The Callisto Protocol: Final Transmission DLC Review (PS5): Terrible Signal

The Callisto Protocol was a tragic misfire that fell well short of its potential. Tedious combat, a predictable story, and a frightening lack of scares all coalesced to form a lackluster debut from Striking Distance Studios.

But like a patch, post-launch DLC is an opportunity to right wrongs and address criticism. (And there are plenty to choose from.) Final Transmission could have been the expansion to set things right for the fledgling horror title. Unfortunately, it suffers from the same problems as the base game and calcifies how fundamentally flawed The Callisto Protocol is.

Final Transmission retains the sole bright spot of the base game — its eerie visuals and lighting — but also keeps every last one of its faults. Melee combat is sticky and repetitive. Automatically dodging isn’t engaging, and waiting for the same patterns is tiresome. This is especially true in irksome moments where enemies push through hits to get in cheap shots. Aiming is floaty and inaccurate, which makes the gunplay similarly unpleasant for different reasons altogether.

Final Transmission even tries to spice up combat by giving players a new melee weapon: the Kinetic Hammer. This explosive tool outclasses the stun baton in every way, as it pulverizes almost anything to goop with few hits. Clubbing mutants can be satisfying thanks to this gooey, splashy spectacle.

But this weapon, like most things in this game, fails on multiple levels. The heavy attack is now a shockwave that gibs or stuns everything on the receiving end, but there’s no real depth to it. Players are just meant to charge it, wait until enemies get close, and repeat the area-of-effect slam until everything has been turned into bloody bits.

This bland strategy is encouraged for the new Biobots that are resistant to other types of damage. Being able to turn the tables on these slimy cyborgs and go from sneaking past them to sending them to the scrapyard is a nice way to switch up the pace. However, the melee combat is too boring to make that change entertaining. And as an added bonus, enemies will also inexplicably tank through shockwaves on occasion to disembowel the player. This heaps yet another pain point on an already unpleasant experience.

The moments before bludgeoning Biobots aren’t scary, either, since Final Transmission is devoid of tension. Foes often jump out without any buildup (even the Biobot is randomly introduced) or creepy aural foreshadowing, and the attempts at psychological horror between encounters are laughable.

Final Transmission’s new hallucinations are full of hackneyed clichés found in many of the most subpar horror games. There’s the endlessly looping string of hallways, a room that changes as the player turns around, ghost enemies that aren’t actually there, and bloody graffiti with ominous messaging. The action horror bits are too mundane to compensate for these trite attempts to get inside the player’s head, meaning The Callisto Protocol is still a horror game with little to no actual horror. 

Psychological displacement can be a powerful tool for horror, too. Protagonist Jacob Lee begins to doubt his sanity as he’s exposed to further abominations and questions what is real. The game wants players to second guess everything it throws at them, which is a different approach than the one in the base game. In the right hands, with a capable writing team, this could be a winning setup. It worked for Event Horizon and — more relevantly — the Dead Space franchise.

But Final Transmission barely has a story to speak of. It leaves players to stumble in darkness for too long with little effective foreshadowing for its one big story beat. The grim twist at the end attempts to shed light on the situation, but it’s very sudden and brings up questions that poke gaping holes in the entire premise. It’s a fittingly sinister finale, but totally unearned — undercut by those lingering questions and the tonal whiplash of a jokey post-credits scene.

The Callisto Protocol: Final Transmission DLC Review: The final verdict

With an inconsistent story, total absence of scares, and clunky combat, Final Transmission makes for a shallow last gasp of air for The Callisto Protocol. This new franchise has been lost in space since launch and an onslaught of patches and DLC hasn’t made it any less of a disappointment. Final Transmission just highlights what was already bad about The Callisto Protocol, and ensures that it has ended as poorly as it began.

Disclaimer: This The Callisto Protocol: Final Transmission review is based on a PS5 copy provided by the publisher. Reviewed on version 1.024.000.