I do not recommend: The Callisto Protocol

[@SkillUp]

Check out the Steelseries range of premium, high-definition audio gaming headsets including their flagship: the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless. Visit steelseries.com/gaming-headsets/arctis-nova-pro-wireless and use offer code 'Skillup' for 12% off site-wide. Thanks Steelseries for sponsoring the video.

[@mariobadia4553]

Honestly this is not surprising. Especially when I saw that the enemies have very little reaction to you shooting them and how overpowered the telekinesis was and how for some reason it's just a bunch of random meat grinders in the middle of rooms for no reason.

[@stickman4087]

Have you played New Tales From The Borderlands yet? I'm surprised you haven't reviewed that one

[@salahsalami898]

glen scofield was scamming us

[@salahsalami898]

denuvo: mission complete

[@alessandroblue7]

what pc configuration do you have? just to know if the stutters and other performance issues on your reviews are due to "hardware" limitation or not

[@BuletPrufe]

“I don’t play games to kill time, I play them to enjoy them” - Ralph, the Destiny player

[@scottieb2943]

That hits close to the heart lol

[@matt6231]

so glad that dumpster fire is finally dying

[@ginopippofrebooter-ilrinne2881]

@@matt6231 Numbers speak for end of the season. They will get up again once the next launches. Lightfall's launch will boost the counter to more than 250000 like Witch Queen. Try again dude.

[@italianspiderman5012]

@@matt6231why? How much salt do you inject on daily basis?

[@voyagerofdoom]

BRUH 😭

[@neretilderem7029]

So i guess the 2 people they couldn't hire back from the old team are the writer and the combat designer

[@solimantaloa1112]

What happened to them?

[@esaedvik]

@@solimantaloa1112 They lived happily ever after? The ones who did get hired onto this project probably burnt out cause Schofield runs a crunch sweat shop apparently.

[@kyledodson2992]

@@esaedvikif that’s the case the game would have been good I’d think. RDR2 was amazing and that was made with nerd suffering 7 day weeks. Lmao sorry

[@Mixantropaz]

@@kyledodson2992 it's not the same. Nowadays incredible amount of work goes into graphics. And unfortunately graphics sell

[@enricod.7198]

@@Mixantropaz not even those, as most games run like dogshit for the visuals they offer. There is no reason to have a ue4 title running 1440p60 MEDIUM on an rtx2080ti without rt...it sucks ass

[@ArchardMMC]

As a huge Dead space fan I was super excited for this. When I found out it had a day one embargo I was instantly worried.

[@El_Diego86]

It's a good game

[@Drip7914]

@@El_Diego86 it runs like shit even on a 4090

[@LouSassol69er]

It's not completely terrible by all accounts, maybe pick it up on sale after a while. I still want to play it but my excitement for getting it early now has faded.

[@noodleman4555]

@@Drip7914 That doesn't mean it's a bad game, it's just a bad port. There's a difference there.

[@alexispennsylvania]

@@Drip7914 doesn’t mean it’s a bad game.

[@wearsjorge55]

Dead space had the instant health packs and it was great because if you made that one mistake you could sacrifice your finite resources to heal through the damage so you don't die. It worked really really well

[@nigeltheoutlaw]

Yep, and it also really encouraged resource management. Using those and stasis packs was SO easy, but checking how many you had left took a quiet moment. Got bit by mismanagement a couple of times because I wasn't using the quiet moments to take inventory.

[@truthbetold6496]

i finish dead space all 3 games this one forget it pure crap

[@moonmoon2479]

I think the reason for this in this game is that if it was instant, people would just tank through fights.

[@wearsjorge55]

@@moonmoon2479 yeah but tanking through fights, while it'll save you in a pinch you can't do it repeatedly, you need to restock. It's a last minute save your ass option

[@moonmoon2479]

@@wearsjorge55 yeah, that works in dead space, where getting up close isn’t advised. But here, since you are suppose to be, I guess that to stop people from just tanking through melee fights since that’s what you are suppose to be doing. It goes back to “why design it this way?”

[@Froggsroxx]

Dead space's map was one of the bests parts of it, how it all connected together and looped back on itself.

[@machineistic]

Agreed. So many people used to complain about the backtracking in that game which I thought was such a stupid complaint. It actually made you feel like you were on a ship and sent there to fix shit and the level design was perfect in that context.

[@Shinobi33]

And how you would press the button and your path would light up and then you move the map layout. Amazing

[@97Crazysteve]

Callisto isn't Dead Space.

[@Froggsroxx]

@@97Crazysteve sure isn't buddy, that's a true statement right there

[@97Crazysteve]

@@Froggsroxx Not sure where you people got your expectations from. A spiritual successor isn't supposed to be an exact duplicate, and even if it was, you all would be complaining about that instead. They have to make their own game with their own ideas, merely INSPIRED by another work.

[@asianllama8850]

always sad to see a highly anticipated game miss the mark.

[@stormz9351]

Form your own opinion. Im 4 hours in on Series X and it's great so far. The combat isn't even close to being bad. It takes a bit to get used too but once you do it goes smoothly. Im on the hardest difficulty and I died a LOT in the first couple hours, but once I learned the combat I barely get hit anymore. The performance issues seem to be only on PC, as I've had no stutters or issues aside from a single crash so far that I'm pretty sure was my fault because I was messing with one of the enemies in a stupid way.

[@stevenesbitt3528]

Personally I always wait a few months anyway, be better I'm sure after a few patches

[@salahsalami898]

denuvo: mission complete

[@vSoulreaver]

@@stormz9351 Cool that you are on Series X and it works for you. That does NOT change the atrocious PC Version my guy.

[@kirion111]

do u really believe this guy 😂

[@Garian9]

Would have been cool to actually have some space elements tied into the game. The fact that gravity on Callisto is somewhere around the Earth's moon gravity, that could have been a great additional game element.

[@WH250398]

...and Dead Space did all that wonderfully. 14 years ago.

[@XeresKyle]

@WH250398, No it didn't. What are you talking about? There were zero gravity areas on the ship, but you would kind of just fly to one end and not float in zero gravity. Also there were no low gravity mechanics at all in Dead Space. In Dead Space 2 there were zero gravity traversal floating through space moments.

[@gamenerd4322]

@@XeresKyle because the games take place in the middle of deep space? Dead space takes advantage of its setting, from this review it feels like this game doesn't.

[@jamesvancam]

Ikr?!

[@thesilver7238]

@@XeresKyle Yeah, pretty sure he meant Dead Space 2. No need to get pedantic.

[@StrikeNoir105E]

The thing about melee combat in this game is that the game can't decide whether it wants to be a survival horror game, or a Souls-like action game. The reliance on animation locks and timings make me think of Souls-likes, but at the same time they only went that route to make hack & slash melee gameplay work in the context of survival horror mechanics, and the result is basically what you see here: an odd mishmash that should work okay on the surface, but absolutely frustrating at times. This is the reason why the GRP is your absolutely strongest weapon in the entire game: you can bypass the majority of the combat system simply by using the GRP to throw your enemies at the environment or fall to their death. In fact, once I treated the GRP as my primary weapon, the game became a lot more fun since it basically became Darth Vader Force Throw simulator.

[@mairuzo]

Fitting since Starkiller is in the game 😂

[@dissraps]

You mean like how the most efficient game that could steamroll all difficulties in Dead Space was the plasma cutter lol

[@PJMack068]

@@dissrapssort of. The “plasma cutter” in this game is the baton. The GRP is basically dead space’s kinesis module, but it can run out of energy, and like the baton is not viable against bosses- so you can’t truly rely on it to finish the game. I just beat Callisto protocol a couple days ago and guns are the only way you can get through the final boss- in fact I had to load a few saves back so I could buy ammo instead of upgrades because it’s just a massive bullet sponge with no source of ammo in the arena. So lame

[@JohnDarksoul69]

Frustrating at times? I had 0 fun with the gameplay the whole damn game and I only ever finished it because I hate myself

[@Neo_Rain146]

Sure the GRP was one of the few fun aspects of the game but I had mine fully upgrade and it’s like you throw one or two enemies and that’s an entire battery gone.

[@110pergenuine]

I can’t stress enough how essential it is you review games the way you do. I agree with you 80 percent of the time. It’s usually because I’m a fan of a game, or because you’re not a fan of the genre when we don’t align. You’re one of the rare content creators that I will watch even when I’m not interested in the game you’re reviewing. It’s because you’ve remained consistent with what your experience was in the review. You’re not swayed by developers, other content creators, or gamers. Just know you’re appreciated, and your voice is needed in this entertainment space we love. Thanks Ralph!

[@frostysenna2687]

I would have bought this game even tho it’s a skip from him. I’m loving it and I needed this in my life. Definitely a lack of sci fi horror

[@TheTraveler980]

@@frostysenna2687 You'll get more value out of Dead Space 2.

[@wavvygrizzlyy5742]

@@TheTraveler980 idk about that one chief

[@CwamaCorn]

@@frostysenna2687how is it? Is skillup being harsh?

[@exodus1759]

People cried about him being “ShillUp” after his Cyberpunk review. I played Cyberpunk and then watched both his videos on it, and they perfectly described my experiences. We just think alike so I know that what Ralph likes, I’ll probably like.

[@Mohamad-sx3xt]

Another example to never preorder or get hyped for a game simply because of the previous games of its creator.

[@sanskarmishra5309]

This game always looked mid you're dumb if this got you hyped lmao

[@AlmissaGaming]

get your own opinion

[@enfamas]

Left 4 dead > Back 4 blood

[@metalmayfantasy]

I didn't preorder because of all the news and such was just about its graphics and death sequences. Also, there have been many "famous" devs that create a new IP and they suck.

[@Plexipal]

Well i did 😂

[@connordavisj]

This just gets me thinking how much variety Dead Space 1 had. Slashers, Spitters, Lurkers, Brutes, Dividers and their body parts, the Hunter, Leapers, Infectors, Swarmers, Guardians, Exploders, Twitchers, Pregnants, not to mention three bosses that all engage differently whether it be a turret section, zero-g chamber, or planetside. Plus enhanced versions of some of the enemies. You've got a variety of weapons to choose from that each have differing strengths and weaknesses. Callisto seems like the opposite version of Sekiro. Sekiro took the Souls formula and put a single weapon spin on it, and it still has depth between your moves, deflects, dodges, counters, jumps, and tools. This game basically puts a one weapon spin on Dead Space, except the weapon is melee now, engages all enemies in the same way, and sucks the horror right out of the game because YOU ARE THE SCARIEST THING ON THE MOON by very nature of the fact that you spend ten hours beating zombies to death with a fucking STUN BATON.

[@OrionDawn15]

It just takes away from any horror or enjoyment, not only are you fucking Doomguy AND John Wick the combat itself just isn't good.

[@fraundakelmbrilpondaprost90]

The choice to ride on Dead Space cred was a terrible decision because you just know they had to realize some point down the line that what they'd developed wasn't nearly as good as two games more than a decade old. Dead Space 2 is without a doubt the greatest action horror game of all time. The gunplay is punchy, Isaac's locomotion is smooth and precise, and the combat options and arenas are consistently varied. The enemy varieties meant you could make optimal use of different weapons and the combat never grew stale thanks to different enemy pairings throughout the game. In Callisto you have a braindead button-hold dodge that pretty much holds your camera hostage any time an enemy approaches you, because you can't just use a button tap to dodge irrespective of what direction you're facing. This conflicts with projectile enemies because if a melee enemy is close by, you have no method of dodging both, you have to prioritize facing the melee guy head-on. Instead of a cornucopia of different artistically unique enemy types to mix up the combat, we get a few stubby-looking tentacle and tumor men. No memorable or even enjoyable guns and an absolutely horribly-handling player character- an issue I partly attribute to the melee focus paired with the camera placement. Horrible checkpoints, audio logs that force you to keep the menu open, long-ass looting and crawling animations, indistinguishable points of no return at branching paths...you'd think this shit was a C-tier PS3 game. They took the most surface-level elements of Dead Space and stripped it of literally any good influences and ideas.

[@flamingmanure]

@@OrionDawn15 the combat is satisfying when it actually works, and especially in the 2nd half, it barely works lol.

[@OrionDawn15]

@@flamingmanure I don’t doubt it, it looks cool. But seeing it in action isn’t all that impressive. Especially against any more than one enemy. Plus I don’t think it really belongs in the game. Or at least it shouldn’t be used as the main way you fight.

[@connordavisj]

@@fraundakelmbrilpondaprost90 It just feels like Mighty No. 9 all over again. I'm forever thankful for the work Glen and his team put in to give us Dead Space. My friends can probably attest to how much I never shut up about that game even all these years later. But Callisto just ain't it. Making a third person game set in space with gore, a health bar on your back, and mutating aliens doesn't make that game Dead Space or even comparable to it. That's such a surface level comparison and I'm beyond tired of seeing people make it.

[@DJFIRESTONE92]

Alien isolation is still one of the best horror games ever made. I've never felt more hunted in a game nor that actually scared of something I understand.

[@killerjay1740]

That one and Outlast

[@donmcdouglas5017]

I never played alien isolation but I watch once in a while the non death playthrough and I'm always fascinated by the immersion it gives the player, one of the best game ever made imo in terms of immersion level

[@Lord_earth]

Alien isolation is primitive. I've played it and its primitive as shit. Soma, Dead space 2, doom 3 - THESE are true horrors. Not some schoolboy shit like resident evil or outlast, i dont play this junkshit.

[@killerjay1740]

I almost took the bait lol

[@matjakobs8612]

@@killerjay1740 my 2 favorite horror games of all time. Can't wait for outlast trials. 😱

[@OZORxORON]

Games like this are always a nice reminder why I don’t preorder at all anymore. I’ll pick up a preowned copy at a low price in 2 or 3 months

[@SolidSnake240]

I can't even remember the last time I actually pre-ordered a game lol.

[@rmmm6725]

I don’t think it looks worth $5. Seems like a turd

[@SmootherThanSilk]

Impatience, ignorance and FOMO is what's keeping pre-ordering alive. If you wait for some time, the game is discounted, the bugs are fixed, the DLC is released. You're essentially paying less for the best possible version of the game. People get what they pay for, and in terms of pre-ordering, they truly deserve it, when its cases like this and Cyberpunk.

[@Pariente300]

Huge red flags when the reviews go live the day of release.

[@pandamonium9255]

Ding! You win! 🎉 This is my exact sentiment.

[@Deathshuck]

"I don't play games to kill time, I play games to enjoy them" - I have never heard anyone else say this out loud and I agree 1000%. It's downright depressing to me when people just play games to kill time and don't really care if it's good or not. I play games because they enrich my life and give me meaningful experiences. I love sinking in to a game's world and atmosphere, taking in all the details and appreciating them as experiences. Unfortunately there's a lot of people out there who don't genuinely care and just consider games as disposable, which is why so many games suck

[@clarkndrekent]

i think this is the main problem in the gaming industry yes

[@Xhalonick]

Pokemon is a perfect example of this. Playing a game like dragon quest XI makes me remember what a game is like when the company actually gives a shet

[@bobbywrtm]

Elden Ring and Monster Hunter Rise reminds me of fun in gaming again

[@Josh-sj9ig]

Gamers rise up!

[@Hocotatium111]

@Chandler Burse No. If there are multiple things I want to do with my free time and I pick a video game over all of them, I'm not playing it to kill time. If I get off work and I don't know what I want to do, then I might play a game to kill time. In both cases I'll probably enjoy the game, but in only one case am I killing time.

[@HKT100]

It honestly seems like they were more focused on making the game look as pretty as possible rather than the things that make a game great 😢

[@orionzor]

Reminds me of another over hyped, dissapointing release game...

[@ruinerblodsinn6648]

@@orionzor The Order: 1886?

[@ArcaneAzmadi]

Gee, isn't it reassuring to know that nothing's changed in 20 years...

[@orionzor]

@@ruinerblodsinn6648 I was thinking cyberpunk, awesome visuals but broken mess on release and even after the bugs fixed it's just a lifeless open world. But I guess the order applies too ahah

[@Shinkajo]

Glen Schofield is a hack

[@hungryhedgehog4201]

The scariest parts are legit the workplace safety hazards there are just spikewalls and shredders everywhere. I was expecting a level where you are on a conveyor belt having to dodge stompers and saws and not fall into a big lavapit or something. I mean there was the shredder in the vents, that came close.

[@hullie7529]

At least in Dead Space the environmental hazards made sense because they were malfunctioning machinery or you were in places that you weren't supposed to be. In here they just have spikes and deathly traps all over the place where people is supposed to be working.

[@Corusame]

I had such good memories of the original Deadspace and to see its spiritual successor devoid of everything that made the original a great game is heart breaking.

[@JaySantana-so9zw]

It’s really not that bad as he makes it seem, and honestly this is just the base game story, I guarantee you a couple months down the road when the day 1 bugs are fixed and the DLCs are released this games going to be super praised even more by everybody. Everyone like this guys video ^ yea he has some points but at the same time I’ve been playing and having a great time and I know with the season pass the content coming in the future… No one is gonna be saying what this guy is saying right now 6-8 months down the road mark my words.

[@alsh5119]

@@JaySantana-so9zw im with u man, he was so harsh idk why

[@josuesosa1157]

Guys harsher on this game than playing as Atreus in a god of war I don’t know I play games to enjoy them and kill time damn Sony and pc fangirls are full of themselves priceless

[@thebangdoctor]

@@JaySantana-so9zw no, everyone who is a big fan of DS1/2 will hate it because it has no horror. glen schofield fell off. i refunded it after playing 90min: zero scares. stutters aside and all. graphics are good but its soulless. like all AAA garbage these days

[@josuesosa1157]

I’ve been playing the game since Sunday and never expected a brand new game to play exactly like the 1st 2 dead space games

[@Ell_Pacino]

Another point about the combat is that since your dodge isn’t required to be timed or direction specific, it makes actually trying to move your character INFURIATING *Edit: For people who clearly didn’t play the game yet still have an opinion for some reason* NO, the dodging is not dependent on the direction of the initial attack. You do have to alternate your dodge direction when an enemy has a combo but it does not matter the direction you dodge so long as you alternate for the next attack

[@samw2670]

Lol what a crock of shit. You dodge left when they swipe left. Youll get hit. Smh

[@dewdbrowatch1446]

@@samw2670it’s just a super weird Dodge I kind of hate it it’s not a tap but you hold it it’s super weird it’s one of those mechanics that like makes me hope I’m over with the game faster so it dosent start creating bad habits lmao

[@SyntheticShinobi]

What sucks is that it makes the combat so basic. If the dodges were direction specific or based on timing, successfully pulling them off would feel rewarding. But since it’s so brain dead easy to dodge, there isn’t any real depth in the combat

[@Drakkon1997]

@@SyntheticShinobi yup true. Brain dead no skill gameplay. Gameplay is fun while it lasts but it’s still really disappointing. Also repetitive and boring by the time u complete the game.

[@sxerwin]

@@SyntheticShinobi Id say knowing which way to dodge is SOME skill.

[@PapaToks]

That Denuvo DRM killed any stable performance for me. They tried to make it so that the pirates can't play their game and failed to realized that those who paid were getting screwed as well.

[@mr.sinjin-smyth]

Also no new game plus mode. Definitely not recommended.

[@namesii1880]

The stuttering is probably mostly due to UE4.

[@EmergencyChannel]

A $70 video game that's a 8 hour experience with no NG+? Yeah, I can see why they tried to stop piracy because they are ripping you off. That's $8.75 an hour, while there is dozens of games that are free or $20 that will give you hundreds of hours of entertainment.

[@JackalArtsmith]

@@namesii1880 But it isn't since almost every other UE4 title runs fine lmao. Denuvo made JC3 run like total ass and afaik still does. And numerous other titles that implement Denuvo suffer performance problems.

[@Gayzooo]

@@namesii1880 Why would you say that? All games nowadays run UE4 fine lol

[@stealthmonkeydc2869]

Callisto starts strong but after the first few chapters of your character not upgrading at all you start to get this feeling that the game has shown you all it has. Yes you upgrade eventually but it just health and a shotgun really. The game only has 6 guns and half of those are pistols and shotguns. Then you end up in a chapter where all you can do is slow crawl through meaning your upgrades are worthless as you get swarmed if u fire a gun. Then everything after that is a huge slog and full of jump scares and troll moments. I saw someone call it essentially a tech demo which fills really harsh but it doesn't feel like a full realised vision either. This is in no way competition for Dead Space I'm sad to say.

[@gamingclips481]

I feel like a lot of next gen games like Callisto feel like tech demos. In my opinion many next gen games feel really good but really short, or decently long, but disappointing. Idk if it’s just me though

[@Lord_earth]

actually, after the hero crashes at the very beginning, then for some reason they put him in prison, and then the next frame - he wakes up in the middle of complete chaos and p * zdets - I realized that there was clearly something wrong with the game. Who the hell makes such sharp scenario transitions?!

[@eliasbonafe9236]

I don't think Callisto start even strong... i've seen definitely some red flag even in the prologue

[@burner9481]

Maybe not a tech demo but more of a Vertical Slice... streeeetched out to a full game. But it's same slice all the way lol

[@metfreak101]

That is not even true. Actually none of that is. You don't upgrade your health and you end up with different variations of a pistol, a shotgun, and an assault rifle. You don't have to jump on the hate bandwagon just because.

[@arcderek]

This review really highlights the importance of iteration and testing your designs before you go all-in on them. Iterate > Test. Iterate > Test. And get as deep a pool of testers as you possibly can so to avoid tunnel vision.

[@AlexanderMartinez-kd7cz]

I don't know about that, if your designer thinks contextual dodging is a good idea in 2022 no amount of testing is gonna fix that :/

[@ryanmcclure8868]

They def blew their budget on visuals, marketing, and celebrity involvement. They couldn't fix the gameplay even if they wanted too.

[@Justadadonthetok]

@Dratio didn't you know that everyone is a game developer in their spare time these days? Anyone with a keyboard and using smart words can come off like they have insight knowledge. Lol

[@mrpetebojangles21]

@@AlexanderMartinez-kd7cz worked great in Sifu, but that was just a damn good game

[@iwoherka829]

What's wrong with contextual dodging? It works for me.

[@PlunderinGrunt]

Exploration is a key element of survival horror, because it opens up risk-rewards in a way that is meaningful to the horror aspects. Do you take the extra risk to explore a side path knowing that something may be lurking, or do you push into the unknown in the hopes of picking up resources/items to help you along the rest of your journey? It immediately creates tension, and having a linear path turns gameplay from a series of interesting decisions into a Disneyland ride with animatronics popping out from the walls (which is what Callisto Protocol can frequently feel like).

[@Adamska156]

Absolutely. To add on to this, the metroidvania style in particular lends well to the genre because it further expands on the exploration, grounds you into the world more effectively allowing the atmosphere and tension to really sink in, and also gives opportunity for a return to previous areas where you'll often find yourself getting too comfortable. Then they hit you with new encounters that scare you back into tension. There's a reason this formula has been used since the inception of the survival horror genre, it's a time tested winning design. This strictly linear formula lends itself more to action adventures with lots of set pieces. They're just so wildly different.

[@CZProductions]

There are no side areas in dead space 1 and 2 though... Just power node doors...

[@Adamska156]

@@CZProductions The fact that this game is even more linear than Dead Space 1 and 2 is not a good thing then. Especially when you add in its other downgrades from those games it's just not a good spiritual successor.

[@meh-pd7tr]

@@CZProductions Didn't dead space at least have puzzles,different bosses, and whatnot compared to this game? They at least try adding different things in dead space even if it was linear, all the meanwhile this game is just you going to a room and kill and that's mainly it

[@Adamska156]

@@meh-pd7tr And even then the combat mechanics are also a massive downgrade. The melee system is a joke and there are only 4 enemy types in the game that are largely similar. It'd be different if the combat was incredible but it's just not.

[@TNTspaz]

I was kind of surprised how bad it was. However, my first initial red flag was them giving out skins and twitch drops for a 8 hour single player game. Kind of makes it seem like the original direction of the game wasn't what we got

[@Assassin5671000]

Noting really new all of the dead space games had skins for their single player campaign ,some were even tied to if you had an nvidia gpu ,others were unlocked after beating the harder difficulty's

[@CarvedStones]

@@Assassin5671000 none were tied to a graphics card.

[@batlaughsdc2755]

I actually liked it tho I don’t get the hate tbh is it that bad I enjoyed my time on it

[@Agherosh]

That's your red flag? That's a pretty idiotic red flag, let me tell you.

[@TNTspaz]

@Agherosh I mean. It's more of a red flag after the fact. If it was actually a good game that justified skins then cool. The skins are just added content. (Like the Dead Space skins kind of made sense in 3 at least cause it tried to have multi-player even though it sucked. Also the dead space games were fairly long non linear games) This game, the skins have nearly no point. Unless the original direction of the game was completely different than what we got I don't get why people are upset that I'm calling it out. There is no point for skins to be added to an 8 hour single player game with no replayability

[@ClaxStayVibing]

20:06 was literally the hardest part of the game for me. Only because you are constantly being jumped from the back out of nowhere. the monsters literally spawn behind you with no way to turn around after engaging one. when that no leg having ass blew me up 5 times without me knowing what the hell happened i had to take a break.

[@sushigimme]

I'm with ya, man. As soon as you're at that part where you restore power to that mining facility in Arcas, the pacing dips and feels like such a slog to get through. The dollar-store clickers just made exploration drag on and on. IF I ever want to dive back in for NG+ to level up any remaining nodes on my gear, Arcas will be my least favourite section. All the best to Glen and his studio but maaan... What a disappointing game.

[@Tomiply]

Crazy how different experiences people can have. I thought that part was very easy, didn't even die once. I just threw enemies over the railing, barely spent any ammo, and I had a ton of ammo anyway, so I could've used that as well if I wanted. Overall, I was surprised by how easy the game was, considering it felt hard at the start because I wasn't used to the combat.

[@garryhawkes5950]

I was not expecting this to be not recommended. Trailer looked phenomenal. What a shame.

[@archersterling6726]

The trailer IS the game. And that was the problem

[@fabioa.8008]

Bro, trailers are always phenomenal hahaaha. That's the catch and how they fool you

[@ihatehealthbars]

Trailer🤡

[@kittens-kun7671]

It’s just his opinion man.

[@acezero12345]

This game sucks 😂

[@AssassinsFear]

This might be a game where I wouldn't mind just watching those videos where people record the cutscenes as a movie on the highest end bonkers settings and hardware

[@skraminc]

i was going to buy it and just watched a full playthrough just to see the beginning... then it was just walking down a hallway... so i watched a little bit more to see if things amped up and it was just 7 hours of walking through a hallway and killing the same zombie over again. i ended up skipping through about 80% of it. maybe 5% of the 7 hours was direct storyline. the rest of it was just walking.

[@wiLdchiLd2k]

@@skraminc Like most storydriven games...

[@vz7742]

@@wiLdchiLd2k Exepct this game has no story at all ,also very shallow characters. Ouch!

[@skraminc]

@@wiLdchiLd2k there is no story. if you cut this game down to the cutscenes it would be about 5-10 minutes for 7 hours. even exposition from your companions when you are walking is like 5 minutes worth. it is literally just walking down a hallway that has cool graphics. there aren't even that many logs or documents for background information and when you find one they're like 5-10 seconds of useless info

[@nousername2942]

@@skraminc This sounds like an absolutely threadbare game. Where the hell have our standards gone?

[@jamesdevine6633]

100 % agree with everything. Changing weapons is a nightmare when there is multiple enemies attacking you. The combat is really frustrating, it doesn’t flow like I think they intended because of slow animations and cumbersome weapon changing.

[@oliversmith2]

You press left on the D pad to switch between what you have chosen as the two main guns, if you run out of ammo with both of those, press right on the dpad and choose two other guns you have ammo for, or use the glove, L2+X. If you throw an enemy against any of the multiple environmental hazards out there, instant win. No need to fight, level up the glove to max. You don't need guns.

[@isk8atparks]

@@oliversmith2 great observation smart ass. It takes like 7 seconds, is the point

[@DrFeederino]

@@oliversmith2 it only swaps from shotgun/rifle to pistol. But if you run out of ammo for both and have some left on the pistol mod (e.g. tactical pistol), it's very slow and janky.

[@Sengg0]

use the GRP, that is the key weapon in this game

[@mariobadia4553]

@@Sengg0 does it fix the slow animation

[@ibrinton6]

Well, I just finished the Callisto Protocol, after waiting to purchase it until it was offered for free with my Playstation Plus subscription. Thank you again for this review, as always, it served to manage my expectations (and, helped me to decide to wait to play the game until the price-point made sense). That being said, and likely due to my lack of personal financial investment, I have to say that I had a LOT of fun with my time here. I re-watched your review post-playthrough, as I often do, and it REALLY holds up. Your comments about the visual fidelity of the experience are VERY true, the game is GORGOUS (especially on PS5, where per your note I experienced exactly ZERO glitches). The lack of these glitches certainly made the somewhat predictable combat model much more tolerable, as I didn't notice any of the moment to moment game freezes that you referenced during your PC experience. The 3D printer weapon upgrade system was a fun and unique path to upgrading your kit that I haven't seen before, and the weapons all felt (and sounded) really good to use. I did find the recycling of that one mini-boss to be somewhat laughable, and the ability to absolutely massacre the blind baddies during the "Colony" chapter right in front of others without any negative repercussions is certainly emersion breaking, but aside from that I did enjoy deploying my arsenal on the other enemies thrown my way during the campaign. I COMPLETELY agree that the game fails to by scary, given how over-powered you end up being if you properly upgrade throughout, and also with the unabating application of the trap chests and those long-neck variants coming at you at EVERY place you'd expect to be attacked (it's incessant, never lulling you truly into a place where you CAN be surprised). I had some trouble with the final boss battle, but it wasn't as hard as I maybe expected it to be, given your description? I played on normal difficulty. I will say, I know that you mentioned that there wasn't any story to speak of here (largely told through sound bites from campaign adjacent audio logs), threadbare as it was (and, "just a dude" as much as our protagonist is) I actually didn't mind what they cobbled together here. Paired with the on-rails way that you're propelled through the campaign, the story expounds in a metered way that keeps you aware of the tense, while not giving away ALL of the cliff notes (not that you can't see the writing on the wall, several hours before the end of the game). Like the action movies that we all grew up watching, it won't win any awards for ingenuity or originality, but it does the job and doesn't ruin the aesthetic. I know you'd mentioned the lack of in-game cut scenes, I'd argue that the gameplay graphics are SO good here that you almost don't even need them (given the lack of truly meaningful complex character interactions). While there aren't many other cast members here, I think that they've done enough writing-wise to let you invest in them while playing, as they're the only things to cling to while you're maneuvering through pretty dire circumstances. At any rate, no one's probably reading this long winded comment (haha), but I just wanted to add some additional texture to your review if anyone was interested. As always, SUPER appreciate your (and Austin's) content, by far the best game review channel on KZbin.

[@DintavoPagal-ov4np]

Haha jokes on you i like reading though thought provoking discustions about enjoyment in video games

[@DamonBlackpool]

It's obvious based on the reviews I've seen that the combat was "The Baby" of someone high up the development chain, and that this person was utterly convinced it was good regardless of feedback from the rest of the team.

[@damienlee1165]

I can imagine the dev sitting there going left right left right and thinking to himself "wow, I have revolutionized 3rd person over the shoulder action combat, move aside God of war."

[@Ocean5ix]

Thank god because the combat is amazing.

[@mafikdew78]

@@Ocean5ix lol ok kid

[@bigstinky7923]

@@mafikdew78 if you're bad just say so. I haven't gotten the gun yet, but the melee is pretty fun and a breath of fresh air.

[@spicydong317]

@@Ocean5ix "hold A/D to dodge, no timing window, hit them with a pipe" It even has auto aim system xD It's like they made a horror game for babies

[@microdavid7098]

I love how detailed the review gets. The writing is really good. And it goes to show how important these design decisions are. It can be hard to notice them in games that implement them really well, but when a game lacks them, the veil can be seen through and the problems become apparent

[@captainamedeus7047]

The Callisto Protocol is a great reminder that GRAPHICS ARE NOT EVERYTHING. Yes, it’s nice to see how the newer consoles have surpassed their previous generation. It’s nice to at least have games now be cinematic. But the problem is that most game devs would rather create a movie, rather than an experience. Video Games are meant to be an experience. Your supposed to entice the player’s experiences inside the game they bought.

[@funasylumstudio]

Actually I feel like these high end graphics nowadays actually just bring the gameplay down and are kind of distracting. Let alone performance issues

[@filippocucina7001]

Agree

[@visceraeyes525]

surpass their previous generation yet they run at 30fps now?

[@DrJones20]

@@visceraeyes525 Fps isn't everything, also there's a 60 fps mode on PS5 and SX

[@visceraeyes525]

@@DrJones20 yeah but image quality is trash at 60fps and fake 4k can only work at 30fps. Pc can get native 4k with 60+ fps

[@blues3531]

Its hard to imagine how the dodge/combat mechanic loop got past QA for this game. Like was the entire team just "yes men" that told the Devs that everything was great.

[@IncessantWake]

You obviously don't know what QA is. When you don't know something, best to not speak about it.

[@blues3531]

@@IncessantWake Ok so playtesting, outside of bug searching/fixing. It's hard to imagine an entire team of devs were playing this game for the past year+ and thought it was a good mechanic.

[@trunksbriefs4132]

Exactly what I was thinking, how any of it got past testing. It's not only jarring but tedious, repetitive and difficult to get down at the start... especially toward the beginning where you get 4 enemies chucked at you. On top of that, the auto aim shot from the pistol after a couple melee hits... what were they thinking?

[@BWMagus]

I would guess that they decided melee combat like this MUST be the core of the game, and then everything was built around it or added to make it more tolerable, but the idea of scrapping and starting over was just unacceptable (or too much money by that point). I wouldn't be surprised if the auto-dodge wasn't originally in the game, or if the quick shot with the pistol was an addition to "spice it up" when they realized it was boring and repetitive, etc. They had a vision they just could not make work.

[@jeremyallen5974]

Compared to RE: Revelations it works just fine. Unlike there where the dodge feels more like a recommendation than a command the protagonist will actually move in the direction you tell him to when an enemy swings at you The problem arises when he takes damage anyways because he gets caught on the random crap the developers put all over the place

[@luckyjohnson1767]

Dead Space defined what I wanted in video games, and some of this initially looked like it recaptured that magic. I honestly didnt think this could miss and I am so genuinely disappointed.

[@luckynumb3rsl3v7n9]

Don't be disappointed until you try it yourself. If you did try it then that's cool. I hadn't yet and will but I'm not disappointed from anothers opinion, imma just keep an open mind b4 I play

[@misterio10gre]

the game is a good DS successor and that's probably it for me most reviews I've read talk about the game not being something else other than DS (which I don't see a problem with), I guess the only thing this game is missing are the puzzles if you were into them

[@derrickfarbes1805]

If you didn't play it and you assume this review is legit you a clown

[@eljusticiero322]

Looks boring

[@AbuHajarAlBugatti]

From what Ive seen so far it still looks good in general it just ISNT dead space. But yeah way too much action and melee combat

[@shazmodeus2795]

I was watching my friend play this last night. I found it pretty entertaining, but I agree that it didn't seem very scary, and was really missing that truly unique enemy and weapon that defined Dead Space and made it so memorable. I kept waiting for the "plasma cutter" equivalent to show up and it never did.

[@julianswinton5355]

Instead we go a baton the new main weapon probably if they make a second game.

[@whoishe2527]

Is the story good? All that matters to me don’t care bout all that other bs

[@Revan-eb1wb]

@@whoishe2527 unfoetunately no. Barely Ny dialogue. Barely aby cutscenes. Extremely boring story

[@Ialwaysgetup]

@@whoishe2527 story is decent at best. It’s a game that gives a lot of lore and world building through audio logs.

[@whoishe2527]

@@Revan-eb1wb I’m 5 hrs in it’s pretty decent. Definitely not dead space but it is a decent horror game, after I beat it I plan on returning it to Best Buy 🤣

[@young__blacksmith]

Could have been cool if you played as an actual guilty prisoner. Would possibly make for an interesting personal redemption arc / coming to terms with your past.

[@unrecognizedtalent4834]

Thought the exact same thing! damn what could’ve been

[@neighborofthedevil]

I also haven't seen much of this that looks much like a prison. Obviously the whole place has been trashed by zombies but aside from them wearing orange jumpsuits for a bit it really doesn't look like a prison nor does it seem to be set in space or even on another world at all.

[@OrionDawn15]

@@neighborofthedevil It's set on like... a moon, I think... it's snowy? You can see a planet in the sky and stuff...

[@neighborofthedevil]

@@OrionDawn15 apparently Callisto is the second biggest moon on jupiter! It just doesn't give off much of a space vibe outside of the obvious space cutscenes.

[@OrionDawn15]

@@neighborofthedevil Ah.

[@Google_Censored_Commenter]

PSA for people looking to buy this! The game recieved a huge update to combat 2 weeks after he did this review. They've both sped up animations, improved AI, and tweaked multiple enemy encounter combat multiple times. They've also added quite a few cosmetics, the ability to skip all cut scenes, including the death one, New Game+, Hard mode, and DLC with more content should you want to invest in it.

[@IGoWumbo]

I think the driver of most of these issues is a simple and heartbreaking one: this game HAD to come out before the Dead Space Remake. From a commercial perspective, this game would be dead in the water if it released afterwards. This was Striking Distance’s chance to have the spotlight to themselves, and I think they pushed out this game too soon (potentially a full year too soon, based on the emptiness of the world and clear flaws in its combat systems)

[@Beelzebunge]

I suspect you're right. Such a shame.

[@HybOj]

exactly my thoughts. Thats really fucked honestly. "hope" it was worthy for them, than to wait IDK 6-12months and release actually a good game

[@tonito_el_tigre]

Which says a lot about a community that they rather support a name then the team that brought it to them.. EA ruined dead space so the team left and made collisto. So the og dead space fans should be all in on this game and let ea waste money on a dead space remake. Why give them money on an ip they ruined

[@sirebellum0]

I concur. And part of me wonders if EA was actively trying to screw them over

[@d-rabbitfor5398]

@TonyL bullshit. We love dead space because of dead space. Especially the first game that started it all is of utmost importance. Dont bring politics into games. If dead space has earned its name and EA pushes for a faithful remake, then there is nothing wrong with supporting them. We should rather lead companies into the direction we the consumers want, instead of hatefully sanction them when they try to hear us.

[@Xeneveres]

From listening to this review and what I’ve heard of the game leading up to its release it makes it sound like they spent more time making sure the death animations are gruesome and violent enough for the shock value that people wanted rather than focusing on the actual gameplay.

[@morteskellington9047]

Which is ironic, since the death animations mostly use the same 'head gore' model and all amount to 'thing hits guy head until pops' or some variation that ends with it popping. There's, at least in my playthrough, like one visually creative death.

[@lycanthrophy616]

This!! I'm on maximum security difficulty, so I've died many times and seen a lot of death animations. It's just overkill and tasteless at this point. They focused on that way too much as a selling point.

[@MrSnaztastic]

@@morteskellington9047 Well, it sounds like the saved all the other deaths to sell as DLC.. like, WTF.

[@ratman2580]

So I guess every other team working on this game just got to take a holiday break every time they worked on the animations

[@alsh5119]

@@MrSnaztastic don't get it twisted they even clarified thats its all gonna be new content that they never showed the reason they said new death animations is because the enemies are new in said dlc, no shi the death will be new, scummy seeing people grab the initial headline and run with it, even if u don't like the game don't be scummy tho

[@Alex-oj8po]

I think the most disappointing thing to me is the level design. The exploration and puzzle solving aspect of the survival horror genre is what I'd consider a foundation that these games should be built on. The spaces these games take place in are what I always remember about them even decades after playing them.

[@JewTube001]

to be fair DS was always low on those aspects. it's always been more action oriented compared to SH and RE.

[@cristhian900]

Exploration yes. Puzzles? Ew that’s so 90’s

[@imadeamistak4905]

@@cristhian900if you dont mind me asking what are you exploring if youre not figuring something out? by implementing puzzles youre interacting with the environment and exploring them. otherwise youre just going from room to room killing stuff. i think god of war does this well and its not a “90s” game

[@Rachel-96]

@@imadeamistak4905 Also helps alot with pacing to keep the player from getting burnt out

[@cristhian900]

@@imadeamistak4905 Maybe the kind of puzzles I’m thinking of are the Resident Evil, the Madison, and the Visage kind… the ones that may require you to look up a walkthrough, ruining all immersion and frustrating the player more than anything due to their progress halting nature. Environmental puzzles are ok though. Exploration can be exploring to gather more resources, upgrades, etc… Guess I just like my horror games more action oriented than the “what am I supposed to do now” kind 😅

[@myrlin7]

After watching your Forspoken video, I came and looked this up. I actually just watched this specifically because I really like hearing how much people thought it was bad. You literally pointed out everything I didn't like. You have a new subber here for your content. Good details and very solid communication skills.

[@ajwaddanwarr3409]

As a lover of Dead Space I have always been worried about this game cause in every combat scenario the player was just steam rolling through the zombies, in the original Dead Space game you weren't just scared of the necromorph but of running out of resources so despite being scared you had to calm yourself down every time. Its what made the game soo good. Also the infected just don't feel as scary here :/ Edit: Okay so there is an interesting discussion on difficulty in horror games here and the legacy of old Dead Space. First of all I played it when I was like 11, it was among my formative video game so yeah it was hard for me. Secondly I think this is why discussing mechanics is more important than difficulty cause any game plus time eventually gets easier if you are willing to learn. Mechanics is what either beats the test of time or not and for that Dead Space is still fantastic. Now someone had this awesome point about how Calisto is difficult cause your fighting against the system rather than thinking of creative ways to interact with the system. On that point having now played the game for 3 hours I gotta say that unfortunately Calisto is indeed the former. My final point, I think is a rebuttal to some people saying Dead Space is bad now, and that is all games age and feeling of "been there done that" sets in as we get older and newer games come out. What is important to paying respect to milestone games that inspired other games. Shakespeare stories feel boring as fk cause we have seen or read count less stories with similar beats, but his plays were what inspired these beats to began with so we give our respect.

[@allusive2903]

This!! I had the same feeling. What I loved about dead space was the vulnerability. Your resources…

[@ajwaddanwarr3409]

@@allusive2903 that glove is OP where as in dead space stasis bought you morsels of time where you had to think quick. If you can just grab things... you aren't in danger, you are the danger lol!

[@jmac8631]

Every time I saw the combat footage of this game I thought something was off as well. It’s a damn shame.

[@oscarriveraabal9390]

Isnt this game harder tho? I completed every dead space on hard and if you managed your inventory well you would never run out of ammo. Most people i have seen play callisto say it is pretty hard.

[@Sammo212]

I mean, once you figured out how the game works the resources weren't a problem even on higher difficulties...unless you just focused on leveling up military weapons.

[@Mendalay]

The part at the start where you have to fight four zombies at the same time with the melee weapon almost made me return it

[@yaJA._.]

Just get good

[@erroneouse1929]

@@yaJA._. I’ll get good at returning it🥴

[@mariahkerry1698]

Straight to my friend : craig

[@sxerwin]

On hard mode. Yes. I almost quit

[@Mendalay]

@@yaJA._. finished it. The tutorial for dodging is so bad. No timing required guys just hold left or right

[@johngannon]

It turns out the scariest part is the performance.

[@nont18411]

Kimiko😢

[@BioShockGX]

It's perfect on ps5

[@coldfusion1679]

Depends on platform I hear. PC port has had complaints, but I’ve had zero fps issues on Xbox series x.

[@slipstream7324]

Denuvo?

[@bakutie]

every fucking game now and it'll keep happening cuz humanity

[@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299]

The thing that made Dead Space so amazing to me was when it came to combat: the ability to pick off limbs. I don't get why this game wouldn't allow this feature also, it was strategic. It is a prison also, would've been cool to make your own ''prison'' weapons :P

[@dissraps]

But you can do that And that was also what made Dead Space as easy as it was. You could take the hardest difficulty solely with the plasma cutter and legs

[@Morden97]

This game kinda reminds me of The Order 1886... on the brink of a new generation, big hype previous to release, a huge emphasis on tech and graphics, third person action game with bad combat, poor boss encounters, no exploration, no puzzles, just a corridor shooter

[@ethansapp3473]

I totally forgot that game existed, it had such a good premise but yeah we know how it turned out like you said..

[@amadeusazazel9047]

This is actually a perfect analogy. It’s like a glorified tech demo to show off how pretty a game can be, yet it’s without the substance to prop up the game itself

[@DracoReptoidsExposed]

This and God of War Ragnorok, walking sims.

[@Barbarianbrotha]

Exactly my thoughts. Except the Order actually had a good Story and World building. I think I'm actually more bummed that it was a flop. Since it had good actors and the production value was of the charts. You think they could atleast have made the controls right in Calisto. Since if there's a sequel what is there to build off of. It sounds like just about everything is average or broken in the game. I really wanted this to be good since Arkham Knights was garbage also...SMH

[@SuperGhille]

idk if you played the game but the combat has been a lot of fun, it feels weighty and impactful, plus every upgrade makes the combat even more fun

[@neito_805]

The "Strategic Dismemberment" is what I loved from the old Dead Space games. It's a shame that it does not seem to have much of a presence in Callisto. I also enjoyed the puzzles and space walks with the Oxygen timer and reduced your hearing to add tension to the exploration. Then you get the loud WHOOOOSHHHH when you return to the vacuum chamber. Oh, and the Dark Necromorphs were more scary to me! They were harder to see, moved faster, hit harder, and had glowing red eyes

[@qfinitywizz2715]

No you didn't you didn't enjoy any of that in fact I bet you cried cuz you couldn't beat it

[@ardent835]

@@qfinitywizz2715 are you suppose to be the cockroach of KZbin or something?

[@Diplexone]

There is strategic dismemberment in this. The zombies won’t be able to hit you with that body part if you shoot or cut it off.

[@Diplexone]

Or if you shoot of there legs then they crawl towards you. It is literally the exact same

[@verdanthyborian2322]

@@qfinitywizz2715 wtf... is this the new bot responses?

[@Fatomeki]

I finished it after 13 Hours and I pretty much agree with every single point you said. I went into it thinking, its gonna be my game of the year, because I love Dead Space so much, but I am left heartbroken. It was not horrible, otherwise I wouldnt have finished it, but it was definitely subpar, besides the visuals. My biggest point is that I think its not scary at all. There were times where I would get startled, but thats it. I think I even thought Dead Space 3 to be scarier. I dunno, maybe its my fault for watching every trailer and documentary, but I just wasnt terrified at all. When I played Dead Space 1 & 2 there were times where I was too terrified to move onwards, but in Callisto the only time I felt something like that was in the bio habitat. In fact I think one reason why I didnt think it was scary, was because I dont really see the biophages as a threat 1v1. Necromorphs were so much more terrifying, especially because there was no dodge feature. In addition to everything mentioned I also think the checkpoint system sucks. Like you finished exploring on the alternate path and then you die on the story path and suddenly you are back to a point in time where you havent explored the alt path yet, even though I manually saved (which does nothing btw), because the checkpoint only gets set once you reach it the first time.

[@biasannihilator6146]

I legit had the checkpoint save thing happen to me today. Sat there after all the bullshit I just did to then manually save it. For it to somehow just be the checkpoint again. I turned my whole shit off man I was already pissed from the wanky group combat.

[@blindlightn650]

THIS!

[@AbstractM0use]

Yeah, so far my only fear in this game is just dread that I will have to keep repeating fighting a group of enemies that they throw at me at the end of a checkpoint. The last one will sneak a hit in from behind and kill me, making me go back to the checkpoint and fight them all again.

[@combineeliteunit8769]

I think that’s an overreaction calling DS3 scarier. DS3 literally felt like a Michael Bay film

[@Luke-ym7hd]

This is why I wait for these kinds of reviews before buying in these days of gaming. Everyone was so hyped for this game saying it’s going to be amazing. Hell even the trailers looked amazing. And what happened? It flopped hard 😂 I’ll only pre order games from companies like Rockstar and FromSoft, because companies like this are such a hit and miss when they release games. The next game to flop that everyone is hyped for is the Hogwarts shit. That game is going to be so bad 😂

[@neightneight1280]

Dead-Space was peak envelope-pushing, genre-bending ART. I still crave to play a proper follow-up to DS2, with whatever character it takes

[@Skywalkup]

I was getting super nervous when no reviews were out a week from launch. Got even more nervous when I saw the “season pass” and post launch plan. Glad I held off on preorder, I’ll look for this one on sale.

[@LouSassol69er]

Never preorder a game so far ahead of launch. This type of stuff can easily crop up for any game. The review embargo date being on the release date is the telltale sign they're trying to damage control something. Perhaps the covid development hurt this games potential, suppose we'll never know.

[@Jaguarsclaw]

Same not seeing early reviews seemed strange for a game with this much marketing.

[@italianspiderman5012]

Every time I hear “dlc” before the game even releases,I’m out,shits ridiculous.

[@UmbraWeiss]

I pre-order games 1 day before release , so i can download it before launch, than i refund it next day if is trash, like this.

[@aeternusdoleo4531]

"Remember... No preorders." It should be a rule by now for gamers.

[@benjaminhoese7665]

The story was my main worry. I tried to listen to the podcast they made and it basically feels like someone threw every 80s action horror movie at an AI and asked them to write the cheesiest script they could.

[@_JellyWalker]

I would probably enjoy that if the combat was good.

[@Sengg0]

I mean Glen Schofield says Event Horizon and the Thing are his fav horrors and those are classic B movies, so I don't understand what else you expected, it's just like Dead Space

[@ringard5172]

IIRC Space prison as a setting was one of the Dead Space 1 ideas which was not selected.

[@mehoyminoy1326]

Thats actually exactly what they did. “The developers used artificial intelligence inspired by a process called "generative design," when designing the game's objects, environments, and characters. By taking human-designed objects and putting them through this A.I., the designs were optimized for efficiency.[1]”

[@aquiatic]

I listened to the whole podcast series and really enjoyed it, despite being super cliched. I'd say the story was actually more interesting than that of the game, although i've only played a few hours so far

[@Lenny-pr2go]

I had such high hopes for this game - this is a massive bummer. Appreciate the review as always, SkillUp

[@jackag24]

I bought the game prior to looking at any reviews. Just played about 4 hours straight and it's fucking awesome. It's so polished. Atmosphere is great and the combat is visceral as.

[@AlmissaGaming]

get your own opinion

[@97wojak]

You haven't even watched the review!

[@Gutszomb11]

straight up, this game is so fun and nice, but it does stutter a massive amount, thankfully it just comes in bursts

[@mariobadia4553]

@@jackag24 not the gunplay. Enemies have nearly no reaction to getting shot

[@scirrhia_kruden]

Sad to see that Karen Fukuhara's first acting role in a game is in THIS game.

[@user-lb9xw4xf2q]

To be fair, one of her first major acting roles in general was Katanna in Suicide Squad. So, since she went from that to The Boys, in a few years she will be in a game that doesn't disappoint!

[@RecluseBootsy]

Her character was written like shit too.

[@thecircleoft.e.d2121]

On that topic, the acting for this game isn't necessarily bad either; the problem is the writing of the script. Dialogue, plot, story, backstory, etc. it's just so underdeveloped, boring and generic that I think they had almost nothing to work off; nothing to make them interesting or unique past basic things, and I find that very disappointing to see. Jacob's the biggest example of this; I thought he'd be a career criminal of being one of a brutal past, and he'd been in Black Iron for years, and had been hardened by its harsh environment, hence why he's fighting the Biophages the way he does. When I saw the prologue opening in that he's just a cargo pilot who got arrested for no reason given to us, I worried, because that's a lazy way to just force him into the role of a prisoner.

[@user-lb9xw4xf2q]

@@thecircleoft.e.d2121 I agree. Acting is generally solid; pity how a bad script can drag everything down. I thought that Jacob would have had Elias's character arc (which, incidentally, happened off-screen until an exposition dump); rather than a mystery that is only a mystery because the cutscenes change an identifiable McGuffin into a weird alien cube for reasons of undefined trauma.

[@HunterBann]

The reason I trust your reviews is because of the depth you give. Even when you "recommend" something, the detailed review given allows me to gather my own information on whether or not it's for me. Our tastes generally align so that helps.

[@TopTwom]

Having the same thoughts. The points in the review actually (mostly) sounds like positive things to me despite the review being negative

[@alexdoan273]

@@TopTwom which one is positive though? Bad performance, lack of enemy variety, disconnecting and predictable story, combat that you aren't fully in control... I don't see a great deal of good points here...

[@creopictures]

Very true. The extreme linearity he describes for example, is not a huge problem to me. A bit of a bummer, but not a deal breaker. But all the other problems described definitely are. And they were things that I suspected from the gameplay footage I had seen. I was afraid that the melee combat would either end up being OP (since it conserves ammo) or straight up annoying. Or both. Sounds like that's the case.

[@thesaviorofsouls5210]

Its nice to actually see reviewers have an opinion, too many are too afraid to give a negative review because they might be excludes from review lists.

[@BorisTheMonkey]

Exactly, don't just listen to his conclusion. Hearing how the combat works is enough to put me off, even if he liked it I'd still think it sounded bad.

[@namesii1880]

The devs really did go to great lengths to bring back the OG Dead Space days. They even traveled back to the time where PC was a platform many ignored. Though of course these days PC is such a major platform that it puzzles me how they thought this was ok to release.

[@godsson7779]

Yeah, that's apparently part of the problem

[@theanimerapper6351]

The stuttering in this game is apparent in alot of AAA games nowadays on pc

[@sasoriakasuna9050]

This is not a new issue, most major releases don't function properly on pc

[@Volker_A4]

@@HondaWanderer Dead Space 1 is unplayable without a mod to fix the input and Dead Space 2 never got the story DLC on PC.

[@Disconnect350]

@@Volker_A4 Played Dead Space 1 on my average laptop and it was great with no crashes. Surprised how well it ran.

[@PersonWMA]

Next to the remake, the reboot, and the belated sequel that ties off a decades-long cliffhanger, "Creator banking on his name and then failing to rebottle lightning" seems to be just one of those things this decade.

[@reaper_exd7498]

Dude it's always been a thing. Look up John Romero and his game Diakatana. The dude is the father of doom nd ID software but Diakatana bombed cuz you need more than a good looking game and a famous designer to succeed.

[@frankaliberti]

The game just came out!! Go play it instead of taking the word of a KZbinr, for fucksake!

[@PersonWMA]

@@frankaliberti Fair enough. Wire me 70 dollars and I'll buy it so I can exhaustively play the game, analyse its design architecture, and then finally draft an opinion that I can relay back to you, Nix Lock of KZbin. While I'm at that, wire me a couple thousand so I can buy a sports car so I can determine whether it's really all that it's cracked up to be, and reserve a spot at a five-star restaurant in my name so I can get an opinion about fine dining. After all, why should trust the opinions of reviewers when I can just blow my money on a gamble as to whether I'll get value back for it. I'll "get an opinion" after all, which is so incredibly important to you.

[@MaxwellPublishing]

@@PersonWMA lmaoooo

[@TibbyII]

Unlike Psychonauts 2 which ended up being arguably better than the first

[@stevequincy388]

Also, I’m replaying Alien Isolation. Playing that game with headphones has seriously left my heart racing after my gaming sessions. A working Joe is looking for you as you’re huddled behind a crate, while you can hear the Alien hunting you in the vents above your head, while your motion tracker is going crazy. Oh and there’s also alarms blaring this whole time making it difficult to focus. I actually have to take breaks from that game, take off the headphones and get my heart rate down haha. That’s how you do survival horror in my humble opinion.

[@azzimaz]

I hv no idea how despite having Sam Witwer, Karen Fukuhara & Josh Duhamel play characters in this game, the story misses so hard. These are some really talented actors. Karen Fukuhara was amazing in Boys. Sam Witwer is darn good in many games he is in.

[@fatbroccoli8]

Because it's all about the writing, doesn't matter how good the actors are... relatively speaking

[@ThatGuy-ky2yf]

@@fatbroccoli8 Always be suspect of a game that prioritizes famous actors/voice actors over promoting in-depth gameplay and story in its trailers and initial discussion.

[@iluvatarchem]

You've played the game? Or you're just throwing random shitty opinions because you've read some reviews?

[@walkingwhisperer]

I thought Josh Duhamel was an interesting choice for the lead. Hadn't seen him in something major since Transformers. It's a shame his major game debut had to end up this way.

[@snowlocke1]

@@walkingwhisperer technically it’s not his debut since he was in Call of Duty World War 2 as well

[@ayaanman6650]

This was a shock to come and a surprise to many

[@roksitzenfrei]

They need 6 months to polish they rush it to release and is terrible

[@bevanmcnicholl2525]

Have you beaten it?

[@bobba515]

Not to me, these "spiritual succesors" are rarely as good as their originals

[@roksitzenfrei]

@@bevanmcnicholl2525 no yet

[@Qvlvids]

Embargo on release date dampened the surprise aspect massively.

[@krawlingchaos3963]

Looks like an excellent game to buy after 6 months of fixes at 50% off.

[@HunterBann]

That's what I gathered

[@jaggerknife]

or gamepass if you have it.

[@thomasfinal5055]

6 months? After reviews like this, the game will be at least 30% off in any christmas sales. (like gotham knights was).

[@emiloguechoons9030]

@@jaggerknife Are you sure it's coming to game pass? I checked the "coming to game pass" section on my xbox and couldn't see it.

[@morkgin2459]

Bro. The problem isn't basic bugs, glitches or optimization. The level design and the game itself is problematic.

[@jeremiahpeace9164]

You know what I love best about this game? How incredibly slow the hero walks, just mind bogglingly slow. When I first experienced it, I thought there was something wrong with my TV, like there was lag or something, turns out it's just how he walks. The Guy just doesn't give a shit about anything going on around him, and just takes his sweet ass time, looking at the sights, just taking it all in, like a fucking tree sloth.

[@mitchroki2776]

Exactly like he has no sense of urgency💀

[@Mentis-de]

It's a VIDEOGAME NOT THE REALITY!!

[@ethantombs2608]

​@DerHalbeEuro also he's in a prison infested with zombies. Why the fu k would he want to move quickly?

[@نونيم-ي4ح]

One thing you didn’t mention and that is the TERRIBLE auto save system, there are so many times where I had to reupgrade my weapons after getting wrecked, I also want to add that the death animations/extremely long loading times(I play on PS4) multiply the frustration aspect of the game by a thousand, they also do a very poor job explaining the combat which took me many trials and errors for me to figure out.

[@kaijuking3216]

I know you're pain, mate. I'm also on PS4, and the loading times for me have been well over a minute. I died a few times against the second two-headed brute boss fight, and and I timed one of the loading screens and it was 1 minute 6 seconds total, not including the kill animations. Also about the auto save system, most other games are smart enough to put you in the room before the boss fight when reloading, not right at the midst the boss fight where you can't catch your bearings. And the manual safe feature's completely worthless.

[@smartn1ck]

YES! and it wouldn't let you save at some points so you had to keep redoing certain things ! this game got me so heated!

[@AbstractM0use]

@@kaijuking3216 Wow, that would be unplayable for me. You die so easily and often, that means a lot of load screen time. Thankfully the load time is almost nothing on a Series X, but still frustrating to have to keep dying and repeating the same enemy fights over and over.

[@kaijuking3216]

@@AbstractM0use To be totally honest, it got so bad with all the loading screens that I was reading a Spider-Man comic during them. Easily one of the most frustrating and broken games I've ever played. And to add to that, I just beat the game a few hours ago and I think the worst aspect of the game has to be the weapon selection / switch. I can't tell you how many times during the final boss fight because the game wouldn't allow me to quickly switch from the riot shotgun to the tactical pistol. And Lastly, does anyone else think the kill animations are kind of lame in comparison to the original Dead space 1 and 2?

[@LightspeedGaming]

Ugh yes being on Xbox 1 it shouldn't take 30 seconds after dying to load back in. Absolutely painful and makes it even more annoying when you die all the time cuz of the bad combat

[@UPHENOS]

Yep, I remembered the lesson I learned a long time ago, again, which is to never preorder, or get overhyped until reviews are out!

[@dakotadean5953]

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

[@discipleofdeath2517]

I only pre-order from one developer, FromSoft. Besides that yes I always take the wait and see approach.

[@chanwooksook]

@@2canwin635 but really whats the point of preorder? if there would be a 10-20% discount for it - then ok.. but it's just to play lottery for nothing....ok maybe you'll be able to predownload game and have 2 hours advantage.)

[@Nukeboy718]

I certainly learned a lesson today! Hopefully GameStop will let me cancel as I still owe $5 on it!

[@S2369100]

@@2canwin635 I used to think the same way…until cyberpunk 2077 came out. Never preordered a game in years, but I broke my rule because it was CD ProjectRed and I trusted them. Now, no matter what game, what company, I will NEVER preorder anything. Ever.

[@wenoay]

cant believe skillup actually got this video out this quickly. such a strange review window for this game

[@erroldtumaque3430]

Wdym everyone just dropped their reviews at the same time

[@sammartin350]

@@erroldtumaque3430 He only got the code around 36hrs ago - Not a ton of time to play through, judge, edit, script etc. Whilst working on other games also

[@jimnilandelectrics]

Not ripping on my boy Shill but disappointed i had to watch the IGN review before his. Usually he is on point and industry leading.

[@JakubKowalczyk]

its a 10 hour game

[@KOBKStreak]

@@jimnilandelectrics so you rather he rush out content and possibly risk the quality of it? There was also a review embargo until the date of release. You also don't know when he got the code to review the game. So you are either a troll or being a spoilt brat.

[@DrJones20]

An intelligently written review unlike the rambling rants from many other channels. MrMattyPlays was especially bad.

[@itsblitz4437]

Well there is YongYea, GManLives, and JoeTheAlternativeGamer.

[@jareddavidmanifold313]

I can't stand Mr Matty or retro rebound that dude is unnerving

[@ActNasty5]

Did not expect this but i did think the combat did look like a little bit of a step back

[@SLRModShop]

That's a shame, I know 2 guys who would love this game... When I saw the combat system, I decided to embargo myself, if they buy it and get disappointed, at least they can't blame me for putting this game on their radar ^-^ It's a quick fix though from what I can see, add some ammo, make CQC optional and this game would be better, even I would buy it, honestly, just for the graphics alone. But no way I'm "smashing X to win"... That's how I call modern games... If you don't know which ones I'm talking about, just guess your odds are around 75%...

[@btchiaintkidding7837]

just a step back. it is llike ultra giga step back slipping right into cliff and fell off

[@marcleach6167]

When I first saw the combat I thought it was a little off But I also thought this was still early they didn’t finish the game yet How wrong I was

[@Sengg0]

he failed to mention the GRP glove in this review completely, most of the encounters are designed for you to use it, I agree the melee is shit so I mostly avoided it relying on the glove to spike enemies or throw them over the edge and it was a cakewalk

[@danielbiczi4011]

i love how even with games he doesnt recommend he still uses absolutely killer montages

[@sabihrashid252]

Disappointed to hear about the underwhelming story and world. The 6 episode audiodrama they released in the weeks leading up to the game was pretty good, and made me think they'd put a lot of effort into the worldbuilding.

[@adamtellier997]

AUDIO DRAMA?!?! I love full sound design podcasts. Thank you.

[@boosterprime5757]

That's probably where all the world building went to...

[@michaelthomas7659]

Finished the game myself, I played mostly on Hard mode (I did drop to Medium on a few encounters, glad the game lets you do this at any point) and it took me about 15 hours according to steam. Personally, I quite enjoyed it! I'd give it like an 8/10. It certainly has problems (mostly in the over-use of little jump scares and the recycled two-head boss enemy) but if you try to master it than its pretty engaging though some parts go on for longer than they really should. Playing it on Hard mode really forces you to engage with its mechanics, learn all of the weapons, and pay close attention to the environment as you die so incredibly fast otherwise. One thing I would recommend is make good use of the melee/shoot mechanic. If you master it (and have the melee upgrade that lets you break through blocks) then you can make quick work of enemies which is required in later sections. Also, the game showers you with ammo so sell extra rounds and always keep the valuable items over ammo (multiple points I had an inventory full of sellables with only maybe 2 open spaces for other things). I ended the game with multiple weapons maxed out and most other ones close. Last thing I want to mention, I LOVED that this game was mostly linear. I'm tired of games inserting "open-ness" for the sake of doing it. I always felt like I was exploring unlike in some other big releases (looking at you God of War reboot) which, due to their need to constantly tell you where to go, kind of ruin their exploration. Callisto offers many side paths that are sometimes hidden so if you take your time in the environments you can always find them. The level designers did a mostly excellant job of helping guide you through the use of lighting and layout to where you can eventually learn to tell which paths are the "optional" ones. I say "mostly excellant job" as sometimes they literally placed arrows to tell you where to go which just felt hand-holdy in a game that otherwise is not and often broke immersion for me. Anyway, if you want a hardcore combat-oriented horror sci-fi experience with light survival horror elements then this game is the one for you. I think the level of visual fidelity has some people tricked into thinking this is a AAA-game that is going to have the accessibility of a typical AAA release but that is very much not the case. Oh, and the inexcusable performance problems which is mostly fixed on PC (which is how I played the game) but could still use more work.

[@michaelthomas7659]

I also hate to be "that guy" but there is a reason you had such a hard time with the combat... 1 - Combat) Based on the footage, you always seemed to be just rushing through and not really trying to think outside of "hit as much as I can, as fast as I can" which is the exact opposite of how you should engage a group of enemies. You need to make use of the space around you, ranged weapons (some knock enemies down), the GRP which can literally reposition just about every enemy in the game and instant-kill them with the use of the environment, and whatever upgrades you have. You also need to not hit enemies while they are swinging because you will just hit each other. If you let enemies surround you, you are going to take a lot of damage. 2 - Healing) The game does offer instant heals in the form of, well, instant health pick-ups. They do not go into your inventory and instead just flat out heal you immediately. When you are low on health and don't have time to heal, enemies will typically drop these pick-ups with a stomp of their body (not always as it seems random, but it seems balanced to where they are more likely to drop when you are low). Odd that you didn't mention these pickups unless maybe you didn't find them useful? 3 - Blind Enemies) You showed yourself fighting a ton of the blind enemies when mentioning fighting groups. I don't want to down-play your struggles with them or seem like I am making fun of you but I literally laughed out loud when I saw that. Now, I'm guessing you probably engaged those enemies on purpose to get footage of it (or rather I hope so) because you are not meant to engage all of those guys. You are meant to sneak past them or lower their numbers through stealth kills until the number is more manageable. Again, group fights test your enemy management skills. 4 - The Final Boss) So... The two-headed enemy (which I agree is over-used) pretty much serves as a "practice" of the final boss as the two are quite similar except the final one throws some extra mechanics at you to make the fight more interesting. At first, it does seem pretty OP and unfair especially since the game also sends enemies that explode if they touch you. However, the game offers you a lot of help! The room is really big making it easy to put space between you so you can reload/switch weapons/have time to shoot him, there are a TON of item pickup boxes and even instant health pickups just sitting around, and finally the exploding enemies always drop ammo/health and can be used to throw at the boss for additional damage or explode when he is next to them. Once you put all of this together, he isn't that difficult. Ultimately, this is a game that you just have to be willing to engage with and figure it out because it will NOT tell you otherwise. It doesn't even try to tell you these things. With something like Dark Souls, you go into it knowing it will be difficult but fair so mentally you are prepared for that. This game tries to do the same in that it doesn't prepare you for that and yeah sort of does seem like a dumb shooter but it actually is quite demanding and wants you to figure these things out. Once you realize that, it will click. Sucks that this never happened for you as I think you would have enjoyed the game a lot more. EDIT: Fixed some typos!

[@BESM1984]

I watched Maximilian Dood played this last night and it was ROUGH in many categories especially the mechanics. I would love to hear what the devs were trying to accomplish.

[@dakotadean5953]

Legally distinct not dead space. Which is ironic since it is the same team.

[@BESM1984]

@@dakotadean5953 from what I have seen it got the visuals across but the combat...I want to know more about how they came to this "conclusion"(?). Also releasing they game without a new game plus(its coming Feburary next year) is baffling.

[@puddingcatsteamboat6393]

i watched that too and honestly it didn’t come off great but i thought that maybe it just wasn’t the game for Max ya know, it happens no game works for everyone. after hearing this review, which seems to reiterate what i saw with Max…yeah it’s not looking good.

[@BESM1984]

@@puddingcatsteamboat6393 that stick-and-move (dodge) that IF it works looks like it would be GREAT for one on one encounters but add in two to four enemies and it feels and looks like a complete mess. Adding in how slow he moves compared to enemies which to BE FAIR many gaming in survival horror do but here the speeds feel out of sync.

[@jakeshepherd7046]

@@dakotadean5953 Literally the only parts of this game with any similarities to Dead Space are the HUD being a part of the game world and having a stomp powerful enough to fight God. Other than that, the gameplay reminds me more of The Last of Us, having weighty melee combat and third person shooter gameplay with more conventional firearms compared to the more makeshift weaponry of Dead Space.

[@Trekari]

Reviews may just be opinions, but yours are consistently delivered in a professional manner with loads of supporting rationale. You're the best in the business.

[@AbysswalkerD]

This game reminds me of Back 4 Blood, a team of devs who made classics everyone loved makes a spiritual successor, just for it to not live up to the original.

[@joh3628]

I feel the same way.

[@meh-pd7tr]

Actually if you look at the list of devs who made that game it didn't even had the main lead names who made l4d good. I guess that was the trick when it came to marketing for that game? Is tricking you into thinking the big names was a part of the development for back 4 blood, but wasn't

[@SuperGhille]

@@meh-pd7tr exactly the devs at valve made l4d great

[@nousername2942]

That game suuuuuucked lol fastest install and uninstall for me and my friends of the year.

[@OrionDawn15]

@@nousername2942 I dunno, I stuck with it and the game legitimately got pretty fun. It shouldn't have released the way it did but it was actually enjoyable and had some replay value. Something I can't say for Callisto.

[@Lliam043]

Perhaps it was rushed to be released before the Dead Space remake. I can't imagine a time crunch otherwise. These guys were calling their own shots with this one. That's what I read anyway regarding the formation of this project/studio. Appreciate the unbiased critique. Most major outlets go too soft on games.

[@dissraps]

Which is kind of weird, if anything the remake would likely help sales. If it sucks they go "oh this is the original team now we have a good one" If it's good they go "wow I want more" Unless they released at the same time there's likely no cannibalization it's not opening weekend movies

[@willgrello1337]

Your reviews are insanely detailed and well worded. Refreshing from a lot of other reviewers where they sound like an angry 12 year old when they don't enjoy a game then mask their inability to describe why they hate it by making awful jokes.

[@TakeARideWithMe]

I don’t quite understand what the hell is happening to the gaming industry lately, but I hope this terrible time period comes to an end sooner than later..

[@calvinm1866]

Agreed.

[@MightyManotaur22]

There are still plenty of bangers coming out, but in general I agree. I think we have at least another year of the COVID impact making some AAA games disappointing. The pandemic really screwed up game dev timelines and publishers will only delay things for so long.

[@Fragmentofbone]

Every industry has its ups and lows. It will get better. Hopefully, in this decade.

[@TakeARideWithMe]

@@MightyManotaur22 Things were f***** up before Covid. I’m getting tired of the Covid excuse.

[@EmilyKimMartin]

@@TakeARideWithMe Covid should never be an excuse, specially because they still ask $60/$70 from the consumers

[@gemknight9889]

While they're obviously going for VERY different experiences I have to recommend that anyone still looking for a cool sci-fi survival horror experience right now should check out Signalis. I think it's a fantastic throwback to the classic Resident Evil formula with a great visual style that I'm still thinking about long after finishing the game.

[@MapleBurrito]

Agreed! Playing Signalis to then playing this is just so jarring in terms of quality.

[@kristof910k]

Hmm thanks for the recommendation, I just finished Silent Hill 1 and 2 so I need something similar to that

[@sly5183]

Signalis is objectively a superior game, yes.

[@joshualewno1440]

I couldn't get out of the 1st few rooms on signalis. What do you do at the beginning?

[@gregoreuo1]

Also on Gamepass so a lot easier to try out.

[@jamesmcdonough4901]

I really enjoyed the first half on PS5, but the 2nd half gets really repetitive with the reused mini boss. The first half is more enjoyable because the combat is 1 on 1 or gives you explosive barres or spikes to deal with more than one enemy. The last mission throws waves of enemies at you with no spikes and the combat system can't really accommodate it.

[@deadheart1579]

Tips I have found that the tutorials don't mention: 1.) Try to take on enemies 1 at a time as they come at you. 2.) Always be on the lookout for environmental kill spots you can use. BE CAREFUL BECAUSE ENEMIES CAN USE THEM TOO. 3.) Keep an eye out for glass cabinets with items inside you can melee to break open. These items WILL NOT be highlighted by pickup notifications. They will shine like other items though. 4.) Buy the arm breaker melee weapon upgrade as soon as possible to save yourself frustration. 5.) You can drop items without destroying them. Just don't accidentally leave them behind. 6.) Don't pick "reload checkpoint" when you die. Choose to load the checkpoint save from the load menu instead because item pickups in your immediate vicinity might despawn.

[@moonmoon2479]

I beat this game on the hardest difficulty and it was awful. But trust this guy. These are all great tips. Except the environment kills. Enemies can only use certain environment kills, and this is a crapshoot. It might kill you instantly when you are 10 feet away from it, or you might bounce off a grinder. Probably best to just assume they could kill you.

[@Ghostly_One1]

This makes me realize a kinda funny thing. For how much Dead Space 3 is considered by most as the series killer, it was ultimately probably the most open of all of them. Like sure you'd still be going in a pipe if you just focused on main story, but if you wanted you were full well capable of diverting off to completely different side areas that often even had a bit of story to them. Instead of just side rooms you typically had to either unlock or break open, or I guess absolutely nothing like Callisto lol.

[@animalbancho1726]

Everyone realized that, but it wasn’t a positive because it destroyed the horror pacing and atmosphere

[@5Akecheta4]

Play the game

[@arsonne]

Open =/= good. In fact it is usually a detractor for horror. If your player has too much freedom then set pieces and well-done scary moments suffer.

[@willybe6427]

Most people hated dead space 3 for the multiplayer, the story and the upgrade mechanics. It had nothing to do with “look where you can go”

[@travisadams6279]

@@arsonne I think it depends on what people mean by "open". Tight dark quarters can be oppressive and help with that horror aspect for sure, but the game can still have multiple routes and exploration. Being completely on rails and one long hallway really isnt a positive in itself.

[@Nightmare--]

I really like the way you title your videos. There is a reason you're my most trusted reviewer.

[@davideassis87]

Right? Most KZbinrs force you to watch the thing, but this guy convinces you to do it with honesty.I'm following him since the good ol' days of The Division 1.

[@TheBigJame_]

Unless he’s reviewing lost judgement I’m sorry I’m still salty

[@TheSoundofForgetting]

It’s just his opinion and that’s it like anyone playing it. A lot of what he says I haven’t experienced on series X and it’s been fun and bloody

[@hollow8136]

And yet people still accuse him of clickbait. Saying the "simple title forced you to watch the video for more details!" Like the hell do people expect, him to make it a light novel and put a whole summary of pros and cons in the title? But yeah, I like the way Ralph does things. It's about as close to the old TB days as we can get from someone imo.

[@dabd8175]

He's not more trustworthy then ign

[@Matteosnet]

This game's main premise (escaping from a sci-fi prison) reminds me of The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. Without keeping the prison more or less intact you can't really have things like hub areas and NPCs anymore to break up the pacing and gameplay. But without destroying the prison main guy would of just been stuck so with hind sight here its a lost cause unless the game is specifically a prison break game. Also Riddick even had it's own Xeno creatures for light horror at one point fulfilling similar role in this game causing disruption as a way to escape but is only short like less then 30min section then dropped immediately because it only served to move the plot forward not as the whole game.

[@alexblake5369]

You don't have to have story, characters, puzzles, and open world or combat in a horror game. But you have to have SOMETHING in your game other than looks. The issue that Callisto has is not that it's missing these things, it's that it has nothing to fill the empty spaces.

[@ShiffDawgMan]

Absolutely agreed. I feel a lot of people are not really understanding what’s wrong with this game but you put it perfectly. No sane person goes into a sci-fi horror game expecting the best story known to mankind. The whole point is for it to be scary, not control like a dumpster, and that’s basically it. But like you said it falls flat in the very few areas it’s supposed to shine so here we are unfortunately

[@starxlord9856]

Have you played it? It was a great story horror game and super enjoyable.

[@jaehparrk]

Callisto Protocol is still a great $20 video game

[@Drakkon1997]

@@starxlord9856 literally brain dead game. Refunding it right after I plat it on ps5.

[@Cay9z]

Yes you do, all horror games need a story, especially AAA horror games. Really gives you a better aspect of what the horror actually means. If they explained why zombies cant be easily killed by Sci Fi tech and weaponry during the 23rd Century that is not logical, makes the game less scary

[@julianfeo1995]

Wasn't expecting the reviews we got on this game, might hold off on this one for now

[@bevanmcnicholl2525]

Play the game first. I just beat it and it was pretty damn great. Best survival horror in years

[@PsychoSavage88]

@@bevanmcnicholl2525 seems like more players are loving it more than reviewers

[@bevanmcnicholl2525]

@@PsychoSavage88 I think expectations for this game have been fucked up. I wanted a cool new survival horror! I got that

[@DaToby98]

@@bevanmcnicholl2525 hows the Combat? Seems to be the most criticised Aspect of the game

[@mariobadia4553]

@@DaToby98 not. Good. Enemies barely react to getting shot and melee combat is godawful.

[@Marko-ij4vy]

6:28 This really makes me want mass effect with these type of graphics. I know it may seem random because mass effect is completely different type of game but its the type of game where graphics like this (especially faces looking like that) would fit so well because its a story driven game and also futuristic with traveling in space,meeting different alien species etc.

[@SCACCHIESLOCUST]

Mass Effect is gonna use Unreal 5 so ... Fingers crossed

[@iluvatarchem]

It is not only random. It is plain stupid. Mass effect is an open world. You cant do an open world with these graphics. Not right now anyway

[@mattbog2057]

@@iluvatarchem ​ You clearly havent seen matrix awakens. I know its a tech demo but it still shows that graphics like that are possible in open world. Horizon forbiden west is also open world and the graphics are gorgeous. Yes its a different artstyle but still. Calisto is also on ps4 and xbox one (old gen consoles). If next mass effect comes only on current gen (so it wont be limited by oldgen) then graphics like that are definitely possible. If old gen consoles can handle calisto protocol graphics then current gen can handle those graphics in open world.

[@utisti4976]

@@iluvatarchem lol does RDR2, Horizon Forbidden West and Ghost of Tsushima not exist? pretty dumb comment ngl

[@VitorHugoOliveiraSousa]

@@iluvatarchem this limitations don't exist anymore, with SSD hability to stream data at high speed games don't have to sacrifice quality of the assets in open worlds to make streaming the high number of assets in view as players move unpredictability in any direction possible.

[@Subject98]

I finished the game on base ps4, on medium difficulty, and ended up enjoying it. This a game that will appeal to some and not to others, but it's not even close to being terrible. I can sympathize with the issues people were / maybe still are having on PC, but I experienced very little issues. Even the final boss seemed to be solid and everything worked as intended. I died like 5 times on him but I liked the challenge. Something I don't understand is why so many players are focusing on the melee combat, as if other strategies aren't even worth looking into. The game showers you with ammunition. The way I think it's meant to be played is combo-ing gunplay, kenesis and environmental hazards with your melee attacks. Trying to rely on melee when you have more than two enemies in the room is not going to cut it, and that's probably intentional. I honestly think the combat is quite good. Though the weapons needed to be more diverse, and weapon switching is kind of bad. It's slow and you have to let the animation complete before aiming or you'll still be on your last gun lol. I wish they would change that.

[@awzup57]

I really appreciate that I can hear Ralph covering his face with his hands in frustration when talking about the healing and combat system.

[@psedonym]

Hi SkillUp. I appreciate the honesty. It's hard to thumb-down something that was anticipated as this, but it's also important. Thanks for your top-tier content: I always look forward to it.

[@cole6383]

I've been plays this game a few hours now and this is the most accurate review I've seen online. Perhaps it's the difficulty but I find that the combat is great for person-to-person but not meant for large crowds of enemies. While attacking 1 person it's very easy to get attacked from behind and because you can't create distance it's often annoying and unfair when you die.

[@archersterling6726]

Enemies are much more aggressive than the gameplay itself, you can't keep up

[@raijin8718]

You have to work around that, they give an arsenal to strategies how you wanna fight the Biophage

[@msrumedia5616]

Skill issue

[@menaceiwill1]

@@raijin8718 an arsenal of strategy. So melee, dodge, shoot. Hhm 3 things.

[@raijin8718]

@@menaceiwill1 Arsenal refers to tools and weapons, not actions, guess that isnt clear to some people ig

[@jonathanmontes5579]

This video is another example of not taking YT reviewers seriously. This game is good, is it perfect? No, is it Dead Space 4? No, but it is a good game.

[@gdoumit]

I was really excited for this. I thought this game was sure thing that just could not miss. A great end to 2022. Seems I was horribly wrong. Earlier this week when they revealed the embargo wasn't lifting until release, I knew right then to be skeptical and held off on buying the game I thought couldn't miss. I'm glad I waited. I'll be waiting for a deep sale on this.

[@skupipup]

That's unfortunate, the game looks absolutely amazing. Performance can be patched but fixing the writing or combat is a whole different beast.

[@archersterling6726]

I will watch it on KZbin, then buy on sale. Sadly

[@celphalonred1999]

No, writing and combat is masterful done. The stuttering on higher settings can and will be fixed in a patch. Outside the stuttering (which I've hardly had 10 hours in currently) its an easy 10 outta 10.

[@archersterling6726]

@@celphalonred1999 ...

[@low_ki_ded_2148]

@@celphalonred1999 if this is masterful combat then im god himself

[@Onewiththesauce8]

@@celphalonred1999you think the game is a 10 out of 10? Cause I’m so confused on why it’s getting a bad rating😭

[@elementz301]

Dang I was nervous when I saw the combat originally. In dead space you were afraid to let necromorphs get close, in this game I just saw people rushing the zombies with a stick and that made me suspicious it wouldn't be scary at all

[@fabioa.8008]

Yeah...I don't like the forced melee too, and apparently we wont get many weapons.

[@DragonKnightX12]

@@fabioa.8008 Yea if their gonna make it melee heavy, at least make it fun and give us a variety of melee weapons. This is like barely a step above RE.

[@XBMxBama]

Have it on maximum difficulty especially early on and I can say having the melee combat would have been a godsend for the Dead Space series. Every encounter can kill you if you attack the wrong target I probably spent 45 mins plus on an aera where I could either stealth kill an enemy then get jumped by 2 or pull that enemy and fight all 4 total in 1v1. Having to stomp to get loot corpses in fights was a great idea. Health is also used in injectors, but in a scrum you can't heal. Each fight has tension and the death animations honestly make each failure worth it.

[@fabioa.8008]

@@DragonKnightX12 Dude, my thoughts exactly. I mean, you're in a f*ckng prison, how in the world you cannot craft/improvise a shiv, knife, hahaha real prisoners can and you telling me this mf in the year 3000 can't? Lol...the devs wasted a huge opportunity here.

[@taintedgoose9138]

This game ain’t dead space, it’s more of an evolution. All of your arsenal are more like tools, the real weapon is you and it’s up to you how deadly it is.

[@DannyG683]

We've had an Isaac, we've had a Jacob, next we need an Abraham.

[@Ochirip]

Damn. I have been so hyped and excited for this. I really was hoping it would be a vindication. Maybe they'll fix it, most likely not. Hopefully part 2 will be better.

[@wile123456]

Dead Space remake will be better

[@Lavonne1]

They should have fixed it before release.

[@martoantoniuk]

Unfortunately there is no fixing this kind of thing outside of the technical problems on pc. It needs a whole other game in terms of time put into it to make it something it is not right now.

[@jamespaul6315]

Its one dudes review lmao yall going on like its the end of the world

[@sean_69]

@@jamespaul6315that’s how people are with reviews this day. They don’t form their own opinion they just take it from someone else.

[@bagginbrooks6573]

This is why I never trust when review embargoes end on release day. Having said that though, proformance issues aside (those will get fixed) you can't take any reviewers word as law. Skill up didn't recommend Tokyo Ghost Wire and I absolutely loved that game. I'm sure I'll like this one too once they fix the issues practically all games release with.

[@stormz9351]

The issues only seem to be on PC. Im 5 hours in on Xbox series X and I've no stutters, lag, or performance issues. I've had once crash and I'm almost sure it was my fault due to me messing with one of the enemies in a stupid (but fun) way. The combat takes getting used to, Im playing on the hardest difficulty and I died a LOT during the first couple hours. Once I got the hang of it, I'm only getting hit when there's multiple of the strong enemies together. What's funny is that he's complaining about the linearity, yet all the dead spaces aside from 3 had the same thing? It's laughable. Callisto is by no means a perfect game, but it's definitely worth picking up. So far 8/10

[@sakuragi1062]

@@stormz9351 People dont just expect this to be a 7 or 8 out of 10 they expected this to be a game of the year since the first time they show this game and pretty much comparing it to the original Dead Space which was get a 89 on metacritic.The problem wasn’t just the bugs and the performance issues the problem was this game got so much hype for it to only get a 76 on metacritic the hype and the people’s expectations is the problem

[@bagginbrooks6573]

@@sakuragi1062 I bought the game last night and haven't watched any reviews. I'm trying to get as little spoilers as I can before I actually play after work. As far as I can see without actually diving into details most complaints are about the priformance. I also can't think of a horror game that has ever won game of the year. So I don't know what people were expecting. Dead Space 1 and 2 were great, but they also had some issues and Dead Space 3 was not very good.

[@Peelushky]

Hey Shill Up, just paused the review to appreciate the way you mix sound in your videos. Not often do I spot this, but your skill at mixing sound is surely a benchmark for other reviewers or it should be! Voice quality, compared to ambient music/sounds from the game are crystal clear, and everything is where it's supposed to. I'm listening on Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro studio headphones, connected through Komplete Audio 6 audo interface, if there are any audio issues, i do hear them and it comes from the guys who listens to Noisia on a daily basis because of their ability to make their music perfectly mixed. Big Up man, that's a lot of work and practice to reach that level and you did. Well done m8, I appreciate you and your work!

[@sacredsecrecy9620]

What kind of a backhanded compliment is that? Why are you calling him a shill while praising his technical skills? That's so immature and not funny at all.

[@Peelushky]

@@sacredsecrecy9620 You're not around this channel for very long, are you? Or just trolling :P

[@teamrocketjoe1621]

That's the problem with most games, nowadays- they're beautiful designed, but boring to play. I call it, IMS, or "interactive-movie-syndrome".

[@Mechanical-Animal]

Sounds like they should have made a game out of the prequel podcast series they did instead. It has loads of atmosphere, solid characters, and great horror elements.

[@steveo4k922]

Yeah I listened to the entire podcast and was shocked how good it was. The characters were tremendous with some great actors portraying them, and at times the atmosphere settled over me like a dark cloud - I was genuinely tense at moments. Made me even more excited for this... But hearing about how lackluster and "B-movie" the narrative is here, I'm genuinely confused about why they didn't go with the podcast material for their game while they fleshed this story out more for DLC or the sequel. What a shame. I'll still check it out but I can wait for a bit now. Maybe after the Dead Space remake.

[@Mechanical-Animal]

@@steveo4k922 yea I'm glad I didn't pre-order. Will wait for a sale or at least some fixes and changes.

[@JaySantana-so9zw]

Agreed but I guarantee it will be DLC in the future. It’s to good not to be and also everyone ripping on the game rn also need to realize the game just released so there’s literally no content out for it. Yea the main story is So/So but watch in 6-8 months when all the DLC and game modes and bug fixes come I guarantee everyone will be praising it then saying it’s the best. And if you say “well they shoulda been released more content when the game released instead of on a season pass, we’ll everyone needs to realize that’s literally how every game is made these days unfortunately

[@johnwrath3612]

@@JaySantana-so9zw that was embarrassing to read

[@kingrobotnik6950]

@@JaySantana-so9zw it’s that weak attitude of that’s how games are made these days that leads to stuff like this. It doesn’t matter if the DLC comes out. It’s the main game that’s important. DLC is after. Learn to respect your time and money and they’ll have no choice but to respect you and put out complete and better games.

[@silentk413]

Imagine if this type of budget went into Signalis, the best survival horror this year.

[@kosmosyche]

I was so hyped for Callisto, but now after several reviews and feeling a bit deflated I just went and bought Signalis instead. What was I waiting for? Christmas, I guess. lol

[@silentk413]

@@kosmosyche Hope you like it.

[@sophiedelahunt4833]

A fantastic game. That's one story that's gonna stick with me for a long time.

[@JC-kl3uc]

Big Budget is the killer of creativity

[@kosmosyche]

I want to add that I've just finished Signalis (took me long, bc of lack of time basically and I really really like to go slow and read and explore everything in games like this). And I'm still heavy under impression, collecting my thoughts, so I'll just say this: Wow. Game of the year for me. Best psychological horror game in a long long time. In my mind it's up there with Silent Hill 2 and that's something, considering SH2 is my favorite horror game of all time. I highly recommend Signalis to all who don't care too much about modern graphics and looking for some deep and inspired, surreal and beautifully written, thought provoking horror experience. That's all. PS I got "Promise" ending, which is the best and most satisfying ending of the game, I think. Took me ~17 hours to finish. Slow, I know. lol

[@jerrogs]

I respect your game reviews more than anyone else. You actually play and pay attention to details and your gaming quality standards are up to par with most true gamers. Been watching you for 2 years now. Thank you bro.

[@bobbyguns100]

What’s a true gamer ? Lol is it similar to a true movie watcher ? Or a true music lover lol sorry just find that term funny as hell when people use it, I imagine a guy with controller attached to his belt with a sweat band on his head, and a pocket protector lol

[@itsaUSBline]

@@bobbyguns100 no true scotsman.

[@reck1224]

Does Shill up even play games on PC? The issues the game is having are stemming from it. If you want a trusted group to give you the good and bad, Digital Foundry is by far the people to judge it. They actually play and test these games on all platforms.

[@megacurlerer]

Gamespot's reviews are the best. Check it out.

[@spendsshanks6050]

Except Cyberpunk