I won’t tell you that The Callisto Protocol is perfect, or that it even lives up to the expectations we might have had when we heard the director of Dead Space had a new horror game. But almost two years after it was released, Striking Distance’s debut work, which builds on the formulas of Resident Evil and of course the various outings of Isaac Clarke, is due a reappraisal. The latter half of The Callisto Protocol might struggle – the gun combat can be fussy, and some of the scares and enemy designs are rote – but there are some good ideas and great moments in here. If you’ve been cautious about trying The Callisto Protocol, you can now throw that to the wind.
Directed by Glen Scholfield, co-creator of Dead Space, and released in 2022, The Callisto Protocol casts you as Jacob Lee, a new inmate at the fearsome Black Iron Prison. Not long after he’s thrown in his cell, a bizarre contagion gets loose, transforming convicts and guards into screeching, fleshy monstrosities.
The opening couple of hours are the strongest, when The Callisto Protocol leans most heavily on its central gimmick, an intuitive melee combat system where you have to use directional buttons to dodge and execute attacks based on your opponents’ body language. As a horror game, it’s also at its best during the first act, when you have limited resources and little idea about why the outbreak is happening.
Writing her Callisto Protocol review, our very own Nat Smith was equally impressed, awarding Striking Distance’s freshman effort a supremely admirable 9/10. Director Glen Schofied has recently gone on record regarding some of the issues within Callisto’s development, particularly with the game’s publisher, Krafton. Nevertheless, if you’ve been waiting for a good reason to give this a try, we’ve got one for you.
From Thursday August 22 until Thursday August 29, The Callisto Protocol is completely free on the Epic Games Store. Naturally, you’ll need to make an Epic account, but once that’s done, you can download Callisto and keep it forever. If you want to take advantage of that opportunity, just head here.
Alternatively, try some of the best survival games, or maybe the best free PC games available right now.
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