A Brief Review of the Ganymede Protocol: A Spiritual Continuation of Familiarity and Unfamiliarity

In 2017, EA announced the closure of the Visceral Games studio, which completely cut off fans who had little hope for a new game in Dead Space and turned to seeking "meal replacements".

However, unfortunately, the requirement of "including space, science fiction, horror, and third person shooting" is too rigid, and it is difficult for us to find a work on the market that meets the above elements and has a decent level of production.

Until 2020, TGA, developer Striking Distance Studios, announced its first work, the Ganymede Protocol. The seemingly familiar themes and backgrounds, as well as the main creator who served as the executive producer in the first installment of Dead Space, and the familiar UI and actions in live demonstrations, have convinced many fans that this work will serve as a spiritual sequel to Dead Space, revitalizing the glory of space survival horror.

Compared to the spiritual sequel, the Ganymede Protocol gives me a feeling more like a meal based Dead Space that presents the 2012 ideas with 2022 technology. This work has unique ideas and pursuits, but it cannot escape the shadow of the big brother, to the point where it constantly tugs at itself, which makes me feel quite conflicted.

A familiar and thrilling adventure

As a game that caters to both the current and previous generations of consoles, the level of audio-visual performance in Ganymede Protocol can be said to be quite outstanding. When playing with PS5, I only encountered slight frame drops in a few specific scenes. During the game, I could clearly see the sweat on the protagonist's face when he was nervous, the blood on his body after a hard battle, and the slight wriggling of the twisted tentacles on the enemy's body.

The Europa Protocol has made the scene and sound atmosphere even more impressive. In the dim corridor, the flickering lights reflect the figure of monsters, the eerie screams coming from the overhead pipes, and watching the enemy hide in the thick fog that is nowhere to be seen... These scenes with a strong "Dead Space" flavor are particularly oppressive and stimulating.

In a certain level, players will be surrounded by 5 invisible monsters, and their ears will be filled with the rustling of leaves, the low roar of enemies, and the footsteps of the protagonist. When I first played here, I felt a real tension of being surrounded by trees and grass. And when the enemy discovered me, they would try to sneak into the ventilation duct, but I was able to identify my position by listening to the sound and guard the exit of the duct in advance, which also made me feel very satisfied.

However, in the later stages of the game process, perhaps due to the strong equipment of the players, the survival horror of this game weakened to the level of Dead Space 3. Ganymede Protocol simply kicked away the atmosphere as if giving up healing, and instead used monsters and Jump Scare to disgust people. For example, when a player opens a box, they may be suddenly attacked by enemies hiding inside. When I opened three boxes before and after the elite monster battle point and was attacked three times by the treasure box monster, I felt no fear or surprise, only anger.

From the blood bars behind the protagonist's neck to the ammunition display on the firearm, to the blood books such as "shooting tentacles" and "keep quiet" on the wall, the immersive UI design and some scenes of Ganymede Protocol openly pay tribute to Dead Space. These elements made me very familiar when I first saw them.

Unfortunately, the familiar feeling of Ganymede Protocol has also been reflected in many negative aspects. Many times, I feel that the design concept of this game is still the same as 10 years ago, as if it is a folk version of Dead Space made by fans using love to generate electricity.

This sense of both vision is particularly strong in the story and performance of this work, which is as plain as water but mystifying. It is necessary to let players take risks alone in a game with supporting role. Let the protagonist separate from his teammates and meet again and again for various reasons; To control the player's perspective and connect various areas in a repressed space, drill walls, tunnels, and ventilation pipes; There is a big plan for cults brewing in Dead Space, so I'll take care of it too... But all of this in 2022 is too formulaic and plain.

A self contradictory gaming experience

In terms of combat, although the Ganymede Protocol has the familiar variations of gravity grabbing and trampling all corpses, it actually takes its own path and is very different from Dead Space. Whether it's the fun of battle, enemy configuration, or equipment system, the experience brought by this game is very contradictory and leaves me confused.

The core battle strategy of the Ganymede Protocol is to engage in close combat with enemies, first avoiding their attacks and then finding opportunities to engage in close combat and use firearms to quickly shoot at weaknesses and solve them. With the accumulation of combat props and supplies, players can develop different tactics, but melee always plays an important role in battles.

Whether it's using an electric baton to break the enemy's limbs and skull, or crushing the enemy with just one foot to splatter their juice, the feedback is satisfying. The low learning cost "dodge+counterattack" routine is also quite enjoyable. After obtaining major weapons such as gravity gloves and shotguns, I chased monsters everywhere and transformed into a Jupiter Destroyer. However, the combat system of the Ganymede Protocol is still somewhat lacking in refinement, to the point where neither fun nor pressure is involved.

On the one hand, when there are multiple enemies in the scene, it is difficult for dodge actions to take effect properly, resulting in players often being punched to death in later stages with severe monster stacking. The design of forcibly increasing the numerical value has turned the battle in high difficulty into a turn based "dodge shake", with one monster fighting for a year. The slow cutting, reloading, and healing actions force players to plan and prepare before each battle point, otherwise they are easily crippled or even killed in a hurry.

There is another issue that I think is even more serious, which is that the guidance of combat skills in the Ganymede Protocol is just as poor as its path guidance. The game tutorial will say that gravity gloves can bring enemies closer and then throw them out, that they can quickly shoot weak points after hitting enemies hard in melee, and that stepping on corpses can explode materials; But it doesn't say that gravity gloves can be used for low-cost monster control, it doesn't say that players can actively shoot weaknesses for more efficient execution, it doesn't say that destroying enemy vision can help players sneak... If players have rich experience or creativity and are willing to explore gameplay outside of teaching, they can actually make the battles in this game as flashy as light action games, using various infinite combos to suppress monsters.

I have developed a combat system that is worth researching but does not guide players to practice. I have excellent sound and graphics performance but choose to stack monsters and Jump Scare. I have provided manual save function but only allow manual saving of the latest automatic save. There are many weapon upgrade options but cannot inherit materials in the second round. I use a one mirror to one perspective but black screen transitions between each chapter. In the scene, I often see workbenches and weapons that are modular in design but do not have practical modification options. I have made many immersive UI designs, but as long as I read the documents, I have to stand on my feet and open my backpack. These many contradictory questions always make me doubt whether the development work of "Ganymede Protocol" was only half done after setting the direction, and in the end, in order to compete, I have to solve the problem. Before the release of the Dead Space Remake, I had to rush and give up a lot of things.

epilogue

Overall, the Ganymede Protocol is a game that can be considered "good". This work has some unique content, but the creative level is too limited; It is far from being excellent, but it is not inferior enough to be completely negated. I often felt disappointed and angry during the game, but in the end, I couldn't really hate it.

Therefore, I would actually recommend enthusiasts of space survival horror games to experience this game. This game did not bring any disruptive design ideas to this game genre, but it solidly enriches the lineup of games in this direction. And to put it bluntly, Dead Space 3 is almost a game from 10 years ago. Do we have any alternative options before the release of Dead Space Remake next year?

I think the biggest reason why the reputation of this work has become the way it is now is that it has always been chasing the back of Dead Space and unable to break free from its constraints. In terms of promotion and gaming experience, the Ganymede Protocol reminds players of Dead Space everywhere, otherwise it is difficult to quickly accumulate enough topic popularity to break through the circle; But the various flaws in the production level of this game make it destined to be incomparable, which will disappoint players. Although comparing a new work without an IP foundation to a complete series with memory bonuses is inherently unfair.

As the first work of Strike Distance Studios, the Ganymede Protocol laid the foundation for possible future stories. The official has confirmed that a plot update will be released for this game next summer, and the producer has also expressed the idea of developing a sequel. I really want to say "almost done" about this, but a certain part of my heart can't help but have some expectations for these contents - after all, the "Dead Space" series also spread the world view through games, comics, novels, and so on starting from the 2nd generation?

However, before these new features of the Ganymede Protocol, let's take a look at January next year's Dead Space Remake. I can't wait to know if EA can revive this series or mess things up again.