The Callisto Protocol intends to transport us once again to the horror of space. A creation of Glen Schofield who recently presented us with a questionable Season Pass.
[Mis à jour le 28 novembre 2022 à 11h30] Glen Schofield and Striking Distance Studios have made good progress on the release of The Callisto Protocol by revealing its entire future season pass. Scheduled for the month of December, this new entry in the horror genre condemns us to dive into the depths of the Moon Callisto in the heart of an epidemic as strange as deadly. A scenario that can remind us of the first hours of Dead Space, and what could be more normal when you know that Striking Distance is made up of the few veterans behind the planetary success of this trilogy of the 2010s. Except that, 2022 obliges, The Callisto Protocol will be it too is a game service, with much of its content locked away behind a paid Season Pass. A controversial decision, especially when we look a little more in detail at the said Season Pass.
If The Callisto Protocol will be sold as a Day One Edition at €59.99, you can also buy a Season Pass (included in the Deluxe Edition at €79.99) upon its release, including various unlockable content for twenty euros. A decision that is still controversial among players in the era where the service game has become king, especially since The Callisto Protocol is a game that not only pays but also quite expensive. We were therefore able to look a little more in detail at the content of this famous Season Pass, content which has also led Glen Schofield himself to justify certain marketing choices.
In addition to the cosmetic classics, the Season Pass will include a story DLC, supposed to lead us to discover the deepest secrets of the moon Callisto. So far nothing abnormal, paying for additional content has become a norm for a few years with the advent of paid DLC. On the other hand, what tipped us off were the new Contagion and Riot game modes, reserved for Season Pass holders. These two new experiences are divided in this way, Contagion will be a game mode of The Callisto Protocol campaign, with increased difficulty and customizable until the permanent death of your character, while Riot mode will be a kind of mode survival where you will have to improve your weapons to last as long as possible against deadly horrors.
Beyond the ethically questionable locking of a difficulty mode (Contagion) behind an additional payment, it was the presence of 13 new death animations in the Season Pass that put the flea in the ears of the fans, forcing Glen Schofield himself to justify these choices. According to him, the death animations (of Jacob, your character) reserved for the Season Pass are in no way subtracted from the main game, but rather additional content that the team has not yet started working on. Given the heavy use of death animations in The Callisto Protocol’s marketing and image, already seeing Glen Schofield defend questionable choices for a far from necessary Season Pass slightly tickles our spider-sense of morality.
A futuristic prison establishment, inmates left to their own devices, really not very nice monsters… Glen Schofield’s touch can be felt in this trailer originally published in December 2020. It is true that the veteran of the Dead Space series counts Shake up the horror game world with The Callisto Protocol, a future third-person survival-horror release. There are quite a few elements that bring us back to 2008’s Dead Space: closed environments, unparalleled light work, a complete lack of respect for human anatomy on the monster side, and tragic endings without equivocal for our protagonist.
After that noticed trailer on the sidelines of The Game Awards 2020 festivities, we’ve all patiently waited for news of The Callisto Protocol for about 18 months. It was therefore at the Summer Game Fest 2022 that the game was unveiled by a gameplay trailer which you can watch below. As for the scenario of this new creation, know that it had to be part of the universe of PUBG. Indeed, the title remains published by Krafton, and was to be part of an extension of the world of its battle Royale star. A fact now over since The Callisto Protocol will be held in its own universe. You will play as Jacob, an inmate of the Black Iron prison on the desolate Callipso Moon. A terrifying third-person experience, mixing combat and survival, all encompassed by a unique and mysterious Glen Schofield-style storyline. In short, one of the most anticipated releases of 2022.
After a remarkable appearance at the Summer Game Fest 2022, showing us for the first time some gameplay sequences as horrific as they are terrifying, The Callisto Protocol also offered us a release date. The game is scheduled for December 2, 2022, and will be released on all current major platforms. It will therefore be found in France on PC via Steam, on Playstation 5 and Playstation 4, but also on Xbox one and Xbox Series X|S. The game is already available for pre-order, and offers three editions, the Standard edition including the base game and some cosmetics, the Deluxe edition with an additional Season Pass, and the Collector’s edition, which we present to you in detail a little lower.
We told you above, The Callisto Protocol offers three editions for purchase, including a collector’s edition. This edition includes the game, cosmetic items, a Season Pass but also various collectibles. There is a Steelbook box, a figurine of the main protagonist Jacob, the game in physical version and two collector pins. On top of that, the Collector’s Edition contains 48-hour early access to future story DLC, exclusively for Playstation players. You will find this version of the game soon.
So as not to beat you around the bush: no, The Callisto Protocol will not have a cooperation mode when it is released. The game is intended for a single-player mode only, a bias that serves more the horror side of the title at the expense of the game for several, but an understandable choice on the part of Glen Schofield. Indeed, if we go back a few years, the third installment of Dead Space had offered a campaign entirely playable in cooperation, which, if it was well scripted, did not come close to its predecessors on the horror side. Although co-op play is more enjoyable and fun, it’s still less terrifying than a solitary horror adventure.