's script has the distinct feel of having been knocked out in 3 hours during a toilet break. feels like one idea stretched too far, which is in line with the rest of the game, tbf.

still didn't hate it. nice gore.