The Callisto Protocol PS5 4K 60FPS - Chapter 3 - Aftermath (End of Game for Me + Review)
1Alright, I'm done with this game lol. For the people that paid $70 on launch for this title, I feel sorry for you guys. Thankfully, this was given as a PS Plus giveaway, so I don't feel as bad. I just have so many feelings on this game after getting a chance to mess around with it...
The graphics are incredible. Full stop. Game looks gorgeous, no denying that. The lighting is phenomenal and the facial animations are on par with The Last of Us and Uncharted. And that's where my praise ends for this game. Let's get into why I stopped playing this title.
Gameplay. Gameplay. Gameplay. I can forgive a title with a bad or terrible story, as long as the game is FUN to play. This title though? Within five minutes, you've pretty much just played the entire game, and that's being generous. I've never played such a pretty title with such terrible gameplay mechanics and I'm really starting to wonder where all the development money went to. When you're fighting a single enemy on screen? Dodge mechanic works great! When you get more than one enemy on screen - which is nearly every encounter after the first chapter? The gameplay literally falls apart.
The dodging mechanic can be easily abused, but none of that matters if the combat doesn't feel fluid, and in this game, it feels as if you weigh a thousand pounds fighting as Jacob throughout the prison. Not to mention, there's no exploration, which I can forgive if the combat is engaging. However, the combat is vital to the game and it's where everything falls apart for me.
The fights are slow, they're one-dimensional and there's really only one type of enemy in the game: run down corridor, get attacked by several monsters, swing your bat, dodge, repeat. Rinse and repeat for another 8hrs and you'll have beaten the game and watched the ending! Wait, just kidding! The studio thought it would be a winning strategy (as if the combat wasn't already) to lock the true ending of the game behind DLC! If you ever want to ruin your reputation as a studio, that's a sure-fire way to lose any and all support from the people that supported your game and the development of it. And for the record, it's not just new games like this. FFXV did this as well and they deserved the backlash too. Regardless if it's a new title from a new studio or an established one, it doesn't make it right and I really hope going forward studios stop pulling this crap. I'm so fed up with seeing this promoted in gaming.
Overall...I don't have anything else to add. This game is a mile wide and inch deep. Beautiful graphics and visuals, but literally nothing underneath. I just can't believe the studio spent nearly 160 million developing this game. I could understand if it was open-world, but it's a linear corridor for several hours. Even the top Resident Evil games, that have far greater depth and complexity regarding combat never costed that much. Either the devs are terrible with money, or Josh Duhamel made out like a bandit with a handsome payday. Either way...I'm beyond baffled by the decisions and the behind-the-scenes development of this game. So many questions, and so little answers lol.
If there's anything this game reminds me of while putting it in a good light, it's The Last Guardian. Another title that was beyond gorgeous to look at, but suffered similar issues relating to gameplay and combat mechanics.
**Just a really important note from someone that's been gaming with Sony for now 20 years. When you think of the titles that are still played years later - Super Mario 64, GTA Trilogy (originals, not the remasters), Resident Evil 1-4, Zelda...ask yourself the question of why people keep coming back and the answer is simple. Gameplay. It's at the heart of gaming and the MAIN reason why people will comeback and still play these games decades later, even though the graphics are completely outdated (some nostalgia too, I'll add).**
But you can't just make a pretty game and expect a walking simulator to substitute for gameplay. Gamers want to GAME, not watch movies. That's what I have Hulu and other streaming services for. So please, guys...just...focus on good gameplay. Mario can churn out 30+ similar titles, but guess what? They're all really fun to play. I can't stress this point enough, because titles like this are becoming more common and really ruining some amazing opportunity and devs potential.
The Callisto Protocol - 4/10
The Callisto Protocol - 5/10 (Long load times for a PS5 with SSD? Really guys? Come on...we're now several years into the PS5 life cycle. This is getting ridiculous at this point, not to even mention the amount of hidden loading screens with Jacob squeezing through spaces).
I wanted to love this so bad and...I'm just left with more questions than answers...:/
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