The Callisto Protocol review - a Dead Space-alike built on simpler pleasures

Let's get it out of the way right off the bat, shall we? The answer is: yes. Yes, The Callisto Protocol is Dead Space in fancy threads.

Yes, The Callisto Protocol - just like Dead Space - takes place in deepest, darkest space hundreds of years from now. Yes, The Callisto Protocol - just like Dead Space - features horrifying zombies that don't shuffle and moan as much as they screech and barrel towards you. Yes, The Callisto Protocol - just like Dead Space - explores not just the horror of an infectious disease that reanimates the dead, but that of humanity's cold, blind ambition, too. In some respects, it does these things better than Dead Space; in others, not so much. Either way, I had a bloody good time.

Should we be surprised the games share so much DNA given they've been created (or co-created, in Dead Space's case) by the same man? Probably not. Having replayed Dead Space quite recently, Isaac Clark's ordeal burns bright in my mind, so - consciously and unconsciously - I compared the two pretty much all the way through. With similarities almost too numerous to count - Jacob's Core health bar, the inventory menu, the dismemberment system, the signature stomp, there's even a gondola scene! - I suspect it'll be hard for anyone who's played Dead Space not to make those comparisons. It's a shame, really, that Callisto will never be free from Dead Space's formidable shadow, because what it delivers - decent combat, unsettling environments, masterful light and audio design, effective voice acting - stands utterly on its own merits.

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