Cronos: The New Dawnnow has an official release date, and the upcoming psychological survival horror game from developer Bloober Team will be dropping later this year on September 5, just ahead of the traditionally spooky season. WithCronos: The New Dawn, Bloober is aiming to give players a new experience but one that also remains grounded in some of the familiar and well-liked aspects of two other major series in the genre, namelyDead SpaceandSilent Hill.
From its very first reveal,Cronos: The Dawn’s inspirationsthat are taken from the above were fairly front and center, as can be seen in its visuals and third-person gameplay perspective. Developers have also stated that they looked to another of horror’s heavy hitters,Resident Evil 4, when designing it. With its combination of channeling these while introducing an intriguing setup and distinct world,Cronos: The Dawnlooks in many ways to be a title that fans of all these franchises and the horror genre overall won’t want to miss.
While it’s not currently confirmed, there is some speculation thatCronos: The New Dawnmay also be aday-one Xbox Game Passtitle.
After cutting its teeth earlier on games likeObserverandLayers of Fear, Bloober Team’s work on last year’sSilent Hill 2 Remakewas a crowning achievement, thrusting the studio into the limelight as a premier modern horror developer.Cronos: The Dawnwears itsSilent HillandDead Spaceinfluences on its sleeve, and both can be seen in the various footage that Bloober has released of it.
The protagonist, known only as The Traveler, is a heavily suited figure bearing no small resemblance to Isaac Clark. The form and function of the weapons also looksimilar toDead Space’s. On theSilent Hillside of its presentation, there are quieter but incredibly tense sequences where The Traveler hears strange whispers and comes face to face with other humans bearing grim tidings.
Silent Hill fis launching on September 25, just a few weeks afterCronos.
Bloober has previously delved into how it is bringing fresh ideas to the table forCronos: The New Dawn, both in its narrative framework and gameplay design. The story follows The Traveler as they are tasked with braving unnatural time rifts into the past caused by a catastrophic event known as The Change that has apparently devastated Earth in the future, leaving it in horrific and surreal ruins. Players will explore a haunting world composed of a “retro-futurist technology fused with Eastern European Brutalist” art style split across two timelines.
One of the biggest features revealed about it so far isCronos: The New Dawn’s merging mechanic, which puts a gruesome and challenging twist on the way players must approach and combat its enemies, known as the Orphans. The Traveler must act to prevent the Orphans from combining their twisted bodies into more powerful and monstrous versions. This idea brings to mindDead Space’s limb-dismembering, and both it andCronoscan also trace their over-the-shoulder view back toRE4.
The Traveler’s goal is apparently to survive in the past and seek out certain people with special talent or knowledge to avert or perhaps reverse The Change. This requires “harvesting their essences.” How The Traveler handles the mental toll that comes along with the ominous overtones that doing so seem to imply will play a big part in the tale.Cronos: The New Dawnthus appears to be much more than a Frankenstein’s monster ofDead Space,Silent Hill,orResident Evil.But it does look to be taking some of the best lessons that they provided to heart to create an excellent horror experience all its own.
