Skip to main content

Trust me: Play The Callisto Protocol on its easiest difficulty setting

The Callisto Protocol is out today and it’s receiving a very mixed response. Reviews criticized the survival horror game for a host of issues, including its messy combat system, weak story, and performance issues. I highlighted those issues in Digital Trends’ own review, though I ultimately enjoy its Xbox 360 throwback feel. However, if you’re jumping in this weekend, here’s a word of advice.

Don’t be a hero; play The Callisto Protocol on its lowest difficulty setting.

Recommended Videos

Before the “get good” chorus fires up, that suggestion isn’t about making the game easy. In fact, easy mode is going to feel like hard mode in this game. While you can start on one of its two higher settings, the game experience is going to feel much better and more balanced if you swallow your pride and dial it down.

Jacob Lee fights an enemy in a water treatment facility in The Callisto Protocol.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

That’s due to the game’s somewhat messy and complicated combat system. In The Callisto Protocol, dodging is key. It’s so key, in fact, that it overrides your movement. When you’re close to an enemy, your left stick turns into a directional dodge that you’ll need to perform to duck attacks. The timing on those dodges isn’t easy to get the hang of, which can make the earliest encounters hard to get through initially. Switching to easy allows you to learn that system with a lot less hair-pulling.

Once you do learn it, though, I still don’t recommend boosting the difficulty back up. The combat system works well for one-on-one encounters, but it isn’t nearly as smooth when there are multiple enemies on screen. You’ll often find yourself surrounded by monsters, unable to run away because you’re locked into a dodge. You end up taking a ton of damage in The Callisto Protocol because of that and there’s not much you can do about it. Switching to easy at least allows you to tank more of those hits.

Don’t be scared that you’ll breeze through the adventure that way. I played the game on its easiest difficulty and still found myself dying to certain bosses and enemies dozens of times. The challenge is still there; it’s just more of a fun challenge than a frustrating one.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Giovanni Colantonio
As Digital Trends' Senior Gaming Editor, Giovanni Colantonio oversees all things video games at Digital Trends. As a veteran…
How to pre-order The Callisto Protocol: retailers, editions, and bonuses
Main character Jacob Lee from The Callisto Protocol.

Jumping 300 years into the future, space has only gotten more terrifying. Set in the Black Iron Prison on the titular moon of Jupiter, Jacob Lee is trapped among the other inmates who have begun transforming into terrifying creatures. Armed with only the tools he can scavenge and upgrade, plus some sci-fi tech and abilities, no inch of this dark, oppressive prison is safe from an ambush. If that all sounds, and looks, like another sci-fi horror game from a few generations ago, well, it should, because The Callisto Protocol is being made by the main crew who brought us the fantastic Dead Space.

Now paving the way with a new IP, which for some reason was at one point meant to somehow be connected to the PUBG universe, The Callisto Protocol is ready to take your breath away this December. Nothing says Merry Christmas like a mutated alien monster ripping your head off, right? If you said yes, then odds are you're already interested in this game and are counting down the days before its release, but you also should check out all the editions on offer. Some are sure to entice fans of this specific type of sci-fi horror. Here are all the editions you can get for The Callisto Protocol.

Read more
Starcraft is reportedly back, from the last developer you’d ever expect
Anniversary art for StarCraft.

A new Starcraft game has been the subject of discussion for a while now, and this morning, Money Today Broadcasting (MTN) announced Nexon had won the bid to work on a new game in the franchise. In addition, Nexon has also been selected as the publisher for a mobile version of Overwatch.

The report doesn't state what style of game the new Starcraft might be, but it probably won't be an RTS. There's a lot of evidence that it will be a shooter of some sort, as first claimed last year by Jason Schreier's book Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment. There have also been several job listing at Blizzard that point to the development of an "open-world shooter," although none specifically stated it would be part of the Starcraft IP.

Read more
Days Gone Remastered reveals a game that was both behind and ahead of its time
Deacon fires a gun while riding a motorcycle in Days Gone Remastered.

Is Days Gone a misunderstood masterpiece?

That’s a question that some gamers have been asking since April 26, 2019 -- the very day that Sony’s open-world zombie game first released. A wave of lukewarm critical reviews, including a dreaded “6.5” from IGN, kicked off a minor culture war as the game’s biggest defenders went to bat for it before it was even installed on most PS4s. Whether its genuine love or console tribalism fueling it, Days Gone’s legacy has long been held up by a vocal group of dedicated fans who are determined to give it a redemption arc.

Read more