Nobody can hear you scream in the vacuum of space; unfortunately, there is quite a bit of it inThe Callisto Protocol. Developed by Striking Distance Studios, The Callisto Protocol is a survival horror adventurecreated through the same lens as Dead Space.
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The game follows a cargo ship pilot named Jacob Lee, who becomes falsely imprisoned on a supply run. Jacob wakes up in a cell as the prison is overrun by horrific monsters and deadly rogue security androids. Now in a fight for his life, Jacob must survive against various monstrosities and trust other prisoners if he hopes to escape. But who exactly is The Callisto Protocol’s protagonist?
Contains Major Spoilers For The Callisto Protocol.
Pilot Turned Inmate
Jacob Lee is the main character of The Callisto Protocol and the person you control in the game. The 42-year-old cargo ship pilot is portrayed by actorJosh Duhamel, famously known for his roles in the early Michael Bay Transformers films. He and his friend Max Barrow make a livingtransporting various cargofrom planet to planet, but one supply run did not go as planned.
In 2320, while Jacob and Max were transporting unknown cargo from Jupiter’s dead moon Callisto, they were boarded byDani Nakamura, a member of the Outer Way.
The Outer Way is a resistance group that’s dedicated to uncovering the secrets behind the United Jupiter Company and what exactly is transpiring on Callisto.
Jacob manages to fight Dani and get her off his ship but not before she causes enough damage to force them to crashland back on Callisto. Unfortunately,Max is killed in the crash,and Jacob is taken prisoner by Captain Leon Ferris.Jacob tries to explain that he’s just a pilot and hasn’t done anything wrong, but his pleas fall on deaf ears, and he’slocked up in Black Iron Prison.
Escaping Black Iron Prison
After waking up in his cell, Jacob sees that the entire prison is in chaos. Other inmates have beguntransforming into horrifying monstersand attacking others. Automated security androids that were once controlled by the prison staff have started rejecting their orders and are also killing anyone in sight, including other guards. With the help of longtime inmateElias Porter, Jacob manages to escape his cell and Elias provides him instructions on how they can escape Callisto.
Unfortunately, Elias doesn’t make it, but Jacob eventually teams up with Dani. While trying to find the escape pods, Jacob and Dani are confronted byan infected Captain Ferriswho contaminates Dani. Jacob takes Dani to Dr. Marla Mahler, one of thelead scientists responsible for what’s happening in the prison.
Dr Mahler tells him she can cure Dani, but before Jacob leaves she uses a device to allow him toobserve Dani’s memories, and the truth about Jacob and the outbreaks on Callisto and Europa is revealed.
A Trip Down Memory Lane
While observing Dani’s memories, Jacobsees her on Europa after the outbreak. Dani is wandering through the deserted city and finally finds a young girl, and embraces her lifeless body. During the embrace, Jacob notices apink boxon the ground and is attacked by a vision of Max. He forces Jacob to look at the box, which changes into a vial.
As the box changes into a vial, so does the memory. Now, we see Jacob holding the vial on his ship with Max. It’s revealed that the medical supplies that Jacob and Max were transporting from Callistocontained hidden vials of the alien larvaethat caused the outbreaks. In other words,they’re responsible for the outbreak of Europaand the subsequent death of Dani’s daughter.
For some reason,Jacob doesn’t recall this happening until he sees her memories.But now shackled with the guilt, he gives the last remaining escape pod to Dani. As she flies off into space, we seeBlack Iron Prison begin to self-destruct.
However, Dr Mahler stops the destruction somehow and tells Jacob she knows of another way off the moon. It remains to be seen whether Jacob will find a way off Callisto and if he’ll continue to fightagainst Warden Cole and The Circlewith Dani in the future.
