Brandon Schrader

**No spoilers**The Callisto Protocol is graphically stunning with smooth gameplay and resource management that’s held back by a repetitive dodging mechanic and forgettable bosses. If you enjoy survival horror games like the Evil Within or Resident Evil 7/8, you’ll enjoy this. It’s a good game with some issues!! It ran very well with Minimal glitches (PS5). 11 Hour playtime to beat it. Graphics: This game is stunning! The attention to detail in moment-to-moment play is there. The death animations are brutal. Both for you and them. But, it’s balanced with gorgeous cutscenes of the planet. Combat: Great weapon selection and unique tools to use. I also liked the approach to upgrades. The dodge mechanic wasn’t super intuitive at first, but once I understood it…the game became almost too easy(normal level). I also think the dodging left/right limits the attacks bosses/enemies can have. Despite having a great variety of enemies (better than resident evil 7 at least), the dodging mechanic hurt combat. Storyline: The weakest part of this game. I didn’t feel any connection to the characters and wasn’t compelled by the story. The attempts at environmental storytelling were too sparse to build a world.

I've played this game for about 65 hours at this point and love it! This is also my introduction to the Assassin's Creed franchise. If I could give it a 4.5/5, I probably would because there are an annoying amount of bugs and crashes. It's improved since they've released a few patches, but my game still drops every so often which is frustrating (granted, the game does a great job of autosaving, so you're not losing too much time). Great combat, narrative, settlement system, and crafting! As this becomes a more stable game, it'll move closer to a 5/5. I'd recommend it especially if you're thinking about trying Assassin's Creed!

Overall, this game is fantastic and I would recommend purchasing it if you're looking for a story! The narrative is captivating and carries the game if I'm being honest. Combat and game controls feel clunky, but I can overlook that since it's a low budget game. My main issue is a lack of variety in enemy combatants. Fighting the same 5-6 enemies can become repetitive and didn't utilize the impressive combat system they've designed.