Summary
Highlights
The reviewer speculates that a missing energy pulse rifle, evidenced by old skin pack images and unupdated patch notes, was likely intended to counter the biobots effectively. Without it, fighting these enemies is described as a deeply flawed and unsatisfying experience, suggesting a design oversight or cut content heavily impacted gameplay.
The final boss is a transformed Dr. Mahler, essentially another version of the 'Two-Headed Man' but with new, frustrating abilities. After a difficult fight, Jacob's escape is revealed to be a hallucination; Mahler was using him to upload data to Dani. The ending is ambiguous, leaving the reality of many events uncertain, and draws heavily from Dead Space 3's 'Awakened' DLC.
The game features a lengthy, glitched post-credits scene leading to a comedic cameo by Josh Duhamel, revealing Jacob's fate. The reviewer concludes by briefly answering viewer questions, reflecting on other games, and humorously noting the timing of the Callisto Protocol DLC review.
The video begins by recalling the initial reception of The Callisto Protocol. Despite impressive visuals, the game's high cost, lack of unique identity (often compared to Dead Space), chopped-up story, and awkward gameplay led to a less-than-stellar launch. Unfixed performance issues and a severed PUBG connection further hampered its chances.
The reviewer highlights the controversial decision to make the 'true ending' of The Callisto Protocol a paid DLC, 'Final Transmission'. This is compared to games like Asura's Wrath, where essential story conclusions were sold separately, rather than being a planned expansion like in Dragon Age or Fallout 3.
Before discussing 'Final Transmission', the video briefly covers other DLCs: the 'Outer Way Skin Collection' (a $5 skin), the 'Contagion Bundle' (which includes a skin and a hardcore mode with permadeath), and the 'Riot Bundle'.
Riot Mode, included in the 'Riot Bundle', is praised as potentially the best aspect of the game. Unlike the main campaign's resource-starved horror, Riot Mode offers a fun, arcade-style experience similar to Call of Duty zombies, with abundant ammo, supplies, strategic combat choices, and replayability. It addresses many core combat issues of the main game by embracing a frantic, action-packed pace.
'Final Transmission' picks up immediately after the main game's ending. Jacob, suffering from dissociative amnesia, is guided by Dr. Mahler in an escape attempt. The DLC backtracks through familiar locations, now more apocalyptic, with some new areas. Dr. Mahler's audio logs provide more lore and patches have improved the usability of these logs. The perfect dodge mechanic is also explained, clarifying its unique timing.
Jacob's implant malfunctions, causing hallucinations and a more surreal, overtly horror-focused experience. Enemies appear and disappear, and the environment itself seems to mock him. While aiming for weirdness, the execution is limited, potentially due to resource constraints. The visual fidelity of the game makes creating new content challenging, leading to a lot of remixing of existing assets.
'Final Transmission' introduces a new melee weapon, the Alcatraz gravity hammer, which provides much-needed crowd control. The new enemy, 'biobots' (robots combined with the biophage virus), are ferociously aggressive, fast, and hit hard. However, their combat mechanics are criticized for being frustrating, jerky, and often leading to camera issues, forcing players into less strategic spamming of attacks.