Hands-on Preview of Cronos: The New Dawn

Bloober Team’s Latest Venture: An Insight into Cronos: The New Dawn

Renowned for their atmospheric horror games, Bloober Team has evolved from its traditional focus on survival to incorporate combat-oriented mechanics in its latest project, Cronos: The New Dawn. After achieving significant acclaim with the remake of Silent Hill 2, the Polish studio has unveiled this new science fiction title, developed alongside The Medium. A select group of journalists, including myself, recently visited Oakland, California, to experience the first few hours of gameplay firsthand.

A Familiar Yet Innovative Setting

Cronos: The New Dawn draws from Bloober Team’s roots by situating the game in a recognizable context. While previous titles like Observer and The Medium depicted the developers’ home country, this game uniquely highlights the historical backdrop of Nowa Huta. Set after World War II during Soviet occupation, the city is envisioned as a utopian symbol of Soviet power, centered around its steelworks. As one developer noted, embedding an authentic piece of history within a horror narrative allows players to connect with the story, even if they have never visited the location. This blend of realism and horror enhances the game’s appeal.

Gameplay Mechanics: Become a Traveler

In the game, players assume the role of a Traveler who navigates pivotal moments in time to rescue individuals before their untimely deaths. This exploration is facilitated through time rifts, with players guided by only a vague understanding of their target’s whereabouts. The challenge intensifies as the Traveler must operate independently, potentially retracing the missteps of those who came before them.

Influences and Innovations

Boasting gameplay influenced by the successful formula of Silent Hill 2, Cronos: The New Dawn features intimate camera angles, strategic inventory management, and the unlocking of doors that enhance immersion. However, the game diverges from psychological horror through formidable adversaries known as Orphans. These monstrous entities—replete with grotesque flesh and tentacles—relentlessly pursue the player, even employing strategic tactics to launch surprise attacks. A particularly noteworthy addition is their ability to merge with one another, enhancing their lethality by combining inherited traits from their fallen counterparts. Consequently, encounters can escalate rapidly; dealing with a single Orphan, equipped with the ability to spit acid, can quickly turn into a dire situation when they gain reinforced defenses.

Combat and Resource Management

To effectively eliminate these Orphans, players must resort to fire-based tactics. The Traveler can utilize accelerants found throughout the environment, such as abandoned oil cans or marked barrels, to ignite their surroundings. Additionally, they can replenish a single fuel cell early in the story, which can be employed as a flamethrower to engulf nearby threats. Given the absence of traditional dodge or evade mechanics, the flamethrower serves as a vital means of escape or a way to mitigate incoming attacks. Players will quickly discover that they cannot carry more than one fuel cell at a time, as the game’s inventory system restricts storing fuel in save room item boxes, forcing strategic resource management.

Upgrading Weapons and Exploring the Environment

Within save rooms, players can access terminals to upgrade their character and armaments. Each weapon, from a standard pistol to a more potent shotgun, can be enhanced using currency earned during missions to boost damage, reload speed, and the Traveler’s health. Moreover, crafting stations are available, allowing players to produce either ammunition or essential healing items, thus necessitating thoughtful decision-making to ensure survival.

Dynamic Gunplay Experience

The gunplay in Cronos: The New Dawn bears resemblance to mechanics found in Silent Hill 2 and EA’s Dead Space. The over-the-shoulder perspective grants players the freedom to aim at specific enemy limbs or target the head for increased damage. During the preview, the shotgun emerged as the most effective weapon, while the pistol felt like a mere deterrent unless one was prepared to unload a significant portion of ammunition. Given the narrow corridors of Nowa Huta’s apartment buildings, players face challenges in both evading foes and conserving ammunition. Once an enemy is downed, a precise stomp can ensure they stay down, but only fire assures their complete destruction.

Eerie creature in dark cave-like room with creeping shadows and beams of light through a window.

Bos battles and Expeditions

The demo culminated in an intense boss fight against a massive, tentacled creature capable of transforming into a menacing humanoid figure. This formidable enemy engaged in random strikes and hurled parts of itself when attacked from a distance. I found myself grateful this encounter came at the end of the demo, as I had depleting health items and bullets, relying on what little ammo I could scavenge within the arena to defeat the boss. This frustrating experience underscored how resistant some enemies can be, requiring an excessive amount of ammunition to bring them down.

Exploration and Collectibles in Nowa Huta

Venturing off the main path reveals hidden artifacts within Nowa Huta—each yielding valuable currency or critical supplies. Players can collect a range of items, from audio logs and notes to expand the narrative, to comic books scattered throughout the environment. Revisiting earlier areas equipped with tools like wire cutters unveils additional collectibles, including lore-rich items such as a solitary cat featured in the lorebook.

A Unique Narrative Journey Awaits

Cronos: The New Dawn merges its developers’ unique cultural and historical insights with science fiction elements centered around time travel and averting disasters. With an estimated gameplay duration of sixteen hours, this title promises to deliver an extensive narrative experience unlike typical survival horror games. As the release date approaches, I look forward to understanding how the story unfolds and the repercussions of saving—or failing to save—the characters within.

Release Date and Final Thoughts

Cronos: The New Dawn is currently slated for a Fall 2025 release, available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X, and PC/Mac.

[Editor’s Note: Travel accommodations were provided by Bloober Team and their PR agency to attend the preview event in California.]

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