*Note: I did have a good time playing this, and it wasn't without some very fun elements, but I couldn't ignore all of the negative points when I looked back on it after finishing the experience. If you're on the fence, please know that I very nearly recommended this - it's not a terrible game.

+ Graphics and visuals are all predictably marvelous as standard triple A fare
+ Smacking enemies with your baton is intensely satisfying and feels like there's a weight to it
+ The environments are certainly atmospheric and immersive
+ The game does have dismemberment mechanics, which I felt worked well
+ The character performances were delectible
+ The gunplay feels polished and satisfying
+ The grip does help the combat, and feels quite satisfying, but it does feel like a cheat code at times
+ Loved the gore in The Calliso Protocol; very prodigious and well-animated
+ The collectibe audio logs were very welcome, but were more concerned with filling in the immediate plot than world building


+/- There are weapon customizations, but they don't feel terribly unique or interesting
+/- Though this feels like a an atmospheric, spiritual successor to Dead Space (undeniably), the combat mechanics are just different enough that it doesn't feel like a complete rip-off

- The narrative itself falls a bit flat
- The survival horror elements are mid at best
- The game is EXTREMELY linear, and there isn't much meaningful exploration to be had if you try to veer off the rails
- The combat is a one-trick pony, in that every encounter can be resolved in the same way, there are precious few mechanics introduced through gameplay, and those that are feel insufficient to spice things up
- There's so much poorly-aged QTE in this game
- The game ran beautifully for most of the experience, but I had to suffer through a lot of stuttering and CTDs in the latter third of the game
- The autosave system was disappointing and it worked inconsistently, often porting me back far too early into the chapter when I would load into files
- Very, very poor enemy variety, and the animations felt just as lacking
- Since this game is essentially a series of (admittedly impressive-looking) hallways and cookie-cutter zombies/aliens, I absolutely did not feel the need to replay it any time soon
- This game seemed to have everything it needed to be scary, but was missing some undefinable element, as I just never found myself getting scared or anxious (and I'm not really sure why)
- There is a shockingly scant amount of character development

[h1]Just Shy of Memorable[/h1] *Note: I did have a good time playing this, and it wasn't without some very fun elements, but I couldn't ignore all of the negative points when I looked back on it after finishing the experience. If you're on the fence, please know that I very nearly recommended this - it's not a terrible game. + Graphics and visuals are all predictably marvelous as standard triple A fare + Smacking enemies with your baton is intensely satisfying and feels like there's a weight to it + The environments are certainly atmospheric and immersive + The game does have dismemberment mechanics, which I felt worked well + The character performances were delectible + The gunplay feels polished and satisfying + The grip does help the combat, and feels quite satisfying, but it does feel like a cheat code at times + Loved the gore in The Calliso Protocol; very prodigious and well-animated + The collectibe audio logs were very welcome, but were more concerned with filling in the immediate plot than world building +/- There are weapon customizations, but they don't feel terribly unique or interesting +/- Though this feels like a an atmospheric, spiritual successor to Dead Space (undeniably), the combat mechanics are just different enough that it doesn't feel like a complete rip-off - The narrative itself falls a bit flat - The survival horror elements are mid at best - The game is EXTREMELY linear, and there isn't much meaningful exploration to be had if you try to veer off the rails - The combat is a one-trick pony, in that every encounter can be resolved in the same way, there are precious few mechanics introduced through gameplay, and those that are feel insufficient to spice things up - There's so much poorly-aged QTE in this game - The game ran beautifully for most of the experience, but I had to suffer through a lot of stuttering and CTDs in the latter third of the game - The autosave system was disappointing and it worked inconsistently, often porting me back far too early into the chapter when I would load into files - Very, very poor enemy variety, and the animations felt just as lacking - Since this game is essentially a series of (admittedly impressive-looking) hallways and cookie-cutter zombies/aliens, I absolutely did not feel the need to replay it any time soon - This game seemed to have everything it needed to be scary, but was missing some undefinable element, as I just never found myself getting scared or anxious (and I'm not really sure why) - There is a shockingly scant amount of character development