The failure of the Callisto Protocol accelerated the success of the Dead Space remake

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Highlights of the story

  • Dead Space was initially released in 2008 to positive reception, but it did not match its sales.
  • Resident Evil 4 not only changed the landscape for survival horror, but also set the stage for shooters.
  • In the late 2000s, the survival horror genre underwent a transformation.
  • The revival of survival horror and the failure of the Callisto Protocol propelled the success of the Dead Space remake.

Survival horror is one of the most prominent genres in gaming. Having its roots in the gaming scene since the olden days, it has seen a lot of growth in its generations.

Many developers have tried to offer thrilling survival horror experiences, and some have actually succeeded in doing so. During the early years of the seventh generation gaming consoles, we saw the release of one such title – Dead Space.

From the creators of Visceral Games and published by Electronic Arts, Dead Space was one of the next generation survival horror experiences of the time.

That period is what I consider to be the transition period of survival horror. With the release of Resident Evil 4 in the early 2000s, the landscape of survival horror as a genre began to change. One might say it was. The beginning Time to stop for this overall as we slowly started to see a decline in innovation for a while.

A history of dead space

Dead Space saw extensive pre-release marketing due to its multimedia universe project. It includes comics, promotional games, and even an animation titled Dead Space: Downfall. One would think that such a marketing scale would yield some startling results.

The title launched to glowing reviews, and was approved by players around the world. It’s there for you to see. Old articles and videos. Also, Metacritic never forgets. Dead Space enjoyed a strong following and positive reception, but to my surprise, it did not sell well.

I still find it a bit baffling that a project that was not only well marketed but positively received by critics and gamers failed to meet sales expectations. Soon after this we saw the release of two sequels. Dead Space 2 And Almanac Dead Space 3. As we all know, this was the last we saw of Dead Space until now.

I personally believe that the low sales of Dead Space can be attributed to the overall popularity of the genre, among other factors – especially at this time. While the PS3 price cut came a year before the launch of Dead Space, which boosted PS3 sales, I’m sure the hardware unit will still take some time to run.

Add to that that Dead Space was a new IP compared to popular franchises like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, and one can understand why Dead Space might have dropped the ball.

We saw a lot of releases during this period. Operation Recon City, The Evil Within, and its sequel, to name a few. Not every title was a huge hit, but some were memorable, like Amnesia.

Catalyst and a successful revival

The Dead Space remake has been a huge success despite the bad taste of the third entry in the original trilogy. This is entirely on its own merits for not only being faithful to the original and sticking to it, but also being a good game. It’s funny how everything boils down to just one simple process – making a good game.

However, I think we should also give credit to another game that recently saw its debut. One that wasn’t as lucky as Dead Space – the Callisto Protocol. Originally developed as a game that took place in the PUBG universe, the title evolved to the point where it became its own thing.

Glenn Schofield, one of the creators of the original Dead Space games, helped with the project. He was driven to create something unusual for the ninth generation of consoles – a title to rival the original Dead Space.

Modern gaming focuses on everything that is secondary to determining whether a game is good or not. You see examples of this everywhere every single day. The Callisto protocol did the same. Focusing on lighting techniques and other graphical components to enhance immersion, it lost touch with its core.

It’s not like the game doesn’t excel at anything. It is that the focus is only on one element, which distracts from the others and leads to a dirty product. The game launched with numerous performance issues, while the core gameplay loop was also questionable and underpowered.

The shader compilation issue, along with other PC port shenanigans, was also a pretty big problem. Sadly, it didn’t contain the Alden ring substance, and players couldn’t stomach it all. Combined with its overall lack of innovation, it felt like it bore a faint resemblance to what came before.

Bad is not always unpleasant.

I want to emphasize the fact that a person can enjoy anything. It is possible to enjoy a bad game or a bad movie. It is fine to do so, but personal enjoyment and satisfaction cannot change the facts.

I personally enjoyed The Amazing Spider-Man movie games, but even I can say that those games are far from perfect. There was a lot wrong with them, especially The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The funny thing is that I often find myself reminiscing about them and would love to play them again someday.

A remake of Dead Space was announced in 2021, and it was a cause for celebration. With the revelation of The Callisto Protocol and being the spiritual successor to Dead Space, expectations for the latter were reasonably high, though not quite as high. Being produced by Glenn Schofield also added to this fact.

The existence of a Dead Space remake and a spiritual successor would likely have rekindled people’s fondness for the original games (I wonder if that includes Dead Space 3). I’m sure many people were introduced to Dead Space because of the Callisto Protocol, thus increasing its exposure.

There’s a reason we’re seeing a sudden resurgence in the survival horror genre, and it’s important to know why.

The return of survival horror.

We all know that Resident Evil 4 has seen itself released on every single console in existence (an obvious exaggeration, but it came pretty darn close). Resident Evil 7 and 8 were also well received. But the game that showed the way forward was the Resident Evil 2 remake.

The way Capcom handled the remake with Square Enix’s FFVII remake project is, in my opinion, a solidifying factor in this trend. I’m giving too much credit here, but we can’t deny the quality of these projects.

While many see remakes as a way to make more money, Resident Evil 2 delivered a quality experience while staying true to its roots and building on the original. This led to a whole series of remake projects with Resident Evil 3 and the latest Resident Evil 4.

The success of these remixes and the boom in popularity of the genre laid the groundwork for the new Dead Space. After the tragic failure of a spiritual successor that had so much potential, it might have bolstered people’s faith in the remake.

I love video games, and it’s sad to see how the landscape has changed over the last decade or so. Monetization is running rampant, and the industry is focusing on pointless technology instead of actually making a good game.

As a result, we get a sea of ​​redundant and trivial topics that cannot be realized. I still find myself wishing for a scalebound existence. This IP had amazing potential, but several factors led to its cancellation.

Due to the speed of everything that came before it and being a good game, Dead Space became a pretty spectacular success. Nothing is perfect, and the remake has its flaws, but I believe it achieves what the game is. Should, First and foremost – Fun.

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