The Callisto Protocol \ PS5 Gameplay
2The Callisto Protocol is a 2022 survival horror game developed by Striking Distance Studios and published by Krafton. The game is directed by Dead Space series creator Glen Schofield and is considered a spiritual successor to the series.
The story follows Jacob Lee (Josh Duhamel), a starship captain who survives a crash landing on the Jovian moon Callisto, only to be captured and incarcerated against his will in a high-security prison. He is subsequently forced to fight for survival when a mysterious illness sweeps the prison, and gradually learns the dark secrets of his captors. Gameplay has players exploring a series of levels, gathering resources and collecting data logs while fighting off infected prisoners.
Development of the game began with the formation of Striking Distance Studios in June 2019. Originally developed as a game set in the PUBG: Battlegrounds universe, it later evolved into an original intellectual property.
The Callisto Protocol was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on December 2, 2022. It received mixed reviews from critics and failed to meet the sales expectations of Krafton.
Gameplay
In The Callisto Protocol, players assume the role of Jacob Lee from a third-person perspective. Jacob's health is indicated by an implant on the back of his neck called a "C.O.R.E. Device". Health can be replenished with injectable packs found throughout levels. Jacob can use weapons to combat enemies, as well as a melee system to dodge enemy attacks while looking for openings to strike and kill them. Both combat styles can be mixed up, providing greater variety when facing enemy types. Jacob can collect and review audio logs during gameplay.
Plot
In 2320, Jacob Lee (Josh Duhamel) and Max Barrow (Jeff Schine) are contract freight transporters working for the United Jupiter Company (UJC). The two decide to retire after ferrying one last shipment between Europa and the UJC-operated Black Iron Prison on Callisto. Shortly after leaving Black Iron in their ship, the Charon, they are boarded by the Outer Way, a terrorist group purportedly responsible for a massive biological attack on Europa, and the ship crash-lands back on Callisto. Max is killed, leaving Jacob and Outer Way leader Dani Nakamura (Karen Fukuhara) as the only survivors. They are recovered by Black Iron Prison security head Captain Leon Ferris (Sam Witwer) and incarcerated on the orders of Warden Duncan Cole (James C. Mathis III). After an intake process, Jacob awakens to find the prison overrun by hostile "biophages", inmates afflicted with an unknown disease. He encounters Elias Porter (Zeke Alton), a prisoner who claims to have an escape plan. After freeing Elias, Jacob fights and leaves Ferris to die at the hands of biophages.
Elias convinces Jacob to locate a hacker in the Special Housing Unit to summon a ship for their escape. The hacker is revealed to be Dani, but she refuses to join them. On their way to the hangar, Jacob and Elias are intercepted by a partially-infected Ferris and are ejected onto Callisto's surface; Elias suffers fatal injuries in the process. Dani appears in a half-track and recovers Elias' memories of Black Iron and decides to assist Jacob as the biophages mutate and become more dangerous. After Dani fails to find evidence of the UJC illegally smuggling bioweapons in the wreckage of Charon, the two make it to the hangar where they summon a ship. Cole intervenes and shoots down the ship, causing it to crash into and destroy the hangar.
With their method of escape gone, Jacob and Dani decide to confront Cole. The two make their way through the ruins of Arcas, Callisto's original colony before it was abandoned and the Black Iron Prison built over it. They find a lab holding a dead creature that the original Arcas miners unearthed, and learn the biophages originated from larvae that were found in the creature. Seeing its potential for accelerating evolution, the UJC harvested the creature's larvae and began experimenting with it on humans, causing an outbreak in Arcas; one biophage, Subject Zero, retained his intelligence before the UJC destroyed the colony. After Jacob and Dani fend off an encounter with Ferris, Dani becomes infected. Returning to Black Iron, Jacob is knocked out by a security robot and imprisoned.
Jacob is freed by the prison doctor, Dr. Caitlyn Mahler (Louise Barnes), who reveals that Cole is part of a religious sect called Kallipolis, which is attempting to find a way to advance human evolution.