Cronos: The New Dawn
Developer: Bloober Team
Publisher: Bloober Team
Platforms: PC, Switch 2, Xbox Series X (Reviewed), PlayStation 5
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $59.99 USD – Available Here
Overview
Bloober Team has had one heck of a run the last few years. Originally breaking out thanks to their horror game Layers of Fear that recently saw a re-release, the company had expanded to work on not only other titles such as Blair Witch and The Medium to some success but were tapped to tackle perhaps one of the highest hurdles a horror game developer could be given, Silent Hill 2. Despite the high expectations placed upon them, Bloober Team managed to meet them and deliver a successful remake of the coveted classic all while still working on a project of their own that ended up becoming Cronos: The New Dawn. So now that they’ve taken their past experiences and come together with a brand new IP, is Cronos: The New Dawn as intriguing of a horror game as they may hope?
Story
Some time during the 1980s an unknown disease and cataclysm shook the world and swept through the land, originating in the eastern bloc of Poland. Simply named the “Change” by those that managed to advance and become something more, this Change saw humanity purged from the world as those not slain by the monsters became monsters themselves, “Orphans” as they were called. Creatures of nightmare given flesh and amalgamations of multiple humans transformed into lumbering monsters only seeking more to add to their merged fleshy frames. With the world already destroyed, players take on the role of a Traveler, someone placed in hibernation by the mysterious “Collective” in order to achieve their “Vocation.”
For Traveler ND-3576 as the player is called, this means extracting certain individuals by traveling through what remains of the current abomination and anomaly riddled present and finding rifts into the past where they can travel back to a time just before the Change and gather the “essences” of certain individuals to then upload them into the Collective through a process called “Ascendance.” However it quickly becomes clear that not everything is as it seems, especially as the Traveler not only meets another that should not exist, but begins witnessing visions and voices from the past, including strange phenomena and events that lead to things being far more complicated than they may seem, even as one-minded of a task the Traveler has been given.
Cronos: The New Dawn tells a very intriguing storyline and one that isn’t afraid to keep players guessing even after the credits have rolled. Whether or not that is a good thing is up to the player a bit, especially since some of the larger elements remain unexplained even if players manage to find all of the various notes, travelogs, and recordings throughout the game that do help fill in the gaps a bit here and there. This means that players will definitely have more questions than answers regarding at least some of the grander aspects of the game once they beat it, even if they beat the game’s New Game+ option. It is worth noting that, without going into spoilers, there are two different endings depending on player choice at the end of the original game and in the New Game+ the true ending is revealed.
Metaphorically it is a perfect match for the game’s narrative and themes, which tackle things such as the dangers of time travel and how it can affect the world, the nature of humanity and life itself, and more though going into detail here would be spoiling things. It is nice to note that while Traveler ND-3576 is as dispassionate as can be for the most part, there are shreds of humanity that do leak through, whether it is through the few player dialogue options that can reassure someone, finding the collectable cat’s and petting them with warmth and affection, or even a few environmental comments. It’s also quite telling that at some points these flickers of humanity almost seem like they are forcibly altered away, though why that is we’ll leave for players to discover.
Gameplay
For the most part Cronos: The New Dawn plays almost exactly how many “survival horror” style games lately play. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just means that players should already expect a certain level of resource management and limitations to make sure players never feel too free. In fact, this game almost goes the other direction entirely by making players truly feel desperate at times. Combat is handled through standard over the shoulder aiming with initially a handgun before acquiring a shotgun, rapid-fire pistol, carbine, another type of shotgun, an extra carbine type, and finally a rocket launcher of sorts that is incredibly powerful at the cost of having huge ammunition cost and storage. Storage itself is a bit of an issue when it comes to the firearms in the game since, unlike many other games of the genre that have placed guns in their own category, every weapon takes up an inventory slot, meaning carrying the starter handgun, a shotgun, and a rifle will take up six inventory slots unless players also intend not to carry ammunition with them and simply rely on drops or crafting on the fly.
This means players will tend to play lean, depending on only focusing on one or two weapons and focusing on carrying ammo for only one of these, relying on chemicals and mechanical parts scavenged during exploration for crafting additional ammo or health patches for the Traveler’s suit. Of course, players can upgrade their suit’s overall health, inventory space, and even gadgets with “Cores” obtained from reaching story locations, exploring off the beaten path, or collected from thankful cats. On the other hand, Energy obtained from selling valuables and generally the item players get the most from boxes and defeated enemies can be used to upgrade firearms as well as purchase a limited amount of ammo or healing items that vary from shop to shop in each “safe room” that players come across in the game.
Exploring the brutal and gore-filled world of Cronos: The New Dawn is something of a twisted delight. Players never quite know what to expect even as they progress from location to location since even wind-blown desolate areas may still contain the remnants of Orphans laying just beneath the sand and ready to spring back up should they step towards an item box or pick up an ammo pack, while others are obvious threats where the walls are literally dripping in fleshy goo and corpses littering the halls. This sense of tension is quite palpable thanks to the way enemy encounters are handled, in fact it is heightened even more when players obtain a “health gauge” for their firearm. When exploring, some enemies will come right out and attack while others may lay in wait, either waiting for players to reach a doorway that will slam shut or pick up an item before reviving. Creeping forward and aiming at corpses to see if the player’s gun stays normal or starts lighting up green is a great way to strike while an Orphan is still prone and give the player an advantage and avoid getting jumped, but even then sometimes enemies still emerge from the flesh walls so this isn’t a guarantee.
Actually battling Orphans is a straightforward but risky endeavor. There is some great variation in their types, ranging from weak but fast chargers, standard types, standard acid spitting ones, armored Orphans that deflect bullets, large scale monstrous ones, and even wall crawlers. The real risk comes from the fact that even a standard enemy can take at least two rounds from an upgraded pistol shot to dispatch and there are usually more on the way. It is also worth noting that every gun can be shot “as is” or charged for special effect, such as dealing increased damage and piercing through a target with the pistol, spread on shotgun blast, and more, but charging also means having to keep the shot steady at the enemy and potentially leave players open for attack since, even at the best of times, the Traveler is far from agile as there are no dodge or even side-stepping options here. There are punches and stomps but they are shockingly ineffective despite what horror games of the past may have players thinking. Stomping an enemy on the ground is best left as a way to finish off a foe at the brink of death or punching at one trying to absorb a corpse, breaking the process.
That happens to be one of the other key concepts in Cronos: The New Dawn, enemy merging. As players fight and slay Orphans in an arena, there is a possibility that other enemies within that location will start bee-lining it to that corpse and try to absorb it. If uninterrupted by a melee attack, headshot, or literal fire, the enemy will not only absorb the fallen Orphan, it will grow in strength and heal itself as well. This can lead to a standard small enemy type potentially merging with multiple defeated ones and becoming a massive problem that players might be entirely unequipped to handle and die as a result. Dying is actually something players should expect to happen more often than not at least until they get the hang of things, since not only does the title like to let enemy drops be completely random, making it so they may drop plenty of ammo one time and nothing another the next, but if players can’t use their limited “Torch” or “Pyre” to burn the corpses surrounding them or make use of combustible barrels within a location to dispose of enemy remains, they may just end up facing off against near-boss level enemies.
It is unfortunate to say that one of the major issues with the game is the fact that it suffers from some rather poor auto-saves. While it is understandable to keep players on their toes and there isn’t much back-tracking needed outside of solving an occasional puzzle or obtaining a piece of hidden loot, losing over twenty minutes of progress simply because there was never a single auto-save across multiple enemy encounters makes for some awful design. Instead, cautious players may want to simply retreat back to the safe room and save after some particularly dangerous encounters and not only restock or recoup their supplies, but save and avoid having to fight everything again. It is also worth noting that, at the moment, there are a number of glitched achievements relating to collectables, upgrades, and even burning objects that fail to unlock and will hopefully be patched in the future.
Audio & Visuals
Cronos: The New Dawn is a masterclass at atmospheric dread. As players explore through the various locations in the game they will either be treated to near grayed-out conditions where even the flashlight can’t breach far through the storm where Orphans may lay in wait or taking steady heavy steps through the flesh-slick corridors littered with corpses that may spring up at any moment. The design of the Traveler themselves and the various Orphan types is quite well handled but it is actually rather surprising that while the environments may be gory, there isn’t actually that much gore from the player’s actions. For a title all about flesh amalgamations, it is surprisingly tame when it comes to blasting things away with a shotgun or burning corpses with simple disintegration.
The voice work for the game is also handled exceptionally well given the limited amount that it features. The English cast handles the portrayal of those in borderline panic or in existential dread that serves as a perfect contrast to the almost mechanical Traveler’s portrayal. Similarly, the eerie sounds of Orphans stalking just around corners, or types that are tethered to walls like traps, can be heard at a distance and make for creepy exploration. As for the soundtrack, the background music is limited but atmospheric in nature, working quite well given the nature of the game.
Overall
Bloober Team has taken their lessons on survival horror and applied them quite well to Cronos: The New Dawn as this it has turned out to be a great new IP that manages to make the most out of its unique premise even if it does mean keeping players in the dark for far too long and even then leaves plenty of vague questions remaining even when the credits roll a second time through. With satisfying combat that is challenging and item management that requires preparation, players may be in for some frustration at times in the game but this sci-fi horror is certainly worth checking out.
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