The Callisto Protocol Review by Video Chums

“Playing The Callisto Protocol made me feel like I'm wasting my time and I rarely feel that way when I play video games. With simple and repetitive combat and a world that's completely void of tension yet still filled with absurd amounts of violence, it can go suck an egg.” - A.J. Maciejewski from Video Chums.

[SullysCigar]

Oh boy, that's harsh.

[Christopher]

This is like Death Stranding I feel. Either you love it or find it pretty flawed.

[SullysCigar]

Agreed. Sometimes you can see the flaws, but you STILL love it. Days Gone springs to mind, although they ironed out many of the flaws in the weeks after launch.

[robtion]

Yep 4 is objectively overly harsh. For perspective, out of 77 reviews on Metacritic there are only 3 scores of 4 or less.

I would personally give it an 8. I really enjoyed it and will wait for NG+ in Feb to play through again. I also really liked Days Gone, even at release.

Then again I actually play games and decide for myself rather than jumping on a bandwagon like most.

[Dirty_Lemons]

...Nah... Send in the next clickbait review.

[VideoChums]

Sorry - we should have copy/pasted what other review sites already said then slapped a score on equal to the Metacritic average instead of offering our honest and unique opinion.

[Dirty_Lemons]

Good for you, fella. You're on a gaming news website, 4/10 is a bad game, I feel your review went out its way to draw negative attention and thusly increase views.

If I'm wrong and you genuinely think it is that bad - I really don't give a s*** anyway 😁 Nobody is any more qualified to review a game than anyone else, my opinion is as equally valid as the mysterious A.J. Maciejewski. But, unlike me, you have some small influence over who might buy said games: so hopefully I actually am wrong and there is some legitimacy to what you say in your review. I just don't believe that's the case.

[VideoChums]

Believe whatever you want - I don't care. If we simply wanted clicks, we would have given it a 2.9 so it would be the lowest score on Metacritic. Instead, we offered our honest opinion.

Plus, reviews for The Callisto Protocol are all over the map with the consensus being quite middling so how is a 4/10 even remotely clickbait? Do you consider giving it 10/10 to be clickbait as well? Because that's equally distanced from the median score.

Anyway, if we truly don't like a game, what are we supposed to do? Pretend that we enjoyed it just so people like you won't accuse us of putting up clickbait? Screw that noise.

[badboyz09]

Dead space was overrated

[SeTTriP]

Sorry top 5 survival horror games of all time imo and in no specific order.

Silent hill 2
External darkness
Re2
System shock.
I can name others but yep dead space 1 &2 is right up their with the heavyweights

[badboyz09]

Just to name a few
SOMA
Outlast
System Shock 2
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
Silent Hill 2
Resident Evil 2

[EvertonFC]

I stopped reading after "CP made me feel like I was wasting my time and I rarely feel that when playing video games"

[DigitallyAfflicted]

Isn't video games waist of time in general? 🤷‍♂️ I have not played Callisto yet but now I'm intrigued...

Why some average, broken on release games get 10/10 and Callisto is proper slaughtered in reviews?

[EvertonFC]

I've just finished my 3rd playthrough and I'm ONLY a 1 time playthrough kinda guy 99% of the time.

[Levii_92]

Because it's a trash game.

[VideoChums]

To paraphrase the review for some context: video games should make you feel something and this made the reviewer feel nothing. Hence, the reviewer thought it was a waste of time.

[stevansavic89]

for me it was wasting my time shimming tight corridors and crawling throu ventilation half the damn game,and learning story bits only at the end..with cliffhanger..so dissapointed with this game

[Levii_92]

It's horrible i know .. the level design is insulting.

[Levii_92]

I feel like this ''horror game'' brought us backwards 10 years in game design, especially when it comes to horror games.

[CrimsonWing69]

My experience with this game is so vastly different from this guy’s. Reviews can’t be trusted anymore. You have some reviews praising it and some dragging it through the mud.

So, as a consumer I thought the point of reviews was to educate you to help make a purchasing decision. If reviews are so all over the place what do you do? Pick the one you were hoping the game would get to validate your decision?

If I followed this guy’s review I’d have missed out on a fun game to me. I think “reviews” are becoming so irrelevant to the point where I think it’s as valid as listening to someone that doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

[VideoChums]

You're meant to read multiple reviews then make up your mind after considering points that resonate with you and reflect what you personally value in a game. In other words, no single review of any game from anyone can possibly be definitive.

[CrimsonWing69]

Seems pointless. You’re leaning to what you want to at that point.

Let me put it this way, if there’s 5 negative reviews and 5 positive reviews, and you just choose the positive reviews because you want the game, then what’s the difference between 1 positive review and 9 negative reviews? That 1 should have the same effect since you’re just looking for a score that “resonates” with you.

See, I don’t buy that. I think there should be a little more objectivity to the process. I’m not saying every score will be the same, but it shouldn’t be drastically different like they’ve been lately. I just don’t find that beneficial. If anything it’s more confusing.

[VideoChums]

You're talking about scores in your comment below. I'm talking about actual review text. Specifically, read the text and align it with what you value in a game. Score has nothing to do with that process.

[CrimsonWing69]

I’m also talking about context, that’s where I’m saying objectivity needs to make some sort of stride. It doesn’t benefit anyone if one says the combat is horrid when another says the combat is great, for an example.

Also, score is based from that process. I don’t see anyone giving a game a 4/10 when contextually praising it or a high score when having nothing but negative criticism.

After all, what is the point to the score then?

[VideoChums]

No reviewer would ever say "the combat is bad" without giving a reason why.

If one reviewer says "the combat is bad because it's too simple".

And another reviewer says "I love how simple the combat is".

Do you not have the ability to gauge whether you'd enjoy the combat based on your personal preferences?

Also, you asked what the point of a score is? The answer is... well.. nothing. It's just the reviewer's personal opinion. Take it with a grain of salt.

[CrimsonWing69]

Here's the deal, me personally, I take no stock in reviews. When I'm interested in a game, I'll buy it.

I think if you're in that boat, the only purpose reviews serve is maybe on a psychological level it can validate a purchase.

If you are truly using reviews to determine a purchase, then again, it's not beneficial to have a negative review state one thing and another to state something different.

I mean in this review it states:

Linearity being a negative, then claims they wish the entire game was linear because they got upset that a "button didn't register" to pick up a key item off a corpse so they ran around aimlessly for 2 hours. Seems confusing that they knock the game for being linear, then has a personal problem when playing, then wishes the game was linear.

The also say this:

"It also makes me wonder: who is The Callisto Protocol for? When I play a video game, I expect to feel something such as a sense of accomplishment after overcoming a steep challenge, whimsy while being swept away in a fantastical world, hilarity while enjoying some silly fun, or tension as I observe a memorable cast of characters deal with hardships. Meanwhile, The Callisto Protocol doesn't make me feel a damn thing; it actually puts me in a bad mood with its grittiness and unapologetically gruesome level of violence and why would anyone want to intentionally be put in a bad mood? I'm sure some dummy thinks it's a work of art and good for them, I guess."

I think other reviewers have stated it's a challenging game. In fact, I think that's the biggest issue that most give it and then blame it on the combat for being the element that makes an encounter challenging. Also, the violence and gore put this guy in a bad mood? I think then this shows an incredible sense of bias, that I don't find beneficial. It's actually one of the worst reviews I've read on this game yet.

I also think insulting people in a review seems a little off to me.

[VideoChums]

Nothing in the review states or insinuates that its linearity is a negative.

Yes, the constant gore and drabness put A.J. (the reviewer) in a bad mood - especially with the lack of tension; something that similar games do much better. Don't see how that shows a "bias".

A.J.'s much better at video games than most which is probably why she didn't think it was as challenging as others did. To me, it seems like encounters require little strategy and you just go through the motions in order to defeat most enemies. That doesn't sound like a rewarding challenge to me.

Also, the "insulting" line is merely a tongue-in-cheek joke referring to the fact that literally every game nowadays has at least one person calling it a "work of art". Why is being a "work of art" a good thing? Why can't games just be games without copious amounts of pretentious notions for validation attached?

[CrimsonWing69]

You don't think it's a bias that a game that wears the gore and drabness on its sleeve gets a 4/10 from someone who dislikes gore and drabness?

Sure seems like a criticism based on a favor of or against one thing.

As for A.J. being better at games and reviews based on the feeling of overcoming challenges and sense of accomplishment, is it fair to say that any game A.J. will be negatively impacted by that? I just don't see how that should impact a score. If I were you, I'd definitely play the game before going by what A.J. says, you have options from ranged weapons, to grav abilities, to melee with combos. There's definitely strategy involved especially when engaging more than one enemy. I'm kind of surprised A.J. didn't go in depth with that.

What's wrong with people thinking a game is a work of art? I wouldn't call them a dummy, to each their own. A.J. talks about "feelings" when playing a game. Why can't people have fun with a game and view it as a work of art? There's nothing pretentious about it, games evoke different "feelings" on the individual playing it, some view it as art, others view it as simple entertainment. I don't see the relevance in his closing statement nor the tongue-in-cheek joke. It literally seems like he would think some "dummy" would find the game to be art.

What about this?

"When I first starting playing The Callisto Protocol, its opening cinematics blew me away. You play as Jacob Lee who crash-lands on a prison moon only to be quickly taken into custody for some inexplicable reason. Right away, this gave me heavy Alien 3 vibes yet the game that follows definitely did not, especially with its enemies being mutated inmates and guards. Anyway, the acting is superb and the visuals are equally as jaw-dropping with realistic environments, hideous monsters, and top-notch character models. To make things even better, the audio is where the presentation really shines thanks to its gruesome and visceral effects and immersive soundscape."

"superb visuals" and "jaw-dropping" environments, hideous monsters, and character models. That sounds like a strong reaction to the artistic direction if you ask me.

Don't take this the wrong way, but this review is just pretty terrible and again, I don't feel like it benefits anyone. There's no juxtaposition in comparisons, he contradicts himself in parts, and the score is kind of laughable. A 4/10, just seems like you have a chip on shoulder. That or you're using click-bait. Either way it doesn't hold substance at all as a piece of criticism, other than now I know A.J. doesn't like gore and has to "feel" things when he plays a game or it's an incredibly unfulfilling experience. That helps a lot.

[Ninver]

Wow