Horror fans just finishing up the well-received Dead Space remake now have a reason to go back to The Callisto Protocol about two months after its initial release. The game’s latest update adds an extra hard difficulty mode for free, as well as skins for those with the season pass.
As noted in the game’s patch notes, the Hardcore Mode is the next harder setting and is one step up from Maximum Security, the most difficult setting the game had at launch. It has scarcer resources, enemies that don’t always drop loot, items that are worth fewer credits when traded in, and enemies that mutate even faster and have deadlier attacks, in addition to the player’s stun baton getting a slight nerf.
There are also a few trophies and achievements tied to this mode: one for completing Hardcore and one for completing Hardcore on New Game Plus (which was added in an earlier update). There’s even a bonus trophy or achievement for those who purchase and upgrade all of the weapons.
Steam Deck players should also have a smoother experience with a more readable user interface, an updated control scheme, and a new profile specifically geared toward the platform. Those who didn’t unlock the “The Protocol is About Life” trophy or achievement for beating the game on the hardest difficulty should also earn said reward automatically after the patch. It was initially bugged and unlocked prematurely through a simple glitch. However, in its efforts to squash the workaround, Striking Distance Studios introduced an update that broke the achievement or trophy in the opposite way, meaning those who legitimately earned it couldn’t get it to unlock.
The aforementioned skins are included in The Outer Way Skin Collection, which is part of the season pass or $4.99 separately. It includes new looks for the player’s weapons and character, as shown in the above gallery.
While somewhat small, this is just the first part of the game’s four-part season pass. The Contagion Bundle is dropping in March and is yet another harder difficulty. This one drops fewer resources, has permadeath, and is customizable. It also includes 13 more death animations and another skin collection: the Watchtower Skin Collection.
The Riot Bundle is coming in the spring and is essentially a wave-based survival mode where players gather credits to buy and upgrade weapons while trying to survive as long as they can. It also includes 12 new death animations and the Engineer Skin Collection. There’s also a vague story-based expansion coming in the summer, but Striking Distance hasn’t divulged much else about it.
