The Callisto Protocol has officially launched on consoles and PC, and early reviews of the game paint a bit of a mixed picture.
Currently sitting at a 76 on Metacritic, that’s likely a bit lower than some were expecting, although not a bad score in any regard. Most reviews seem to agree that The Callisto Protocol starts out incredibly strong but loses a lot of steam as the experience continues. Critics universally praise the dazzling visual presentation and graphics but say the combat and action can start to feel far too finicky in the later stages.
Game Informer gave the game a 6/10, saying
“The Callisto Protocol is still doing a lot of what Dead Space did, for better and worse. And to that end, there are moments of fun, even if, in contrast, they’re light on genuine terror. I’m okay with The Callisto Protocol being another version of its spiritual predecessor, but it struggles to nail even the basics.”
Another 6/10 review from Inverse echoes the same ideas,
“The Callisto Protocol succeeds as a desolate and brutal survival horror experience in its opening hours. But the second half is hindered by massive difficulty spikes and clunky melee combat. Callisto will likely hook you at first, but it fails to stick the landing due to its excessively frustrating late-game enemies.”
Dexerto is one of the more positive reviews, awarding The Callisto Protocol 5/5 stars and saying
“A wonderfully exhausting exercise in futility is probably the best way of describing The Callisto Protocol as no matter the strength of my own resolve, I was constantly on edge and reveling in those fleeting moments where the game allowed me to breathe following yet another life-threatening fight. The constant fear and dread incited by the phenomenal visual and sound design are only complemented by the compelling story.”
Meanwhile, on the lower side of things, TheGamer gave a score of 5/10, finding The Callisto Protocol an overall tedious experience,
“It’s a shame that The Callisto Protocol is so uninteresting at its core. Though it looks gorgeous on the surface, a dozen hours of nothing special can have a clarifying effect. Like a monstrous two-headed enemy banging Jacob’s head into the ground until it collapses, the game’s tedium forces you to reckon with the fact that there just isn’t much once the facade splatters away.”
Here’s a quick overview of some additional review
- Gfinity (9/10) – “The Callisto Protocol gave me nightmares. It’s the best horror game of the year, and a bright new contender in the survival horror genre.”
- PlayStation Universe (7.5/10) – “First out of the gate in what will be a bevy of survival titles in the coming months, The Callisto Protocol is a solid maiden effort from developer Striking Distance Studios and one that has laid the groundwork what is hopefully to come.”
- Wccftech (7.2/10) – “The Callisto Protocol, throughout all of the tension and suspense, can’t mask the terrors within might only be surface deep.
- IGN (7/10) – “The Callisto Protocol is a satisfyingly gory spiritual successor to the Dead Space series, but it’s ultimately more of a striking modern mimic than a scary new mutation.”
- VGC (3/5) – “The Callisto Protocol delivers the violence, intensity and horror that lives up to its Dead Space predecessor, but with deeper strategic combat. However, a cliché story and lack of original ideas means that it has one tentacle stuck in the past.”
The Callisto Protocol is currently available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
