Striking Distance Studios has botched the PC release of The Callisto Protocol, according to early players of the sci-fi survival game who have taken to the usual channels, including Steam’s review section, to vent and warn others about the PC version’s apparently less-than-stellar performance.
“Don’t buy this game right now,” a review from Buttered Steak, whose musings sit at the top of The Callisto Protocol’s most helpful reviews section on Steam, reads. “It is a stuttering mess than runs poorly as of day 1. I will update if they fix it and then maybe talk about game play. The PS5 version also drops frames apparently but no where near this maybe buy that one instead if you can.”
“The Stutter Protocol,” another user joked, followed by what seems like countless other negative reviews that speak of the game’s technical issues, which include poor optimization and constant frame drops, even on relatively powerful hardware such as NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards.
The Callisto Protocol currently has a Mostly Negative rating on Steam, but Striking Distance Studios is trying to change that with a new patch that should be out soon:
We’re aware that some users are experiencing stuttering issues on the PC. We’ve got a patch that will be available in a few hours to improve performance, with a number of additional updates on the way.
We’re aware that some users are experiencing stuttering issues on the PC. We’ve got a patch that will be available in a few hours to improve performance, with a number of additional updates on the way.
— The Callisto Protocol (@CallistoTheGame) December 2, 2022
A description for The Callisto Protocol, which stars Josh Duhamel of Transformers fame and Karen Fukuhara, a key member of The Boys:
The Callisto Protocol is a next-generation take on survival horror that fuses brutal combat with a deeply human story in a terrifying sci-fi world. Set on Jupiter’s dead moon Callisto in the year 2320, The Callisto Protocol challenges players to escape the maximum security Black Iron Prison and uncover the terrifying secrets of the United Jupiter Company. Players will need to search their surroundings and adapt their tactics, using a unique blend of shooting and close-quarters combat to survive a mysterious outbreak that has thrown Callisto into chaos.
The Callisto Protocol’s previous controversies include locking a dozen death animations behind its season pass, which is available for $29.99.
The game incorporates third-party DRM in the form of Denuvo Anti-Tamper.
Discussion (4 replies)
Join Discussion →I saw DF posted this the other day: [embedded media]
Related article: https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfoundry-2022-callisto-protocol-tech-review
And also: https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfoundry-2022-the-callisto-protocol-pc-xbox-series-x-series-s
I didn't watch or read any of this, cuz I'm not interested in this game at all (I don't play horror games), but it sounds like the game worked out fine on PS5 but not so great elsewhere.
EDIT: I might actually check this stuff out now, cuz I saw that my friend got this game, and I asked him how it was. He said: "Refunded. I can't make any claims on the gameplay, as the performance was unbearable."
The stuttering is supposedly caused by the compilation of shaders at runtime, which also affects games such as Gotham Knights. They both use the Unreal Engine, IIRC. Gotham Knights seems to have other issues as well (understatement), but I've barely read anything about either game. When I see RTX 4090 owners complaining of poor performance, I quickly move on.
You can blame Unreal... but at the same time, there are a bunch of games that do pretty well on Unreal... and it's not like they are using a different engine for the console version - those are using Unreal too.
Just a matter of where they put their optimization dollars really. Very clearly they are optimizing the crap out of the console version, and then relying on Day 2 patches to fix the PC versions.
Consoles don't compile the shaders at runtime though. Some of the shader-related stuttering issues observed in newer PC games could be related to the introduction of Pipeline State Objects (PSOs), which changed the way shader compilation is handled: https://docs.unrealengine.com/5.1/en-US/optimizing-rendering-with-pso-caches-in-unreal-engine/
I don't know why stuttering would be any more of an issue in games built with Unreal Engine than it would be with other engines, or even that it is more of an issue. I don't feel comfortable comfortable speculating on the matter, as I'm not involved in game development. The blame ultimately falls on the company in charge of the game's development and release. They're the ones that chose the engine and it's their responsibility to work within its limitations.
Most games are riddled with bugs. That's why I usually wait until a few years after they've been released. And here's your Day 2 patch:
[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.thefpsreview.com/2022/12/04/the-callisto-protocol-gets-its-first-patch-to-address-in-game-stuttering-issues/[/URL]
It may be a late by day or so, but who's counting? Hopefully the game will become playable by the Day 1000 patch. And the Die Another Way expansion pack will be free! ;)