Survival horror games are known to be a little slow for the sake of tension, but that’s not really the case for Striking Distance Studios’ action-packed The Callisto Protocol. This new game–which is heavily inspired by Dead Space–keeps things moving at a pretty brisk pace with an onslaught of cinematic set piece moments and no shortage of grotesque monsters to kill in equally grotesque ways. If you’re wondering how long it will take to complete The Callisto Protocol, we’ve got the answer for you.
How long to beat The Callisto Protocol
The Callisto Protocol is a mostly linear survival horror experience with an average playtime of approximately 10 hours on its normal difficulty–and there is little to do beyond seeing its main story through. The majority of the levels are very straightforward and feature occasional optional paths that can be explored for resources or collectible implants and voice memos, though none of these detours are substantial enough to pad out the game’s length by much.
If you’re a completionist looking to finish the game’s full Trophy or Achievement list, you won’t find a lot that extends the playtime, either. The hardest and most time-consuming part simply requires you to beat it on Maximum Security (the hardest difficulty), which is available from the start and may increase the total playtime by a few hours. Still, the game remains a compact ride with the remainder of the Trophy or Achievement list consisting of things like finding collectibles or killing enemies in ways that are likely to come naturally as you play. Lastly, there are a few optional weapons to find along the way, but we’ve got you covered on that.
For comparison, the original Dead Space took an average of 12 or so hours to beat, but it also packed in a bit more into that runtime and had a larger Trophy and Achievement list to complete that helped flesh out the experience in unique ways. Unfortunately, The Callisto Protocol just doesn’t provide nearly the same amount of replay value or creative methods of play.
The Callisto Protocol is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.
