Judas Can Be to BioShock What Callisto Protocol was for…

Judas, the highly anticipated debut from Ken Levine's Ghost Story Games, is set to release early next year. It has been hailed as something of a spiritual successor to the BioShock series, mainly because of Levine's past as BioShock's creator, but also due to the two games' obvious similarities.

In this way, Judas is reminiscent of The Callisto Protocol, the Dead Space-inspired game that launched in late 2022. The Callisto Protocol bears some striking similarities to Dead Space, mainly in terms of presentation, premise, and overall aesthetic. Just like Judas, The Callisto Protocol comes from the creator and executive producer of Dead Space, Glen Schofield, which naturally heightened its perception as a spiritual successor to the sci-fi survival horror classic. Unfortunately, The Callisto Protocol met a mostly negative reception, which was not helped by the fact that it launched just a month before the critically acclaimed Dead Space remake. Hopefully, history will not repeat itself with Judas.

It's worth noting that Schofield did not work on the second or third Dead Space games. This contrasts Levine's history with BioShock, as he was the creative director for the entire series.

Judas' Storytelling Strategies Put BioShock 4 Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Judas' approach to storytelling puts BioShock 4 in a rough place when considering the common narrative approach in previous BioShock games.

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By Josh Cotts

Judas Can Succeed Where The Callisto Protocol Failed

Judas Will Be Competing with BioShock 4, Just Like How Callisto Competed with Dead Space

BioShock 4 has been shrouded in mystery for quite some time now. Since its announcement, little to no real information has been revealed about BioShock 4, and fans have been subsisting on rumors and speculation when it comes to even the game's most basic aspects, like its setting and place within the broader BioShock timeline. A lot of this uncertainty stems from the fact that BioShock 4 is coming from Cloud Chamber, an internal 2K Games studio that hasn't yet established itself within the gaming landscape.

This mirrors the connection between The Callisto Protocol and Dead Space but with some key differences. For one thing, last year's Dead Space remake came from EA Motive, a studio that had previously released the well-received Star Wars: Squadrons and the Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and thus already had a solid reputation in the industry. More significant is 2023's Dead Space's identity as a remake of the original 2008 title, meaning that players had a better idea of what to expect.

The game also had nostalgia on its side: if someone was already a fan of the original Dead Space, chances are they would get something out of the remake, even if it was just a trip down memory lane.

Why Judas Has a Better Chance of Succeeding as a BioShock Inheritor

For as similar as Judas and BioShock seem to be, it's crucial to note that the former is taking massive steps to separate itself from the latter. For one thing, Judas' outer-space setting is radically distinct from BioShock's settings of Columbia, Rapture, and the rumored Antarctic city of BioShock 4. There's also the matter of Judas' roguelike format, which will almost certainly make for a notably different gameplay experience compared to BioShock.

Then there's the matter of how BioShock 4 will differentiate itself from the rest of the series. As a brand-new entry rather than a remake, BioShock 4 is expected to make attempts to distinguish itself from its predecessors, establishing not only a new setting and story but also meaningful gameplay innovations. This means that, no matter what, Judas will probably be significantly different from BioShock 4, as well as the BioShock games that preceded it.

These factors separate Judas' release circumstances from those of The Callisto Protocol. Callisto was extremely similar to the original Dead Space in terms of setting and narrative premise, which might have worked in its favor if not for the Dead Space remake launching around the same time, which set the stage for an unfavorable comparison. Time will tell, but if BioShock 4 and Judas are sufficiently distinct from one another, then both games have a better chance of being well-received respectively, with audiences appreciating their similarities rather than lamenting them.