PLEASE NOTE: This article contains MASSIVE Spoilers for The Callisto Protocol. Proceed at your own risk.
The Callisto Protocolwas released amidst some glaring reviews about the story and gameplay loop, but also other reviews that complained about how short the main campaign is, leaving players dissatisfied with the final product now that the new game plus feature is missing. However, there is a lot to Striking Distance Studios' new IP, and the many combat options and enemy types help it shine in the survival horror niche, which saw another big release earlier this year in the form ofThe Last of Us Part 1remake. Forging new weapons inThe Callisto Protocolis a big part of the main loop because better upgrades and guns will allow players to dispose of biophage enemies faster, which helps to remain alive and gain more credits.
DespiteThe Callisto Protocol’s length and pricetagare issues that several fans are lamenting, the game does have a healthy pool of enemy types that players will encounter on Jupiter’s moon, and they require different strategies to beat. This is a crucial element of survivial horror games because it helps build tension when combined with jumpscares and the general scarcity of resources, which inThe Callisto Protocolis no different. And yet, there is a major aspect of the gameplay loop that is painfully missing, and that’s variety in terms of boss encounters - or rather, any sort of boss fight seems to be entirely missing from the game with one exception.
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How The Callisto Protocol Ends Up With Just One Boss Fight
Technically speaking,The Callisto Protocolhas three boss fights, and while that is already a rather disappointing number compared to franchises likeDead SpaceandResident Evil, the main issue is that two of those encounters can be safely disregarded. This is because the very first one is against the so-called two-headed brute, an enemy that players will need to hit many times before it goes down, and that point, it will tear its own body apart to become more limber, but equally deadly and resilient.
This may feel like a major and unique encounter due to the short cutscene that pops up when the monster first appears, but the reality is that it just becomes another enemy type that players encounter more often from that point onward. Then, the second boss fight happens afterThe Callisto Protocolexplains the origins of the biophage infectionthrough projections of Doctor Mahler inside the Black Iron lab, where the first biophage larvae were extracted many years in the past.
The second boss fight is against Captain Ferris, who players meet various times throughout the game as one of the main antagonists, but this time players don’t simply interact with him in cutscenes. Ferris was infected with the biophage virus early in the game, and every time he encounters Jacob, the pathogen is shaping him more and more, providing him with great strength and resilience. Despite this encounter counting as a boss fight, it ends soon with both Jacob escaping through one ofThe Callisto Protocol’s many deus ex machinas.
The third and final boss in the game is, to the surprise of no one, Ferris' final biophage form. Here, he completely gives in to the virus and only retains his mind as his body is horrifically transformed. The problem with this choice is that it makes the first encounter with Ferris inconsequential, especially givenThe Callisto Protocol’s ending, where the previously infected Dani is cured of the virus and escapes Black Iron Prison after Ferris' death. As such, the game basically just has one boss, and that’s the final encounter with the now transfigured Captain Ferris.
The Callisto Protocolis out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.
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