Striking Distance Studios revealed The Callisto Protocol Contagion Mode, a new survival horror experience increasing the difficulty of the original game. This new game mode comes three months after the release of The Callisto Protocol to provide players with additional challenges.

The Callisto Protocol made an impression on players with one of the scariest horror game launch trailers of the past few years. However, it didn’t live up to the expectations of many players when it was released in December 2022, with the overall experience plagued with squeeze-through shimmy sequences, a weak checkpoint system, and a disappointing ending that prevented fans from fully enjoying this gory space horror game. While The Callisto Protocol didn’t meet the sales expectations of its publisher Krafton, developer Striking Distance Studios published various updates to fix the main technical issues plaguing the game in hopes of a second chance for this spiritual successor to the Dead Space series.

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In a new video published on its official YouTube channel, Striking Distance Studios unveiled The Callisto Protocol Contagion Bundle DLC, a new update for its survival horror game introducing an additional game mode, 14 new ways for the main character Jacob to die, as well as a variety of cosmetic elements. The Contagion Mode increases the overall difficulty of The Callisto Protocol by featuring stronger enemies, limited resources, no manual saves, and resetting all progress to the beginning of the chapter if the player dies.

In the comments to this YouTube video, The Callisto Protocol players were mainly happy to see this new Contagion DLC. They commended Striking Distance Studios for the addition of new gruesome death animations and the extra difficulty, even if the studio already released a free update last month to add a Hardcore mode to The Callisto Protocol. The main difference between the Hardcore and Contagion modes in The Callisto Protocol is that all chapter progress is lost when the player dies in the Contagion mode, while the Hardcore version of the game simply increases the enemies’ attacking power while reducing the time they need to mutate and the gear they may drop.

Despite a rocky launch, The Callisto Protocol gathers a strong fan base praising the game for its aesthetic and the tough challenges Jacob has to face against the infected prisoners of the isolated prison facility located on Jupiter’s moon. Through its latest updates, The Callisto Protocol fixed the biggest issues plaguing the game at launch and provided players with more challenges and achievements to unlock, even if The Callisto Protocol’s free New Game Plus could be considered too little, too late.

The Callisto Protocol is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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