The Callisto Protocol is on course to be 2022’s creepiest game, with its haunting setting and gruesome gore being shown for all to see in trailers and gameplay segments. Comparisons to Dead Space have been thrown around like confetti, but there are apparently other videogames that have acted as inspiration for The Callisto Protocol, according to Striking Distance’s CTO Mark James.
Speaking to The Loadout at Gamescom, James says that the eerie atmosphere was inspired by another highly-regarded survival horror game from Creative Assembly.
“I like Alien Isolation, it’s one of my favourite games,” he says. “The way that it induces fear is that you don’t see the alien for a large portion of the game. When you do see it, it’s just little snippets of information. We want our audio environments to feel like that as well. We want you to feel constantly under attack, but never actually.”
Similar to the horrifyingly clever AI that controls Alien Isolation’s Xenomorph, some enemy types will “adapt in gameplay to the way you attack them”, keeping you on your toes and pushing you to strategise before and during encounters.
As well as this, James says there is a rather epic and formidable enemy in The Callisto Protocol that draws inspiration from a game he worked on during his time at 2K.
“I worked on the BioShock games, and we’ve got an enemy that feels very Big Daddy,” James reveals. “He’s terrifying the first time you come across him. He’s an unstoppable force, and if he gets close to you, you’re dead.”
It is not currently clear if this Big Daddy-esque enemy is a standard enemy type you’ll encounter several times, or if it is a standalone boss enemy.
So, it seems like The Callisto Protocol is turning to more than just Dead Space to help build a terrifying, creepy, and gory horror experience. We’ve got more insight on Striking Distance’s upcoming game to come in the next few days, so if you’re impatiently waiting for The Callisto Protocol release date, we’ll have plenty to tide you over.
Additional reporting by Jess Wells.