The Callisto Protocol

Captured on
PlayStation 5
Developed by
Striking Distance Studios

A serviceable sci-fi survival horror story, but with a photo mode that feels like an afterthought.

Maybe I’m just spoiled by the photo mode in Spider-Man, but this one was frustratingly limited. The focal length and depth of field controls are easy to work with, but the orbit camera can be restrictive and it can’t be rotated for portrait or Dutch angles.

I’m pretty happy with the shots I managed to get though. I stuck to closeups to amp up the feeling of claustrophobia and it was a fun challenge working with the various idle animations in order to get a variety of expressions and poses.

The weak photo mode is disappointing because the game looks great — lots of detail in close ups and plenty of atmospheric lighting. The whole experience is really amped up by the dynamic sound design and haptic feedback.