The Calisto Protocol (2 years later)

So being a Dead Space fan I was really bummed that TCP received such poor reception upon launch. Especially the PC and Xbox versions. I thought I' d wait for some patches and eventually pick up on sale. It launched on Game Pass a while back and finally got around to playing it...and well the best praise I can give is.... I kinda loved it.

Let me first off admit I'm a graphics whore and easily amused. Games like The Order 1886 and Ryse Son of Rome, that have stunning visuals but simple gameplay and short single player campaigns still appeal to me if Im not paying full price. As with those titles TCP looks absolutely gorgeous in visual dept, the combat is simple yet I found it satisfyingly brutal, and the length isnt too short at around 12 hours.

Now some may replace the word simple with boring as far as the combat and I thinks thats fair but I still enjoyed it. I have to mention I played on min security (Easy mode) and I still died a fair amount due to the at times shitty camera and my own impatience or experimenting. I also only played like an hour or so at a time so the combat didnt really get a chance to get stale. The melee combat is pretty much dodge, strike, repeat with a very simple dodge mechanic. Throw in some guns and a kinesis throw ability and you have a decent but at this point kinda standard mix of offensive options. There are not many guns and they arent all that impressive as far each gun adding new tactics to the fight but they are upgradable. What I enjoy is frankly the spectacle ,weight , and punch of combat. Bodies, blood and chunks of flesh fly in all directions and scatter on the walls . I even enjoyed my own deaths as they play out like fatalities on Mortal Kombat.

The gameplay is also pretty linear. There is no map or objective markers. There are branching paths and discoverable areas but you cant just go off an get lost in the environment. The discoverable areas that often bring you deep into these extremely claustrophobic and dark places were some of my favorite parts of the game. And it all looks stunning. I could gush on and on about the visuals.Its for the most part metal hallways covered in blood, gore and alien bio mass but its all so detailed with incredible lighting. Each gameplay session there were areas that I just stopped and stared in awe of the environment. Music was serviceable... sound effects were very good especially all the little ambient noises.

Now for the bad. The story is almost non existent. Even with the DLC's added info and" true ending" there just isnt much to dig into. A simple story can be fine if the characters are interesting but there just isn't any character development at all. They are portrayed and voiced acted well but there just isnt anything there to emotionally tether to imo.

You can also really see the reported abrupt cut in development time. From the recycle of bosses to the fairly limited enemy and weapon types to environments that just seem to be missing content. Lastly as I mentioned the camera can suck in combat. Getting whacked by enemies outside my view was a common occurrence and perhaps my lack of frustration that other players felt over the combat was because I was playing on easy mode and was not getting badly damage with each strike of the enemy. Some folks also complain about how slow Jacob moves but I didnt mind it. It adds to the weighty feel of the whole game that I liked.

Having a shite story, uninteresting characters, and somewhat uninspired and flawed gameplay should be major turn offs for me but traipsing through the Iron Gate Prison was such visual feast and the bashing, shooting, and impaling of mutated humans just didn't get old for me. If you can get it for cheap or try it on Game Pass I recommend at least giving it a shot .