The Callisto Protocol: Final Transmission

I have no stake in The Callisto Protocol, but the ending of its Final Transmission DLC is so absurdly stupid that I can’t believe this was the note they wanted to go out on.

Without getting too into the weeds of the game, basically, the big reveal at the end of Final Transmission is that protagonist Jacob Lee is dead, and the whole DLC is a dying dream. Conceptually, that’s pretty cool, and the reveal of his destroyed body is one hell of a visual moment. His face is half gone, his lower half is just meat barely hanging on. Then the game cuts to credits…and the post-credits scene happens.

In a meta bit, Jacob springs to life and asks what’s going on. The idea is that actor Josh Duhamel has been left on the “set” of the game and is asking what happened to his legs. Like, I get the joke they’re going for here, but given that this horrifying reveal just happened and it’s not like The Callisto Protocol seems like a surefire franchise, it’s such a weird note to go out on. This is the final moment for this game. The final…transmission, if you will. And it’s a bit. — Kenneth Shepard