The first next gen horror video game is The Callisto Protocol. The creators of Dead Space have released their newest creation and it brings with it, not a revolutionary, horror video game, but rather an example of what a great all around good horror video game should be from here on out in the life cycle of the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 sadly there are no plans for it coming out on the Nintendo Switch.
Intro – The Beginning of a New Era For Survival Horror Is Now!
You’ve probably heard in Twitter, the #SurvivalHorrorIsBack
Let me tell you that it is! The Callisto protocol is the first game in a series of survival horror video games that are going to be coming out in the next 12 months, making the year 2023 the best year for survival horror video game fans in a while.
The Callisto Protocol is not a game changer when it comes to survival horror game story telling, but it is rather a great simple, hard, and immersive survival horror genre experience that any action survival horror game fan should play.
Gameplay
Like most horror games the gameplay is simple, but hard to master, yet it doesn’t take long to master it. The player character is played thru a third person linear melee shooter experience, more action games like, with minor exploration which I don’t mind. It doesn’t have any first person to third person switching of gameplay point of view like the new DLC for Resident Evil Village.
It provides you the player with enough firepower in weapons to stay alive and survive the adventure, with the likes of 3D printed modular pistols, shotguns and assault rifles, coupled with Jedi like force gloves to take on your opponents so plentiful of armory, but you actually have an entire melee fighting system at your disposal which isn’t something we had in Dead Space. You can upgrade all of these weapons and tools with currency that you get from selling extra stuff you find in the world.
It isn’t really a horror game where you have to do a lot of inventory management though. It is actually a positive in my opinion by having limited resources you don’t end up distracted by being able to just focus on the horror fiction and the many monsters that are in the game.
Yet that doesn’t mean that the aliens in the game world are going to be pushovers though, because they come just as strong, but lacking in variety about half way thru the horror game. About halfway or a little over that you have seeing them all and it gets a bit stale in enemy encounters towards the end of the game making it a weak point in the survival horror elements list, but none the less every reveal is breathtaking and exciting since it always comes with a disturbing atmosphere and cinematic action that is above and beyond what most survival horror games deliver.
The environment is filled with many characters at times adding to the claustrophobic environment, but it comes with spots that can also be used to eliminate the enemy threats by pushing or throwing monsters into fan blades, which sound awesome more on that in the sound section of this video, and or just throw them off to the abysm.
Besides having quick times events with action elements there is not much when it comes to solving puzzles which the likes of the resident evil and silent hill best horror games incorporate into their gameplay.
Story
For those of you who have heard this game is directed and made by Glen Schofield original team leader of one if not the best survival horror game, in the survival horror genre, in my opinion of all time Dead Space. Him and some new and veterans of the Dead Space team worked on The Callisto Protocol horror game.
So you will see a resemblance in gameplay from their previous games, but with more melee power than Isaac Clarke ever had in his original game. It also dwells more in realistic sci-fi with technology rather than paranormal like in the Dead Space game.
I will have a video review of Dead Space Remake/remaster in January 2023 when it comes out so stay put with a sub if you like to see that video and if there is a sequel to this game I’ll for sure keep you posted.
Graphics/Performance
This title is available on Xbox series X/S, and Xbox one X Xbox One S, and PC with PS5 and PS4. I think on next gen consoles it feels and looks next gen, but on the Xbox One S it doesn’t, but Xbox One X it would too, yet it doesn’t, do to the texture popping that happens often, not bad, but it is noticeable.
I also recommend you set your gamma settings to Monitor SRGB instead of TV 2.1 or TV 2.2 specially if you are using an OLED tv so you can get better blacks like you should be aiming for in color grading even for horror movies.
Make sure that for the 60 FPS Performance mode you have VRR – Variable Refresh Rate enabled for the best experience. Guide on that HERE!
Real quick the vibrations in this game are one of the best I’ve ever experienced. I’m saving up to buy it for my PS5 cause I’ve heard it is amazing on that controller which sadly many games on that platform haven’t taken advantage of lately, but on Xbox it is really good and it surely pushes the Xbox controller to its limits.
As you can see the Frames or Fps performance on Xbox One S and Xbox One X are not great and for people playing on the hardest difficulty it is going to be a struggle. The input lag is kept at an acceptable level though and the gameplay is slow so it is not game breaking.
Xbox One X still looks good though, but the Xbox One S it is obviously the very low settings on a pc. It is not though a Cyberpunk level of performance so don’t worry Xbox One players just maybe wait for a sale if you are on Xbox One S.
On the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S side of things they deliver a sharp image none the less, surprising coming form the Xbox Series S, but of course the Xbox Series X comes with higher texture assets and ray traced shadows and reflections which the latter is missing until an update gets released just be aware of that.
Xbox Series S only runs at 30 FPS dynamic 1440p I believe and the Xbox Series X is of course dynamic 4k with either a 30 fps mode with ray tracing or 60 fps mode without ray tracing. I think the game still plays great at 30 fps and it looks much better to me so I played it all at 30 fps.
I will say that for the higher difficulty and the new Game+ and hardcore difficulty coming next year the 60 fps mode is going to be a must. Be aware though that this area I chose is to show you the worst of the game’s performance and it is similar to some heavy combat areas that you will experience in the game, but for the majority of the game you are getting a decent 30 fps or 50 to 60 fps and not this level of bad.
Also to finish loading times after death are a pain on older xbox one consoles while the next gen consoles it is fun to wait only 3-5 seconds to try again.
Sound
I would say the sound design is almost as important to me as the graphics themselves for survival horror games, and this Callisto protocol delivers one of the best sound design in survival horror games, that I’ve heard in a while.
By the way fun detail is that this will make both Xbox One consoles run their fans quite fast in order to fight to stay cool.
I invite you to check out my Twitter and Facebook where I will be posting videos that show case the high level of quality in attention to detail in the sound design of this horror game.
Suffice to say, this is a new standard of quality that I hope other new horror games are going to aim for when it comes to sound design.
Achievements/Fan Service
It is not good for replay ability, but it is great for an achievement hunter because you can pretty much get all the achievements in one play through of about 10-12 hours according to TrueAchievements as long as you are willing to be destroyed on the harder difficulty for the first half of the game until you learn the mechanics well enough to dominate, but it is not an impossible feat because it is not perma death or any of that crap just make sure you keep them healing items handy at all times.
The fan service in the sense of jump scares and horror is there for sure, but as a man of culture it doesn’t deliver a lot so be warned you thirsty bastards and instead focus on the strong narrative that is there even if its very existence is in one form really simple. I’m excited for them to add, hopefully, more achievements once the DLC content drops next year though.
Conclusion -The Beginning of a New Era For Survival Horror Is Now!
I believe this has the potential of becoming one of the best series of games of all time for survival horror with a focus on more realistic action, sci-fi, fear, scary, and I hope to see more of Jacob and Danny in the future specially, with the DLC content for the story coming 2023 summer so stay put with a subscribe to the channel and a like, if you like this content, it supports me to be able to create content like this for you and I hope to see you in the next video peace out!
