The Callisto Protocol was not generally received well, and the recent launch of the Dead Space remake helped nail that coffin shut for a lot of purist Dead Space fans. The Callisto Protocol had a ton of potential—its graphical fidelity is outstanding throughout, and its biophage enemy designs rival that of Dead Space’s necromorphs. Unfortunately, the road bumps it hit had to do with gameplay. Too many shimmy sequences and too few ways to flee from intimate melee encounters bog down the experience, for example, and it is difficult to see where the IP could be headed next.
Most of the sequel or prequel potential that The Callisto Protocol has is reliant upon its narrative. The Callisto Protocol’s narrative is reminiscent of a Resident Evil game, but Dani Nakamura and the Europa moon incident have interesting threads that deserve closure. These are narratives that are on the table for The Callisto Protocol’s DLC expansion, but it would not be surprising if fans’ excitement toward DLC has dissipated since they had their hands on the base game. The Callisto Protocol could surely reinterpret itself in a sequel, but the real question is whether the IP deserves a second chance.
The Callisto Protocol Has Lots of Room to Improve
The silver lining to The Callisto Protocol’s relatively poor reception and unending comparisons to other survival-horror games is that it has the potential to evolve in a future chapter. Striking Distance Studios can take a hard look at how The Callisto Protocol was designed, then reevaluate features and mechanics that players expressed their displeasure with.
Moreover, Striking Distance can look at the close comparisons that have been made between The Callisto Protocol and Resident Evil to decide what it would like to do differently in order to distinguish itself better in the future. This improvement could come as early as in The Callisto Protocol’s post-launch story DLC if Striking Distance is dedicated to bettering the experience for players. However, it is also incredibly unlikely that The Callisto Protocol’s DLC will be developed like an entirely different game to compensate for the base experience.
That said, a sequel or prequel could give Striking Distance an opportunity to reinterpret its science-fiction survival-horror IP and carve its own path. The Callisto Protocol was mostly disliked for its adherence to unbalanced melee combat and a failure to meet the standards of the survival-horror games it imitates. Those are certainly features that could be changed for the better if The Callisto Protocol gets another chance.
Striking Distance Studios Might Be Better Off with Another New IP
Of course, it may be too risky from an internal development standpoint to invest in a sequel that could underperform based solely on the reception to The Callisto Protocol. Unless it is independent of The Callisto Protocol in terms of gameplay, a sequel or prequel might not be highly anticipated and could be shunned after its announcement.
Instead, Striking Distance Studios could scrap The Callisto Protocol for another new IP. This would give the studio a chance to reinvent itself once again, even if it chooses to stick with survival-horror. Likewise, starting from scratch could mean that Striking Distance comes up with a new gameplay or combat model that's more unique or creative. Taking inspiration from other franchises is not a bad thing, especially since Callisto director Glen Schofield co-created Dead Space.
But if a game like The Callisto Protocol tries to emulate Dead Space so unabashedly and still does not come close to meeting that standard, it may have been better for it to not make that attempt in the first place. Beginning again with a new IP could mean scrapping all the ideas Striking Distance previously had for The Callisto Protocol, but if The Callisto Protocol cannot escape Dead Space comparisons and meager gameplay, then maybe that would be ideal.
The Callisto Protocol is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.