The Callisto Protocol: ‘Almost Half’ of Its Combat Will Be Melee

Itchy trigger finger? You might want to conserve that ammo in The Callisto Protocol. During an in-depth look at the game’s combat over at Game Informer, design director Ben Walker revealed that almost half of The Callisto Protocol’s combat will be melee.

“We're definitely leaning into the survival side of things,” he revealed. “Our overall tone of our combat is kind of a struggle, right? You're doing whatever you can do to kind of get by and get through.”

Essentially, it looks as though ammo will be scarce. But don’t worry – there are plenty of other attacks at your disposal.

“Almost half of our combat is melee,” he added. “[That] means you have to be smart about how you use your bullets. So, to that end, we've added our melee combos, when they finish, they kind of push the enemy away. So, that gives you a chance then to lock on really quick and get a nice clean shot on an enemy.”

It’s no secret that The Callisto Protocol is drawing quite a few comparisons to Dead Space. Not least of which because developer Striking Distance Studios is headed up by former Visceral Games general manager, Glen Schofield. Yes, that’s the same Visceral Games that made Dead Space.

But where Dead Space offered repurposed engineering tools to fight off hordes of Necromorphs, The Callisto Protocol gives players more conventional weapons… even if their ammo is a bit scarce. Thankfully, you’ll get your hands on a stun baton, too. And even a Half-Life-style gravity gun.

Meanwhile, developer Chris Stone revealed that the studio has been studying real-life gore as inspiration for its squishy, rather grim-looking enemies.

“While these were a lot less fun to research, it was some of the most memorable and valuable content when it came to creating realistic visuals and experiences,” he said.

For more about The Callisto Project, check out our interview with Glen Schofield, who revealed that the game will be more open and replayable than Dead Space.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.