Support NeoGAF

[Lunatic_Gamer]

It seems to be that based on the reception and the sales numbers, we won’t be seeing a The Callisto Protocol 2 anytime soon.
Speaking in a video chat, Schofield discussed some of the ideas he had planned for the sequel.

Plus, yeah, I killed off Josh in the end. He loved that by the way and I’m not saying he’s dead either. I mean, I’m just saying he doesn’t have arms and legs….I wanted to bring back Josh and but I actually wanted to to act like he was dead and start off with a different character and then halfway through this character dies, and then they’re like “well, we know one guy” and then you surprisingly bring him back.

If you’ve played The Callsito Protocol, chances are one of the main issues you’ve noticed is the lack of enemy variety and most notably when it comes to bosses. However, did you know that there were at least four enemies and two bosses that were left out of the final game? This was revealed Schofield as well. who mentioned that development got affected heavily by the COVID-19 pandemic and how a lot of developers resigned to work from home, which was the new normal back when COVID-19 was in full swing.

Callisto, we had to cut two and a half bosses out of it I mean I had to cut like three or four enemies out of it. So think about this during COVID, America lost 1.2 million people died, right? This wasn’t like “oh, they’re getting sick.” we all lost people on top of that when someone got sick and inevitably you have a studio of 200-250 people, 10 to 20 people a month were getting sick, and they were getting sick for weeks, right? We were devastated; sometimes our whole department of VFX would be out; our animation department. When I would call in Korea they’re not having that problem, right?! You know, we don’t follow rules as well maybe? I don’t know what it is, but we have a bigger country, you know, so doesn’t matter we lost a lot of people. We went through hell, and then on top of that in ’21 we had the “great resignation.” We had 49 people quit on top of that. Because everybody’s paying through the roof, and so people are leaving for $10,000 their jobs are made ,and they’re they don’t have to leave their house all they got to do is turn in their their equipment.

Not only that, but Schofield mentioned they were promised more development time (about three more months), which they didn’t get.

I wanted about three and a half more months yeah and I was led to believe for about three months…four months that that’s the way it was going to be, and so I actually was in October or or September of ’21, I was told that, you know, you’re going to get the time just no regrets. That was the term that was kept being used, no regrets. Just put whatever you want into the game, you know, and so you know, I spent over that Christmas vacation, well, when you’re developing how much they are anyway, but just designing, come up with other ideas with some of the guys, and January comes around and some of the the folks come over and they just said, “no, no, no, no, it’s December of 2022,” and and I was like, it’s not going to get done and it’s going to cost you more money. It’s not like it costs you less money because you’re getting it out three months sooner, no. Because if I just kept it on the way it was going, I wouldn’t have to add anybody. But if you want it done, I got to accelerate everything by three and a half months, which means I need to jam people on here if I need 20 people, I actually get 30 or 40 because that learning curve will not adjust.

Will we ever see The Callisto Protocol 2? Striking Distance parent company Krafton owns the IP, and it’s unknown what the company wants to with it — especially given how much of a financial hit they took to develop the horror game.

The Callisto Protocol 2 Plans Discussed by Former Director; Mentions Cut Bosses & Enemies, How They Wanted More Time

The Callsto Protocol 2 plans shared by Glen Schofield, as he also confirms they had to cut enemies and bosses in the first game.

mp1st.com

 

[Mr Hyde]

The Callisto Protocol was a diamond in the rough. I think a sequel would definitely take the IP to a higher level.

 

[RagnarokIV]

Awesome game with amazing acting and performance capture from Joshua Dumah.

 

[winjer]

Amazing tech demo. But a terrible game, that became a huge flop.

 

[Arsic]

Covid is a lame excuse and he knows it. Plenty of people made games during that period that were amazing.

You had no vision for combat, you did shimmy loading every few minutes, and had the nerve to call this junk AAAA.

Plus you cocks had people from dead space 1&2 working on this. You’ve done better yourselves.

You made shit and it sold shit. Simple as that.

All of this was fixable in a sequel but it never should’ve sucked to begin with given the pedigree.

 

[Aion002]

I really liked so many things of this game, the graphics, the story and characters are great.... But the combat was simply too repetitive for me to finish it.

 

[Nankatsu]

Game is not as bad as people make it to be.

Had a pretty good time while playing it. The acting is super good even though the narrative is not amazing.

DLC gives a banger closure to it though.

Karen Fukuwara

 

[Evil Calvin]

"I wanted about three and a half more months yeah and I was led to believe for about three months…four months that that’s the way it was going to be, and so I actually was in October or or September of ’21, I was told that, you know, you’re going to get the time just no regrets. That was the term that was kept being used, no regrets. Just put whatever you want into the game, you know, and so you know, I spent over that Christmas vacation, well, when you’re developing how much they are anyway, but just designing, come up with other ideas with some of the guys, and January comes around and some of the the folks come over and they just said, “no, no, no, no, it’s December of 2022,” and and I was like, it’s not going to get done and it’s going to cost you more money. It’s not like it costs you less money because you’re getting it out three months sooner, no. Because if I just kept it on the way it was going, I wouldn’t have to add anybody. But if you want it done, I got to accelerate everything by three and a half months, which means I need to jam people on here if I need 20 people, I actually get 30 or 40 because that learning curve will not adjust."

Another case of upper management and shareholders wanting their $$$$$ and push it out early for the holiday

 

[Bring Back Scalebound]

Is like they looked at The Last of Us, and forgot that what made it work, is that on top of all the oscar-baiting-mediocrity fest that it is, and the "woooow look at the graphics, brooo" bait, the gameplay was functional and engaging.

Callisto has all that TLOU has, minus gameplay.
It's repetitive and is not deep in the slightest.

Also, I hate to be that guy, but

Why did we decide to go back to generic-white-guy-soldier-man protagonist again?

Pick any Call of Duty, literally anyone, and you will see this guy. Multiple times.

The game is mediocre in every single aspect imaginable.

 

[SmokedMeat]

More vent crawling and tight space squeezing than every other game I’ve ever played combined.

Issues like branching paths that would lock you out of exploring for items if you picked the wrong one.

Braindead combat. Yes it is, there’s no arguing this.

The DLC campaign was complete bullshit in giving you a badass weapon, and then not letting you play with it in the main campaign afterwards.

But it was still dumb fun, and I’d absolutely love to see a sequel.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Awful melee combat system. Tried to separate themselves from Dead Space just to make a worse experience.

 

[analog_future]

It was a very flawed game but it was a fine first entry from a new studio.


I really wish they would've been given an opportunity at a sequel, because I think we could've seen an Assassin's Creed 1 -> Assassin's Creed 2 type leap.

 

[Corporal.Hicks]

Because of the bad reception I thought: I will probably also not like Callisto Protocol, but to my surprise the game was absolutely amazing. Graphics looked spectacular and run fine even on my old i7 3770K and GTX1080. Just walking in this game was fun for me because the levels were extremely detailed, so I was constantly admiring the small details.

At first I didn't like combat because I was bad at it, but once I learned how to use traps to my advantage and how to use the weapons in the most efficient way (shooting out the leg and stomping on enemies), combat became incredibly fun. I wish the game was a little longer (with DLC it took me about 10 hours to beat it) and had more enemy variety, but I still enjoyed the game. Easy 8+/10 from me and I hope we will see sequel someday.

I've already played the game twice and today I'm going to start my 3rd playthrough because I upgraded my PC and I want to replay callisto protoxol with maxed out settings (including RT) at high refreshrate.

 

[Punished Miku]

I've had this installed for a while, but just no time. The divisive responses makes me interested in giving it a shot.

I liked Dead Space, but was never that obsessed with it like some people.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Its a game that...for me at least...got better with multiple playthroughs.
Its weird that i find survival horror games to be like that in general.

 

[Eiknarf]

Game is not as bad as people make it to be.

Had a pretty good time while playing it. The acting is super good even though the narrative is not amazing.

DLC gives a banger closure to it though.

Karen Fukuwara

Yes! And notice that they made Dani look exactly like the beautiful Karen Fukuwara!!

So take that, other developers who man-i-fy their female characters to ugly them up!! It IS possible to make a non masculine jawed woman in a video game

 

[RagnarokIV]

Why did we decide to go back to generic-white-guy-soldier-man protagonist again?

Pick any Call of Duty, literally anyone, and you will see this guy. Multiple times.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I didn’t mind the main game, but i dropped the DLC during an enemy encounter. There’s something about the melee combat and the dodging mechanic that takes away from the overall enjoyment of the game. It’s like having to watch a QTE animation with every enemy encounter. It had the potential to be an enhanced version of Dead Space, but it ended up making me appreciate Dead Space a lot more.

I had high hopes after that initial reveal trailer. It did make my playthrough of the Dead Space Remake a lot more enjoyable. I also really enjoyed Dead Space 1 & 2.

I want better combat. Something a bit more agile or something with a rhythm to it. I can’t believe they approved the game’s combat. They must have played 15-20 minutes at a time. The flow of the game could be better if you ask me.

 

[Roni]

Game looked spectacular, but gameplay was repetitive and variety was scarce. Would've preferred a game half as pretty but twice as packed with content. All they had to do was copy Dead Space and we would've all applauded. If Callisto took basic Dead Space and added all the bells and whistle improvements from the sequels, like the Dead Space remake did, they'd be releasing #2 by now.

 

[skneogaf]

Not enough like dead space, I want shooting weapons not a beat'em up with shooting weapons as a additional way of killing

 

[gatti-man]

I enjoyed the heck out of it but yeah like others have said the combat was yeeeesh

 

[LastBattle]

Is like they looked at The Last of Us, and forgot that what made it work, is that on top of all the oscar-baiting-mediocrity fest that it is, and the "woooow look at the graphics, brooo" bait, the gameplay was functional and engaging.

Callisto has all that TLOU has, minus gameplay.
It's repetitive and is not deep in the slightest.

Also, I hate to be that guy, but

Why did we decide to go back to generic-white-guy-soldier-man protagonist again?

Pick any Call of Duty, literally anyone, and you will see this guy. Multiple times.

The game is mediocre in every single aspect imaginable.

It’s kinda refreshing to be honest.

 

[Giallo Corsa]

If there ever was a game that encapsulates the "6/10" score, this game would be it (actually, make that a 5/10).

Only having good gfx does not a good game make, everything, and I do mean everything about this game was completely subpar...

- idiotic stealth sections with equally idiotic (and deaf, and blind) enemies.

- more vent/tight spot crawling that both GOW/TLOU and about another gazillion cinematic games® combined.

- idiotic and abhorrent melee/combat system.

- level design where you'd get locked of "exploring" other rooms if you somehow managed to take the main path by mistake.

- idiotic boss encounters where the difficulty would spike up the wazoo - that elevator boss fight on hard...loooool

- Non properly game tested : you could get actually stuck during some later enemy encounters since you'd be left with no ammo whatsoever.

- generic story.

- ultra linear, "press forward for awesome" level design.

Listen, I've played many "tech demos" where I thought that a sequel could actually fix its predecessor's problems (The Order 1887 is one of them) but when it comes to this game... I just don't know, they'd do, what ? Present us with another generic, "bald" space marine type MC with a couple of new tentacle monsters and the same megalomaniac main villain ? Shit's just generic to the bone ffs, there's nothing to salvage here IMO.

Thank God I played it for "free" via Ps plus 'cause if I had spent 70 big ones for this tripe of a game...yeah

Kimiko actress from the boys was the only good thing about it (besides the gfx obviously).

 

[SlimySnake]

All this makes a lot of sense. I was shocked at how the game only had 3 bosses. Simply inexcusable.

Really good game that had the potential to be great.

 

[Agent_4Seven]

Haven't watched the interview yet, but I will definitely buy the second game if it'll ever be a thing that will be made and released. Glen just needs to find the right partner this time which will let him and his new potential team work on the game as much as they want to make sure it meets their standards as well.

 

[Morrie’s wig shop]

Awesome game with amazing acting and performance capture from Joshua Dumah.

Huh, that’s the dude from All My Children and Transformers right, never played but I watched a few extended gameplay and thought it looked cool. Didn’t realize it was that dude lol

 

[crackajack]

I like short(er) games, lacking bloat and open world filler. I like pure QTE games or games where some segments are QTE scripted.
This game suffered from a stupid QTE mechanic as its core gameplay element. It's redeeming quality was that it did not overstay its welcome. Story was meh, convoluted without an actual payoff, terrible characters and motives, graphics were quite good but, I guess due to PS4 support design, loaded with hidden loading. Practically everything wrong with the game is probably due to the director having a terrible vision for the game. Some more months or additional bosses would have changed nothing.

 

[wipeout364]

I really liked Callisto Protocol. I won’t judge anybody who didn’t but once I got the feel of the combat I loved the game. Would absolutely love a sequel.

 

[j0hnnix]

I really liked the game, i wouldn't say i loved it, because damn DS1 was top tier in atmosphere. but i had a good time with it.

I got it at launch with its issues and was able to run through it.. enemy ai was comical.

I still have to play the DLC, but i would of loved a CP2 that expanded on the story more.. just having the game cook a little longer for a sequel would of fixed(we hope) the issues it had on CP1

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

I still plan to finish this game some day. I'm at least like half way through it. I like it enough.

 

[Eiknarf]

I really liked Callisto Protocol. I won’t judge anybody who didn’t but once I got the feel of the combat I loved the game. Would absolutely love a sequel.

Me too.
I actually prefer moving the analog stick left or right to dodge and back to block (it feels natural), verses pressing the L1 button to block or dodge in other games.

 

[Nickolaidas]

This was the biggest disappointment of the year it came out for me - I was literally depressed for a couple of days. I thought it would be Dead Space up to eleven and it ended up being a pretty, boring mess. No enemy variety, forced melee combat made you not fear encounters, basically no bosses ... it was crap.

I would have preferred late PS3 era visuals and more gameplay innovations/enemy variety than getting a glorified tech demo that loses its luster after twenty minutes.

Covid is a lame excuse and he knows it. Plenty of people made games during that period that were amazing.

You had no vision for combat, you did shimmy loading every few minutes, and had the nerve to call this junk AAAA.

Plus you cocks had people from dead space 1&2 working on this. You’ve done better yourselves.

You made shit and it sold shit. Simple as that.

All of this was fixable in a sequel but it never should’ve sucked to begin with given the pedigree.

/thread.

Why did we decide to go back to generic-white-guy-soldier-man protagonist again?

Pick any Call of Duty, literally anyone, and you will see this guy. Multiple times.

You fucking kidding me? Can't remember the last time we got a protag like that in a western AAA Survival Horror/RPG/action game.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

If there ever was a game that encapsulates the "6/10" score, this game would be it (actually, make that a 5/10).

Only having good gfx does not a good game make, everything, and I do mean everything about this game was completely subpar...

- idiotic stealth sections with equally idiotic (and deaf, and blind) enemies.

- more vent/tight spot crawling that both GOW/TLOU and about another gazillion cinematic games® combined.

- idiotic and abhorrent melee/combat system.

- level design where you'd get locked of "exploring" other rooms if you somehow managed to take the main path by mistake.

- idiotic boss encounters where the difficulty would spike up the wazoo - that elevator boss fight on hard...loooool

- Non properly game tested : you could get actually stuck during some later enemy encounters since you'd be left with no ammo whatsoever.

- generic story.

- ultra linear, "press forward for awesome" level design.

Listen, I've played many "tech demos" where I thought that a sequel could actually fix its predecessor's problems (The Order 1887 is one of them) but when it comes to this game... I just don't know, they'd do, what ? Present us with another generic, "bald" space marine type MC with a couple of new tentacle monsters and the same megalomaniac main villain ? Shit's just generic to the bone ffs, there's nothing to salvage here IMO.

Thank God I played it for "free" via Ps plus 'cause if I had spent 70 big ones for this tripe of a game...yeah

Kimiko actress from the boys was the only good thing about it (besides the gfx obviously).

I was hyped as fuck for the game and paid full price. Agree with all points. What a fucking letdown. The Evil Within was a diamond in the rough to me, this game just feels like an underbaked, ill-conceived and weirdly arrogant bargain bin knockoff of Dead Space with a shitty combat system that never gets going. Melee looked great in previews but it's shallow and boring.

 

[SimTourist]

Terrible game, just badly designed all around

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

Covid is a lame excuse and he knows it. Plenty of people made games during that period that were amazing.

You had no vision for combat, you did shimmy loading every few minutes, and had the nerve to call this junk AAAA.

Plus you cocks had people from dead space 1&2 working on this. You’ve done better yourselves.

You made shit and it sold shit. Simple as that.

All of this was fixable in a sequel but it never should’ve sucked to begin with given the pedigree.

Schofield basically pulled a Francis Ford Coppola. Masterpiece early work to straight how the fuck could a movie even be this goddamn bad on every level!?

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

Played and beat this and was wowed more than a few times. Played Dead Space remake and half an hour into it I thought to myself "yeah, this is how I remembered it" and never finished it.

 

[Johnny Concrete]

I still plan to finish this game some day. I'm at least like half way through it. I like it enough.

That reminds me, I 'll probably do that as well. Because I played it and halfway I broke my hand and afterwards forgot all about it.

 

[Nickolaidas]

Played and beat this and was wowed more than a few times. Played Dead Space remake and half an hour into it I thought to myself "yeah, this is how I remembered it" and never finished it.

The exact opposite for me. Played Callisto for an hour, got bored and uninstalled. Played Dead Space and it was like playing RE1 on my PSX. I was floored. Dead Space remake is already a classic for me, as well as the inevitable RE1 re-remake.

 

[Complistic]

I really enjoyed this game, not sure why it didn't do well.

 

[Chuck Berry]

Was just saying to myself it's been awhile since we had a new Callisto thread where 85% of the thread is dumping on it

Good call OP. Hope we get a new Starfield thread next.

 

[stn]

It was a solid game that I will go back to one day to get all of the achievements and DLC. All that said, the criticisms about it are valid and I do think it is inferior to Dead Space. Still, I have no regrets buying it at full price and will never sell my copy.

 

[SlimySnake]

The exact opposite for me. Played Callisto for an hour, got bored and uninstalled. Played Dead Space and it was like playing RE1 on my PSX. I was floored. Dead Space remake is already a classic for me, as well as the inevitable RE1 re-remake.

I liked the remake (never played the original, only the sequel which i loved) but man, its just so samey and lacking in story. Not that callisto was any different, but it felt fresh in a way the DS remake didnt. The combat in DS remake felt literally 1:1 with DS2. The story just took forever to get going. im now 5 hours in and nothing has happened. Like i said, callisto isnt much better, but it is just that little bit better paced and the new combat options like melee and force abilities made it feel a bit more fresher than DS1.

Callisto's biggest issue is tying a lot of the best abilities behind skill trees. It makes the first couple of hours a bit of a slog unless you know what to upgrade. The game becomes a lot more fun mid way through as you have way better melee abilities and can clean an entire room with just force abilities like a jedi.

 

[_Idea_of_Evil_]

They did fans of the game so dirty with the FINAL TRANSMISSION dlc. A genuinely awful finale to what was a solid base game experience and cliffhanger ending.
The game doesn't feel the same anymore after all the "fixes" they did to the combat and movement, and there is no motivation to return to it knowing how bad the ending is.

RIP.

 

[AgatonSax]

I personally had a great time with the game aside from a couple of the tedious blind enemy sections. You can gun it Dead Space style on a replay. I don’t think another 3 months would have moved the needle though.

 

[violence]

Sad. It did seem like it was Pro devs working on it but they ran out of time.

 

[Chuck Berry]

They did fans of the game so dirty with the FINAL TRANSMISSION dlc. A genuinely awful finale to what was a solid base game experience and cliffhanger ending.
The game doesn't feel the same anymore after all the "fixes" they did to the combat and movement, and there is no motivation to return to it knowing how bad the ending is.

RIP.

Eh, it's cool to return for a NG+ run with a fully upgraded grip/throw and a couple maxed out guns. I think it's the pistol that sets enemies on fire eventually? Makes certain pain in the ass sections a breeze.

 

[EverydayBeast]

The Callisto Protocol could be a prominent horror franchise.

 

[R6Rider]

Game is not as bad as people make it to be.

Had a pretty good time while playing it. The acting is super good even though the narrative is not amazing.

DLC gives a banger closure to it though.

Karen Fukuwara

I really enjoyed it. Mixing the various weapons and tools into combat (along with environmental kills) was fun.

 

[R6Rider]

Braindead combat. Yes it is, there’s no arguing this.

There is arguing this. The fact that some people think the game is melee focused (especially the second half) proves that most people didn't know wtf they were doing.

 

[Yerd]

It's unfortunate this game sucked. I wanted nothing more than to have a new favorite horror game, but Dead Space(the original by Schofield) is still the gold standard.

I wish he could have stuck with Dead Space and not have to be forced to try and differentiate this new product from his original ideas. I think that made this game suffer because his horror game ideas ran out with the Dead Space franchise.