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Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Survival horror has continuously evolved since Resident Evil 4 revolutionized it with intense over-the-shoulder action in 2005. Numerous games have further contributed to the genre's evolution in the years since then, chief among them being Dead Space from Visceral Games and publisher Electronic Arts. A group of the sci-fi horror game's original creators challenged themselves to walk that line again, and usher in another new take on the genre. They attempted to do so by once more exploring the terrors of outer space, specifically the isolation and hopelessness that such a setting invites.
The project in question—The Callisto Protocol—thus bore all the hallmarks of a Dead Space spiritual successor, a dream come true for fans who'd been burned by the franchise's turn towards prioritizing action over survival mechanics. But Callisto Protocol operated on its own terms in a fictional universe grounded in reality. As a result, developer Striking Distance Studios leaned heavily into realism, focusing its technological efforts on graphics and facial rendering that looked nigh imperceptible from their real-world counterparts.
Critics and players would later argue that the studio's insistence on accomplishing next-gen visual fidelity superseded the need to produce a high-quality game worth playing. The title received critical lashings for feeling bereft of original ideas. Repetitious gameplay and cheap scares weighed it down further, even for those who enjoyed it. The harshest criticism labeled The Callisto Protocol a weak attempt at recapturing Dead Space's otherworldly magic. Regardless of public perception, though, unchecked ambition, development crunch, and bullish sales projections derailed this daring adventure on Jupiter's second largest moon.
This is the tragedy of The Callisto Protocol.
