There’s no denying that developer Striking Distance looked to create a spiritual successor to Dead Space with The Callisto Protocol. With Glen Schofield, the co-creator of the iconic sci-fi horror at the helm once more, The Callisto Protocol has Dead Space’s DNA all over it. Sure, it’s not trying to reinvent the wheel, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Now is the perfect time to give it a spin, too, as The Callisto Protocol is free on the Epic Games Store from Thursday, August 22 until August 29, giving you just one week to add it to your library.
Released to generally favorable reviews back in 2022, The Callisto Protocol is an unfortunately overlooked sci-fi horror game. Combat balancing issues hurt its launch, but clocking in at roughly ten hours, it’s a short and sweet run – especially for the low price of nothing.
Long story short, you play as Jacob Lee, a new inmate wrongfully imprisoned in Black Iron Prison. If you’re anything like me, you’ll forget his generic name and just call him the army man from Michael Bay’s Transformers movies. Nevertheless, as a contagion rips through the twisted mega-space, Lee finds the perfect time to escape, inevitably involving chopping through waves of mutated guards and fellow convicts. Its story is nothing to write home about, but it’s a fun, brutal romp propped up by incredible visuals. Seriously. The Callisto Protocol could just feature the best character models you’ve ever seen.
The game’s combat is similarly good-looking and feeling, though admittedly divisive. Heavily emphasizing melee attacks, you’ll be hacking apart monsters all while trying to nail the clunky but unique directional dodge mechanic. It’s hard to get to grips with, but once you’ve the hang of reading your opponent’s attacks, it can be a satisfyingly nasty affair, which we highlighted at the time in our The Callisto Protocol review. Don’t go in expecting anything groundbreaking and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the Dead Space-inspired immersive horror action.
On that note, Striking Distance is now working on a completely unexpected, stylized roguelike spin-off game. Previously known by the codename Project Birdseye, it’s now called Redacted. The developer has made it clear that it’s not The Callisto Protocol 2, and all it takes is watching a few seconds of the gameplay trailer above to confirm that it’s a radical departure.
So, what better time to try out The Callisto Protocol? It’s free on Epic Games for just one week, and it’s a perfect primer for the dev’s new roguelike game. For more, check out the best free PC games available right now.
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