Cronos: The New Dawnis an upcoming survival horror game from Bloober Team, the studio behindLayers of Fear, The Medium, and theSilent Hill 2remake. In it, players take on the role of a Traveler who lives in a future that has been destroyed by an event known as The Change. Details on The Change are scarce, but it appears to be related to a sickness spread by people who refused to quarantine, eventually resulting in monsters known as Orphans. Hope is not lost inCronos: The New Dawn, it seems, because the Traveler can travel back in time and save select people, perhaps people who are capable of reversing The Change.
Still, that mystery and devastation are at the heart ofCronos: The New Dawn’s story, and its gameplay is as intriguing as the plot set-up. Game Rant recently traveled to Kraków, Poland, where the game’s opening segment is set, and played the first couple of hours. It was just enough to tease what was coming next for the Traveler, but also enough for us to turn to our dormantDead Spacesurvival techniques quickly.
Save the Past, Save the Future
The first goal was to reach the Predecessor, a Traveler who came here before the protagonist and unfortunately died. Our search for them effectively served as a tutorial, teaching us all the basics of its gameplay and introducing us to the Orphans. As anyone would expect, we started with a basic pistol, learned how to upgrade it and fight Orphans, and eventually learned how to get fuel cells for our flamethrower. There are fuel cell dispensers located around the game, but until we unlock an upgrade, we can only carry one fuel cell around at a time. The Flamethrower can be used to stun standing enemies or incinerate their corpses, which ties into one of themain mechanics ofCronos: The New Dawn—merging.
Players can also charge every shot of their weapon, which is necessary for facing even the most basic enemies.
Orphans are capable of merging with dead Orphans, creating a bigger and stronger enemy. There is a limit when it comes to possible mutations, but even at their zenith, Orphans can still consume others to heal themselves. It completely changes how players engage withCronos: The New Dawn’s combat. At first, we were pitted against singular enemies as we learned how to target weak spots and navigate the world. Then, we were essentially walking in a massive graveyard of a city, meaning Orphans could strengthen themselves at almost any turn. And I have a bit of a rebellious streak and do not particularly enjoy being told what to do. I went into this preview with the thought of letting them merge (since the marketing has leaned heavily on “Do Not Let Them Merge”) to see if I could still kill them, and the answer was a resounding, crying, begging, devastating, and otherwise flat-out “no.”
I found myself in a good area, so I thought, to test this out. I was in some underground tunnels and had a fuel cell dispenser nearby. There were only 2-3 enemies and some explosives I could shoot to boot. I killed one or two to let them merge, and the monstrosity that pursued me thereafter refused to die. It didn’t matter how much I pumped into it with my pistol. I had let it merge and ended up running around these tunnels, grabbing fuel cells, stunning it, and trying to put it down. Did I succeed? No. Did I die? Yes. Will I ever let them merge again? Absolutely not. And that’s where the beauty ofCronos: The New Dawn’s combatshines.
As I reloaded and continued through the wasteland, sometimes stopping to take it in its fog-filled beauty, preventing Orphans from merging became my first priority. I became more cautious with my flamethrower, saving it for when Orphans began the merging process. I stood between the Orphans and nearby corpses to prevent them from merging. Somewhere, mentally and intuitively, combat shifted from “kill all the enemies” to “don’t let them merge.” If they merged, I realized I would probably die anyway, and this realization gave combat a distinct purpose. I had to do anything and everything I could to prevent them from merging, adding anotherlayer of depth toCronos: The New Dawn’s gameplay.
“It’s almost like Cronos is an Orphan that has merged the mass market appeal ofResident Evil 4, the psychological horror ofLayers of Fear/Silent Hill 2, and the stomp horror ofDead Spaceinto something still unique and identifiable. That’s the one time I’ll ever allow merging inCronos: The New Dawn, and it’ll be interesting to see how its story, the Traveler, and the gameplay continue to change throughout the game.”
In this opening segment of the game, there are a few environmental puzzles to solve, but the core emphasis is on survival and action. Looting, upgrading, and otherwise being mindful of enemy activity kept me on my toes throughout these opening hours. Somewhere along the way, I began stomping on every enemy corpse I came across to make sure the Orphan was dead. It probably wouldn’t stop another Orphan from merging with them, but it became my safety blanket in areas littered with corpses. And, at least once, it gave me the upper hand when one of these Orphans turned out to be alive. I stomp everything inDead Spaceout of habit, but I stomp everything inCronos: The New Dawnto survive.
The Traveler Must Survive
After finding the predecessor, my goal shifted to making it to a nearby apartment building. There, I would be able to travel back in time and save a target named Eddie. Why I was rescuing him and how that would happen exactly were a little unclear at this point, but my biggest area of concern dawned on me around this cutscene too.The Traveler I’m playing has no personality. They are almost robotic in depiction and tone, feeling more like a blank slate I am supposed to project myself onto. That can work, but considering itssurvival horror game competitionoften has strong leads, it was a bit jarring. However, not everything inCronos: The New Dawnis as it seems.
Afterward, I spoke withBloober Team’s lead writer Grzegorz Like and co-directors Wojciech Piejko and Jacek Zieba, and I asked about this. First, I learned the Traveler was a woman, which was only surprising because the game hadn’t suggested anything personal about her whatsoever. It’s a Samus-in-a-Suit kind of situation, and keeping in mindCronos: The New Dawn’s focus on change, Zieba told me that the Traveler at the end of the game is completely different from the start of the game. Like also said,
“We can promise you that there are a couple of twists that will change how you perceive the concept of this game at this point. It’s a completely different story at the end. It starts with a gigantic mission to save humanity, but it turns into this very personal and psychological space.”
They also insisted she would change because change is unstoppable, and given that the in-game cataclysm is called The Change, my interest was piqued in ways I wouldn’t have considered before. I can’t speak to thechange the Traveler undergoes as the story progresses, but that’s a strong hook and reason for me to return wheneverChronos' release date dawns on the world. Either way, I fought tooth and nail to get to Eddie’s apartment building.
As I traveled through it, there seemed to be an out-of-range Orphan watching me, speaking to me, and seemingly speakingaboutme (which I only realized because I knew I was a woman). This Orphan became a boss fight, and while it took me a few tries to get it right, I did completely smoke it once I figured it out. Essentially, this Orphan was different because it wouldn’t take damage except to its weak spots, and its weak spots were armored. To expose the weak spots, I had to hit it with fire from my Flamethrower or an environmental explosive. All the while, of course, it is pursuing me and trying to kill me. Once I knew where all the explosives (and an additional fuel cell) were, the boss fight was a cakewalk. It wasn’t the most difficult, but it played on being able to identify and utilize the environment to my advantage.
After that, I went into the past and the preview ended.
Cronos: The New Dawn Merges the Old and the New
I have a lot of questions aboutCronos: The New Dawn’s direction after playing through these two segments, and that’s more than enough to ensure I return whenever it comes out. It hooked me quickly and effectively, but I think what stands out the most is how much Bloober Team’s psychological horror DNA remains in it. In aninterview with Eurogamerlate last year, co-founder Piotr Babieno said it was “closing the era of making psychological horror games” and would be focusing on “mass-market horror” now. Sure enough, there are someelements of mass market horror inCronos: The New Dawn, but there’s still a wide psychological scope.
It’s almost like Cronos is an Orphan that has merged the mass market appeal ofResident Evil 4, the psychological horror ofLayers of Fear/Silent Hill 2, and the stomp horror ofDead Spaceinto something still unique and identifiable. That’s the one time I’ll ever allow merging inCronos: The New Dawn, and it’ll be interesting to see how its story, the Traveler, and the gameplay continue to change throughout the game.
Game Rant was provided travel and lodging for the purposes of this preview.Cronos: The New Dawnis currently slated for a 2025 release date.
