AlthoughThe Callisto Protocolis a spiritual successor toDead Spaceas a franchise, it draws inspiration from various iconic sources in the horror scene, fromResident EviltoThe Thing, also including real-life gore. Still,The Callisto Protocolis its own thingwith more enemy diversity than games likeDead Space, which primarily features different types of necromorphs, and while the biophage enemies don’t differ too much from them, there are also security robots, for example. Furthermore, some of the creatures infected by the biophage virus mutate over the course of a fight, which is not something thatThe Callisto Protocol’s creator, Glen Schofield, introduced inDead Spaceback when he worked on it.
WithThe Callisto Protocolbeing a survival horror game at its core, the game doesn’t shy away from using jump-scares to affect players in their journey out of Black Iron Prison, and one of the very first occurs with a biophage larva going for Jacob’s face after he opens a chest. Grabbing items and scavenging areas for supplies is part of the core gameplay loop ofThe Callisto Protocol, and this in turn helps Jacob build better gear over time that is then used to deal with more and more powerful enemies. Biophage larvae are far from the top of the food chain in the game, and they resemble bothAlien’s Facehuggers and mimics from fantasy imagery.
RELATED:The Callisto Protocol Review
How The Callisto Protocol’s Biophage Larvae Resemble Alien’s Facehuggers and Mimics
The connection toAlien’s Facehuggers is immediate, as larvae are rather large and yet quite primal forms of biophage life, and they attempt to attack humans by clinging to their faces and mouths so that they can infect them with the virus. This is exactly what the base lifeforms of Xenomorphs do in theAlienfranchise, with Facehuggers trying to attach themselves to a host’s mouth only to then implant a Chestburster within the body of a living creature.
Still, in terms of game mechanics,The Callisto Protocol’s biophagelarvae serve the purpose of classic mimics from fantasy games. Mimics do exactly what they say on the tin, in the sense that they take on the appearance of an inanimate object and then prey on their victims when they try to interact with the mimics' temporary form. Biophage larvae are often found hiding in places like chests, washing machines, lockers, and vents, and they come out of their lair only when human hosts are nearby, so they can infect them and reproduce.
InThe Callisto Protocol, biophage larvae are also used as a means to add to the constant sense of tension that the game tries to instill in players, as they often appear when Jacob interacts with objects that are not necessary for the overall progression of the story. This perfectly matches the use for mimics ingames likeDungeon and Dragons, where they are often camouflaged as treasure chests and end up punishing the players for their curiosity and greed. That’s why making them appear out of loot chests, lockers, or as a random encounter when turning a winch that doesn’t open any door.
In this sense, biophage larvae are somewhat of a teaching experience forThe Callisto Protocolplayers, as they show that tides can turn fast and that exploring every nook and cranny is not always the safest path. Even games likeDark Soulsused mimics as enemies, and while they can’t be exactly portrayed in the same fashion in sci-fi games as they are in fantasy ones,The Callisto Protocolsucceeds in this quest thanks to the biophage larvae’s behavior. Although this form of representation for mimics might be purely fortuitous, it is common for survival games to punish their players for collecting too many goods from an otherwise hostile world.
The Callisto Protocolis available for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
