Cronos: The New Dawnis easily one of the most exciting new horror gaming IPs in development right now. Coming fromSilent Hill 2remake developer Bloober Team,Cronoshas gotten a lot of attention for itsostensible similarities toDead Space, but one can only hope that Bloober will use this opportunity to truly break out on its own in the wake of its well-receivedSH2endeavor.
To be fair,Cronos: The New Dawnlooks rather unique in many ways, with its recent gameplay reveal trailer showcasing a good bit of its dilapidated environments and gesturing to its creative time travel premise. Bloober Team has stated that it wantsCronosto be more “gameplay-heavy” than theSilent Hill 2remake, leveraging survival horror staples like inventory management and weapon diversity. It’s worth noting that, while the game’s directors admit thatDead Spaceis one ofCronos’ inspirations, they also cite a number of other influences, includingThe Last of Us,Dark Souls, and12 Monkeys. Still, the gameplay trailer looks particularlyDead Space-like, and this could suggest the inclusion of major mechanics from Visceral’s sci-fi horror masterwork.
The dark, claustrophobic, vaguely industrial level design ofCronosis certainly reminiscent ofDead Space’s horrifying vision of the future, as are the fleshy, shambling, uncanny-valley-straddling abominations that the player is tasked with defeating. These visual elements, coupled with what Bloober calls an “old-school survival horror” design philosophy, wherein players must be slow and methodical, seemingly combine to indicate aDead Spaceinspiration.
One short snippet of this most recentCronostrailer is sure to makeDead Spacefans perk up. There’s a moment where the protagonist, known simply as Traveler, is in a strange void of some sort, one composed of physics-defying landmarks. The trailer shows Traveler leaping between two of these masses in a manner that looks notablysimilar toDead Space’s anti-gravity systems: he becomes weightless for a moment, floating across this mysterious expanse to reach his destination.
Now, this could simply be an animation that’s isolated to a single movement, used more as a stylistic choice than a mechanical one, but it could also be more than that. AllDead Spacegames feature some sort of anti-gravitygameplay features, usually locked to specific environments that Isaac must navigate with his thrusters, which literally adds new dimensions to the traversal and combat systems. PerhapsCronoswill implement a similar system, allowing players to float through certain environments, thereby turning the moment-to-moment gameplay on its head for short periods.
It’s easy to draw comparisons between games, and useful too: drawing connections between an upcoming game and one that already exists can be an efficient way to form a mental model of what the former will look and feel like at release. But such comparisons can also be reductive and do both games a disservice, neglectingwhat makes them creatively distinct and original.
In the case ofCronos: The New Dawn,Dead Spacecomparisons certainly seem apt, but they don’t paint a full picture.Cronosisn’t set in space, nor does it seem to follow the crisis-centric plot of the first twoDead Spacetitles:Cronosis far more ethereal, conceptual, and high-concept from the jump, whereasDead Spaceburies the lede with respect to its Lovecraftian, psychological horror elements. Plus,Cronos’ one-of-a-kind Polish setting, unique time-travel lore, and emphasis on environmental storytelling promise to make it more than a mere copy ofDead Space,Resident Evil,Silent Hill, or any other seminal survival horror franchise.
Cronos: The New Dawn
WHERE TO PLAY
Set in a grim world where Eastern European brutalism meets retro-futurist technology, Cronos: The New Dawn lets you experience a gripping story that straddles the line between past and future.In the past, you will witness a world in the throes of The Change, a cataclysmic event that forever altered humanity. Meanwhile, in the ravaged wastelands of the future, every moment is a fight for survival against dangerous abominations that will test both your reflexes and your tactical thinking.You are a Traveler acting as an agent for the enigmatic Collective, tasked with scouring the wastelands of the future in search of specific time rifts that will transport you back to 1980s-era Poland.Harvester of SoulsYour mission is to locate key people from the past who perished in the ensuing apocalypse. Using your all-powerful Harvester, you’re able to extract their Essences and have them accompany you into the future.Plan Every MoveIn a desolate world filled with ever-present danger, your survival hinges on your ability to strategize and plan ahead. The enemies you’ll encounter are nightmarish creatures, born from the remnants of humanity – defeating them will require you to make full use of your arsenal. During battle, quick decisions can mean the difference between life and death.
