The Callisto Protocol is one of the most anticipated games of 2022. The game is looking promising so far with the details, trailers, and gameplay showcases. The upcoming zombie survival game for PC, however, resembles the survival horror classic Dead Space by quite a margin. But, much unlike Dead Space, the upcoming game will focus mostly on hand-to-hand combat, as a new The Callisto Protocol gameplay video Game Informer released suggests. The Callisto Protocol‘s creative director, Ben Walker, walked us around how combat will work in the upcoming survival horror game.
The Callisto Protocol will provide players with both melee and ranged combat options. The game will also introduce several weapon choices to help players choose their gear according to their playing style. This is again unlike Dead Space, which required players to use repurposed everyday tools to kill enemies, The Callisto Protocol will give us access to proper weapons. These weapons can be upgraded via tech trees. Additionally, like in many zombie survival games, ammunition will be limited, too. Thus, players will not have the option to mop down hordes of enemies with their fire weapons.
The game mostly will require players to use melee weapons to beat the enemies up. It will also include a combo system to help players in melee combat.
“We’re definitely leaning in to the survival side of things. The overall tone of our combat is kind of a struggle, right? You’re doing whatever you can do to kind of get by and get through. And since we do have, almost half of our combat is melee, [it] means you have to be smart about how you use your bullets. So to that end, we’ve added our melee combos, when they finish they kind of push the enemy away. So that gives you a chance then to lock on really quick and get a nice clean shot on an enemy,”
Walker’s words while describing The Callisto Protocol’s focus on melee combat
Previously, we have heard about the gore and dismemberment mechanics the game is going to come with. The developers have walked the extra mile to make the melee combat feel “as gory and horrific as we can make them.” Striking Distance’s leader, Glen Schofield, said that extra measures and hours were put into developing a very gore combat system. In a gameplay demo, the studio showcased an enemy biting the head out of the player’s character.
Schofield explains that they could simply develop a mechanic to bite the head off. Instead, they developed it in a way to pick only the top part of the head off. “And, with the new graphics and the power of these new systems nowadays, you can make that really gross.” According to the developers, these mechanics and animations make the gameplay more rewarding to the player. “I know everybody really likes them, I personally, it’s one of my favorite parts,” said Schofield.