The Callisto Protocol Is Not The "AAAA" Experience We Were Promised

Is it becoming a norm for companies to make promises they don't intend to keep?

[Knushwood Butt]

No idea about XXXX as I don't pay any attention to that kind of PR talk, but I started playing this yesterday and I'm reasonably impressed with the production values and game so far. Certainly atmospheric. Better than I thought it would be after reading all the negative stuff. The dodge mechanic seems fine.

[fr0sty]

My main turnoff is how much it borrows from Dead Space... the whole aesthetic... I actually thought it was a sequel when I first saw it... which brought to mind the quote "Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness." It's good to hear it's still a decent game, but I think I'm going to stick to Dead Space for my space survival horror, at least until something a bit more unique comes along.

[RedDeadLB]

I mean, the creative director on Dead Space and Callisto is the same guy, is it not? I kind of think that this is Dead Space in all but IP.

[MrChow666]

Forget Dead Space for a while and enjoy Callisto for what it is, it's not Dead Space

[Sonic1881]

Dead Space sequel won't be the same without the original developer. EA doesn't have a developer to create a new Dead Space sequel on the level as the first two games. After the Remake Dead Space is probably Dead unfortunately

[SurgicalMenace]

How much different are you expecting a horror game to be? As much as I love DS, I can clearly see the apparent inspiration drawn from the Aliens movies. That's no reason not to play it. How different were Jason and Michael Myers, but being into horror, I'm sure you still watched/enjoyed them both. Furthermore, I've played both, and they are two totally different experiences.

[MrChow666]

I agree, the game looks and sounds incredible ( good headphones recommended) on PS5 and plays fine, it's no Dead Space but it's good

[Ramboforlife]

What about length? I hear ppl complaining about how it's easy to beat in a few hours, 5-6 or so. True?

[wiz7191]

The dodge mechanic isn’t bad just have to get used to it since it’s the same as the movement stick … which makes it kinda awkward to me , but once I got use to it it’s fine

[SurgicalMenace]

Yeah, this current society is more likely to tear down what doesn't cater to the "gold star for participation" mentality. I thoroughly enjoy Collisto, much like Evil West, I'm not expecting it to reinvent the wheel just be entertaining. The dodge mechanics are a very real take on how any of us would have to be if we encountered the same challenges. I'm glad that I purchased it as it adds a unique enough experience to my library.

[Abracadabra]

What else is new... people will say any kind of BS to promote their game.

[Eonjay]

The Initiative is the world's first AAAA studio remember? That's why they got CD making the game for them 😂. Except the claim made here was Investor facing while Microsoft's was Consumer facing. Context matters

[SullysCigar]

Nobody can deny that, but people still having fun with it. And it looks gorgeous. I hope they get to work on more for this IP.

[Orchard]

+1 I would love to see a sequel.

I took a gamble and ignored the reviews and ended up enjoying it quite a bit.

Now onto DS remake and RE4… let’s see how those fair up.

[Sonic1881]

Or they can try to get the Dead space IP back if EA is cool with that

[Binarycode]

Haven't played it yet. But i'll get it and will get the dead space remake as well.

[MadLad]

Hoping so as well.
Didn't like what I heard from the small handful of critics that I actually put weight to, so I'm waiting for a solid sale before I play it.
That said, I hope they take the criticism to heart, and legitimately hope sales allow for a better sequel with those points in mind.

[Lightning77]

AAA devs always Use buzzwords to hype their games. Each gen is a little different. Last gen was traversal and immersion, before that it was HD graphics. Now it's AAAA production. Which doesn't even make any sense anyway. How much money and production was thrown behind it to make it AAAA. Or maybe it was AAAA in their eyes considering the help they had with the production. Maybe they associate graphics with AAAA production? That's just it, it's made to confuse and is up for interpretation.

Regardless, to me it makes no sense at least "traverse" and "immersion" paints the pictures of how games will be. Or "HD graphics" makes perfect sense. The first time graphics will be in high def (720p) at the time. This games is "AAAA" ???? Ok

[Eonjay]

Only difference is games can be immersive and have great traversal and also have great high definition graphics. Games cannot however, be AAAA lol because AAA already means top end. When FF7 came out on PSOne it was AAA. When FF16 comes out next year it will also be AAA. And furthermore, the AA and AAA system refer to required monetary investment. Marvel's Avengers cost Square $190 million. That makes it AAA without regard to quality. If you make a game for $100K it doesn't matter if it is the highest quality ever it's still AA.
So the only way to make a AAAA game (f theoretically) is if it costs over a billion.

[Elda]

I'm enjoying the game so far but to me it's an AAA game.

[antikbaka]

in a price range I'd say it's 35-40$ game.

There are still bugs and QOL features missing, even on PS5 (the best optimized version currently), e.g. u can listen to audiologs while walking only via a bug. Heh...

And those auto-checkpoints, they are horribly placed, I'm not even sure the manual saving works at all.

Finally, one an the same mini boss repeated 4 times? Really? Come on, man.

P.S. some boss arenas are designed like the player is supposed to outrun the boss, but controll is so clumsy it's hardly possible

[SurgicalMenace]

The graphic engine, sound stage, and animations alone will justify the $70 price for me. I'm looking forward to the DLC.

[RedDevils]

No way it worth $70, not any games period. Unless you love throwing away money cause you can mentality.

[SurgicalMenace]

I believe in fully supporting an industry that I love and enjoy. It's not throwing away anything when you're well prepared to do so. I bet you'd accept a raise at work, though. The hypocrisy needs to stop its only out of the question if you're asked to pay out.

[Profchaos]

Maybe I didn't pay attention but in my mind this was an ambitious games from a untested and new studio yes they had some rep based on the studio heads experience but it's not like he's the sole Dev for dead space or Castillo

Regardless of the comments around it being pro Sony they were making a multiplatform title.

I never thought AAAA I imagined AA plus and given they were unproven it was always a wait for reviews deal

Personally I'm still interested in picking this up probably mid to late next year after the games in a patched state and if it doesn't get to that state it's a pass

[EvertonFC]

Great game imo

[UltimateOwnage]

Agreed.

[Duke19]

I’m waiting for it to get a AAAA discount before I give them my money

[thesoftware730]

I really really like this game and hope it turns into a franchise.

I was showing my brother the game the other day and he was liking what he saw, then we put on Resident Evil 2: Remake, and boy did the graphics look outdated. It was just a short while ago that I looked at RE: remakes as top-tier graphics, I wouldn't say RE2 looks bad by any means, but man it was jarring going from CP to RE2.

Don't believe me....go try it.

[Nismo458]

Excellent game

[CrimsonWing69]

Did they ever pitch it as a AAAA game? Also, what the hell is the difference between AAA and AAAA?

[jznrpg]

Ask Microsoft and Perfect Dark devs . First time I heard of it .

[ziggyzinfirion]

What is an AAAA game anyway?

[Giblet_Head]

AAA falling short has been a thing for years now. It's nothing new.

[Crows90]

It has also become the norm for gamers to be incredibly gullible. The cake is a lie. Deal with it.

[Abear21]

Lol the article reads like a wounded child finding out the truth about the world. Your first hint this game wasn’t going to live up to the hype was when they called it AAAA.

[MehmetAlperTR]

finished at PC... Game has performans problems ( RTX 3070 PC ) .. Other than that game was ok. But not super duper game.. It was solid 8/10 game.

[frostypants]

Products not living up to marketing hype? NO WAY!!! Welcome to the entire history of civilization...

[Dirtnapstor]

It's a solid game. I was expecting more, but I think we all do since the advent of Elden Ring.
I do hope they take some of the constructive criticism and really flesh out the story in a lengthy dlc; add more areas, enemy types, etc.

[SurgicalMenace]

What were you expecting that provoked you to reference it to Elden Ring? You thought being trapped inside a prison should have been open world, have a horse, and dated combat? I don't get it.

[Dirtnapstor]

Uh, no. Why so literal?!
What makes Elden Ring so good is the unknown factor, the engagements and environments. You never quite know what to see and expect until it happens. That's what I'm getting at.

I swear, some people cannot see beyond their own hand.

[SurgicalMenace]

There was nothing unknown about Elden Ring, just the illusion of believing that you weren't on a set path.

[LucidIllusion]

Quite an lackluster experience indeed. A good rent tho

[hiawa23]

I don't know anything about some one being promised it would be AAA, but accepting the game for what it is, I am loving the game. That is good enough for my tastes.

[hotnickles]

AAAA is budget term not a quality term. This is their first game if I’m not mistaken. Saying it’s AAAA just mean they spent a massive amount of cash to get this thing rolling. A new decent sized studio and a new franchise is a big deal. I half suspect that weird universe clash with that pubg game was just trying to pay some of this back.

When you say “AAA indie” you are talking about and indie developer with a normal publishing budget. Like Witcher 3 is “AAA indie” not because it’s outstanding but because it was expensive. It’s just an identifier.

I have only played a little so far because Midnight suns has stolen my playtime. It didn’t seem awful but it didn’t grab my brain and shake like dead space did. Then again I haven’t gotten far.

[HyperMoused]

One thing ive noticed, doesnt matter whats brought out, mostly (not all) poeple reviewers and gamers alike just want to shite on things.

[masterfox]

so is AAA then , awesome!! thank you I will buy it then :D

[Notsofast]

most people complain because they for 1 want to compare it to dead space and alien isolation and second is because of the difficulty of the game if a game is hard its sometimes is considered bad unless it's a soul's game. Which then will get a 10 like Elden ring. but out side of that box if you make a hard game with slightly deferent controls then the norm the game is ridiculed

[AirRevenant]

"Is it becoming a norm for companies to make promises they don't intend to keep?"

Welcome to the 21st century, took you long enough. It's not just gaming.

[Silver-Noise-X]

I don't get how people are complaining about the dodge mechanics, it is really SOOOO simple. If you find this game even a little bit hard you are clearly not used to gaming at all !! The combat feels weighty and actually every hit feels quite nice....I find myself always waiting for the next encounter to bash the heads of the biophages.
The atmosphere is top notch , combat feels so nice (it's more melee oriented which is nice) , the music and ambience are quite good...the surround sound is AMAZING...I really feel like people are hating on this game to be cool or something

[HyperMoused]

The main reason im not playing this (and im sure no one will agree) is the story DLC was announced with the game, and i hear the game is short and the ending is left on a cliff hanger, wow how does this whole DLC thing work. Clearly the story has been cut up to be sold back as DLC.

[HeliosHex]

Definitely way off the mark. But I would give it a B+. it is a game worth playing regardless.

[Ready4nxtgen]

8.75/10 for me. Atmosphere, sound visuals are all A1. Story. Telling, Combat could have been enhanced. But overall a great game

[Thundercat77]

For me, this game will be good to get when on sale and after some good software updates.