'You can always come up with new ways to scare people': The 'visceral' horror of 'Callisto Protocol'

Aliens. Outer space. Horrifically graphic body horror. Finally, veteran video game designer Glen Schofield is back to doing what he loves most.

After spending about a decade working in the "Call of Duty" franchise as one of the co-founders of Sledgehammer Games, Schofield started Striking Distance Studios with the intention to return to the sci-fi horror genre. It's a space Schofield, one of the primary architects of the "Dead Space" franchise, knows well. This holiday season, on Dec. 2, Striking Distance is slated to release its first game, "The Callisto Protocol," via PUBG Studios.

An extended trailer of thewas shown earlier this month as part of the Summer Game Fest, a multiday, largely online celebration of video game teasers and trailers. "Dead Space," known for its high-tension moments that contrast with jump-scare-driven terror, is a clear influence, although the brief look at "The Callisto Protocol," named for , shows a doubling-down on the action-heavy aspects of the game. Set on a moon-based prison colony 300 years in the future, where inmates mutate into violently disgusting human-monster hybrids, one should also expect plenty of cringe-inducing player-death scenes.