The 20% discount came in clutch
Shimmying
It’s interesting as it’s trading some of your health to access a powerful sweep to immobilize an enemy. Sure in 1 on 1 fights, it’s simple to dodge, but you might not have the time to dodge or need to focus on something else. The camera, combat design and everything work together surprisingly nicely.
I see the reasoning behind an infinite resource with the Baton. It’s like in Resident Evil with the knife. It’s the absolute failstate if the player has completely run out of options and essentially soft-locked out of progress. Unlike Resident Evil, the action-horror Callisto protocol doesn’t leave escaping combat as an option. You have to confront confrontation to progress. Think of the worst-case Dead Space player, who emptied all their rounds into a wall because their brother spammed while they were in the toilet. Should we design the game around that failstate? That’s obviously a very edge case, but it doesn’t sound far-fetched for someone to be completely out of ammo before a big fight in Dead Space, then what do you do? There’s some kinesis, canisters and spears to impale enemies, but it isn’t immediately evident. In Callisto, you have your bright sparkling baton. It’s trying to remove that edge case because it really doesn’t seem right that if you’re completely out of ammo, the best course of action is to reload a save. That takes you out of the game.
This is the order of Dead-space-esq games i’ve played. Original in December 2021, Dead Space 2 in late 2022, Callisto Protocol in January 2023, and Dead Space remake in February 2023. I say that leaves me with pretty unbiased eyes. I say that all 4 of these games are pretty much neck in neck, and very solid 8’s. The gunshots sound surprisingly good. because it sounds like something finicky from a 3d printer, the build looking barebones and literally stripped down to a plastic structure, as the bullets whistle through the air.
The game is Dead Space 2.5, when what we all expected was Dead Space 1.5. Once you accept that, it’s actually pretty awesome.
Yes the game is linear, and so was Dead Space 2. Where Dead Space 2 had Necromorphs swarm you from every angle, having you frantically checking each side to ensure you are covered, Callisto does so with the methodical camera, the lock-on system that forces you to engage with a singular enemy when they demand it. Both ways work, and I found myself stressed just like Dead Space 2 when an enemy was off-screen. When the game isn’t frame-dropping the ball, honestly I can’t help the little kid inside that goes woahh when Jacob un-holsters his baton, the dramatic camera zoom, and the menacing sizz of electricity that lights up the dark. I think his baton is a very strong contender for an iconic video game weapon, the presentation is stellar and it’s a workhorse throughout the game. Weapons and Melee attacks, weaving in GRP moves to pull enemies close for powerful swings or to hurl them at hazards, or hazards at them. It’s simple but quite effective. It reminds me of God of War Ragnarok, though the latter is obviously a work of art objectively, while this is more a wade through unclear muck.
This is definitely flawed. Way. Too. Much. Crawling. Shimmying. Crouching. And glacial doesn’t begin to cut it. I’ve never controlled a more sluggish character. I get immersion. I get disempowerment. But holy ♥♥♥♥ let me feel like i’m not swimming through slush when i’m sprinting, and everything else is somehow even slower. I thought the climbing in Ragnarok was agonizing, but even in an immersive horror experience where my tolerence is way higher, this is too much. I get the criticisms of the story and characters feeling flat, but I was entertained.
Combat has enemies feeling unpredictable and dangerous, even with your infinite use baton, you often still really like to have bullets to take down more dangerous threats. It’s a good kind of unpredictable, thought it toes that fine line at times. Combat encounters are tense, and that’s paramount for a action-horror game, which it somehow made work despite melee and infinite use of it breaking the philosophy that drives what came before. But the deviation works in it’s favour, making it stand out and I’d say the game is better off for it.
