The Callisto Protocol at SGF 2022: New trailer, gameplay, weapon and more

The Callisto Protocol, an upcoming debut project from Striking Distance Studio, is officially a survival horror game.

However, it does not exactly mesh with the usual miscellanea of survival-craft games. There is no complex metagame of resource management with a hunger meter. Instead, its leanings are heavier on its 'horror' component. The tagline of a survival game set in Jupiter's dead moon rings seems to invoke images of Metro: Exodus and its ilk.

More specifically, its shared roots with the Dead Space franchise is a major selling point. Krafton, the publishers, have had no reservations about keeping this similarity a secret. After all, the lead designer Glen Schofield was one of the minds behind the original Dead Space.

At Summer Games 2022, a few minutes of exclusive gameplay footage from The Callisto Protocol showcase confirmed as much.

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The Callisto Protocol makes several obvious callbacks to Dead Space features

The second entry on the Summer Games Fest special feature, The Callisto Protocol's gameplay showcase was prefaced with an extended cut of its cinematic trailer.

While its narrative beats are reminiscent of the blood-smeared claustrophobic prison setting found in games like The Suffering or the Total Chaos mod for Doom II, the extended trailer delves into gorey violence.

The game is set on the titular Callisto, a dead moon colony orbiting Jupiter. The player dons the mantle of Jacob Lee, an inmate in a maximum-security prison who must find his way out and do his due bidding for his mysterious savior.

From the looks of it, most of The Callisto Protocol will be set in the aforementioned penitentiary, Black Iron. It does not visually deviate much from the derelicts and space stations that Dead Space enthusiasts will be familiar with.

The similarity with Dead Space in terms of atmosphere, with its characteristic sense of dread and danger lurking around every corner, is unmistakable. The user interface itself, exactly like Dead Space, is diagetic. In other words, it is represented through concrete markers and artifacts within the game's world.

The health pool of the player, for example, is a digital indicator surgically grafted directly onto Jacob's neck.

Another integral element that the game proudly displays is sheer body horror. An essential pillar conventionally seen in zombie-related media, some degree of stomach-churning viscera is almost taken for granted. The quintessential takeaway from the Dead Space franchise, however, is the variety of ways in which this violence is inflicted on the protagonist.

We have seen such elements in the post-reboot Tomb Raider games, The Last of Us, and in its sequel, but The Callisto Protocol seems to provide an ultimatum.

The gameplay footage in The Summer Games Fest showcases two levels - Medbay and Power Station. In the latter, a rather brutal end to the showcase comes with a cautionary tale of environmental hazards, as Jacob is helplessly blended and splattered among the rotors of a power grid.

The familiar gameplay loop of Dead Space also makes a return here, namely the similar beats of tense exploration, tight combat with sufficient variety of ranged and melee tools, and the occasional spiral into its grotesque sequences. The gravity mechanics also return with a gravity gun dubbed 'The Grip'.

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To learn more about the Summer Game Fest, announcements, and reveals, keep an eye out for Sportskeeda's coverage of the same here.

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