Cronos: The New Dawn Review

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Ever since releasing “Layers of Fear” back in 2016, Bloober Team has been striving to become a top-tier horror game developer, but their releases have been a mix bag with most games getting mixed reviews until the highly successful remake of “Silent Hill 2” in 2024. With the success of the Silent Hill 2 remake, fans are now more eager than ever for Bloober Team’s upcoming projects like “Cronos: The New Dawn“. However, Cronos falls short of meeting the sky-high expectations set by the Silent Hill 2 remake and feels more in line with their earlier works.

Cronos: A New Epoch: A science fiction horror game puts players in control of the armored, time-jumping character called “The Traveler.” In the altered timeline of Cronos: A New Epoch, mankind has been nearly eradicated by a bizarre sickness that mutates them into grotesque beings known as Orphans. The Traveler, along with others in similar roles, is sent back in time to retrieve the “souls” of crucial individuals before they’re killed or transformed into Orphans themselves. Though the idea behind Cronos: A New Epoch is captivating, the storytelling leaves room for improvement. The narrative lacks excitement and intrigue, featuring uninteresting and monotonous characters, as well as cutscenes that fail to evoke any emotion. Moreover, its references to the COVID-19 pandemic are heavy-handed and may detract from the gaming experience.

In the game “Silent Hill 2,” the time-travel feature isn’t fully explored, but when it does appear, it’s quite effective. Imagine time-travel as hopping between the actual world and an alternate dimension called the Otherworld. This enables players to view certain locations from different angles – one is devastated by the global catastrophe that occurred, while the other is just moments before the disaster strikes. The latter appears more peaceful, yet it’s still filled with terrifying and lethal dangers lurking everywhere.

Don’t Let Them Merge

In the intriguing sci-fi series “Cronos: The New Dawn, “the assimilation” process is somewhat incompletely developed. The creatures known as Orphans, resembling slimey humanoids with tentacles, can consume dead bodies to transform into stronger and more menacing versions of themselves. This transformation includes fortified armor that enhances their durability and lethality, making them a formidable adversary indeed.

In the game “Cronos: The New Dawn,” when an adversary manages to merge with others, it poses a significant problem for The Traveler because it requires a larger amount of resources to eliminate them compared to if they were separate entities. Unfortunately, this merging aspect doesn’t seem as impactful as intended due to the game not maintaining a good equilibrium regarding its implementation. Players either find it too simple to disrupt an enemy during the merging animation or become overwhelmed by the sheer multitude of monsters in any given area, making the experience frustrating rather than suspenseful and scary.

If you’re planning to play “Cronos: The New Dawn“, don’t expect it to scare you; instead, you might find more action than fear. Although the game tries some jump scares, it lacks the eeriness or suspense typically found in horror games. This is partly because “Cronos: The New Dawn” leans more towards action rather than sticking to the traditional survival-horror genre.

It appears that the primary influence for this game is evident in its resemblance to Dead Space, such as The Traveler’s heavy armor, her aggressive method of crushing boxes for items, and even the appearance of the monsters. However, while Dead Space’s weaponry packs a powerful punch, Cronos: The New Dawn’s weapons seem less potent, even with charged shots. Enemies in this game are like tough targets that absorb numerous bullets, especially when they combine, leading to combat feeling more clunky and less effective compared to Dead Space.

In the game “Cronos: The New Dawn,” the most frustrating adversaries are wall-clinging creatures that use their tentacles to grab The Traveler. These enemies are challenging because they’re hard to dodge, requiring you to find ways to counter them. However, in certain parts of the game, their numbers become excessive, causing an unwanted slowdown in the gameplay.

In essence, the battles in the game “Cronos: The New Dawn” might not be as engaging as other aspects, which is unfortunate considering their prominence. The gameplay frequently pushes players into enclosed areas where escape seems unlikely without eliminating everything around, with certain sections becoming tedious due to prolonged duration. Even the boss fights are excessively lengthy, and some of them recur multiple times in the game, adding to a sense of monotony. Admittedly, the combat in “Cronos: The New Dawn” isn’t offensive or frustrating, but it doesn’t offer much enjoyment either.

Cronos Doesn’t Stray Far from the Established Survival-Horror Formula

In Cronos: The New Dawn, when players aren’t engrossed in its combat that while functional, lacks the spark of excitement, they will instead be focusing on traversing the environment, gathering ammunition, and uncovering crucial items. This game primarily adheres to the traditional survival-horror structure, but it does so in a remarkably linear fashion, ensuring players never feel disoriented or lost.

Similar to traditional survival-horror games, Cronos: The New Dawn restricts the number of items players can carry. Additional slots are earned by enhancing the character’s suit using unique cores hidden within the game, however, these upgrades also occupy a slot. Essential items such as ammunition, fuel for flaming enemies, healing supplies, and practically everything else will consume an inventory space in Cronos: The New Dawn. This can be frustrating, particularly during the initial stages of gameplay, but it encourages players to make thoughtful decisions about what they carry. Choosing to bring bolt-cutters might help gain access to a room filled with loot, but doing so could mean forgoing a healing item, and one never knows what creatures may lurk ahead.

Release the Bloober Cut

Most of my gaming hours with the upcoming title, “Cronos: The New Dawn,” were spent playing a considerably different version than what will officially release on September 5. This earlier build was plagued with bugs and lacked the polish seen in the later versions I played, with doors vanishing, enemies getting stuck, unresponsive breakable boxes, my weapon mysteriously disappearing, and a frustrating shop issue where I couldn’t purchase desired items even though I had the necessary inventory space and resources. Despite reaching the final boss, I was unable to beat it due to the boss randomly disappearing, forcing me to revert to an earlier save and try again.

The early, unpolished edition of “Cronos: The New Dawn” had its rough spots, no doubt about it, but it was intriguing in an unusual manner. The game’s tone was inconsistent, veering between a traditional survival-horror where scant resources and evading enemies were crucial, and an action-packed adventure where the emphasis was on killing virtually everything. The scarcity of ammunition was staggering, leaving me with little choice but to spend my hard-earned currency on essential supplies rather than upgrades. I encountered situations where I had no other recourse but to exploit the AI by waiting for enemies to get stuck and brutally crushing them due to resource limitations.

I want to clarify that my comments are not meant as criticism, but rather an expression of disappointment. The initial version of Cronos: The New Dawn I encountered fell short and was actually much less polished than the final product. It was such a challenge to complete, yet it left me intrigued with the idea of a more refined edition emerging, ideally devoid of bothersome glitches.

As I delve into the world of Cronos: The New Dawn, the concept of exploration and problem-solving gets a fresh spin. With my character, The Traveler, I can manipulate objects by rewinding time, such as fixing a broken bridge. Primarily, these puzzles involve tracing a red line and positioning myself correctly to view the orb that initiates the reversal. While they could’ve been slightly more complex, it’s intriguing to witness how each one unfolds.

After mastering the game’s challenges and reaching the final level, players can opt for New Game+ in Cronos: The New Dawn, adding additional play value to the game. Additionally, there is an increased difficulty setting, but it’s important to remember that there isn’t an easy mode for beginners in this survival-horror genre. The standard playthrough offers the default level of challenge, and while Cronos: The New Dawn isn’t overly difficult, it is more demanding than most games in its category. Players who are careless with their ammo and attempt to eliminate the Orphans as quickly as possible may find themselves struggling.

Cronos Borrows Heavily from Dead Space and Other Survival-Horror Games

The game Cronos: The New Dawn offers typical survival-horror gameplay, where players venture into familiar eerie settings such as a haunted hospital, an apartment building, and a factory. These explorations are done from a third-person view over the character’s shoulder, with encounters against unusual monsters. Although some might argue that similar experiences have been executed more effectively in the past, there is still merit to this game as it caters to survival-horror enthusiasts yearning for a fresh Dead Space-style experience. Additionally, the game’s adherence to classic survival-horror elements that are seldom seen in contemporary games could make it particularly enticing for old-school fans of the genre.

As a seasoned gamer, I’ve clocked in around 15 hours of gameplay to conquer Cronos: The New Dawn, given I took my time to savor each moment. However, if you’re a speedster or a master of combat, you could potentially shave off quite a chunk of that playtime!

One aspect in which the game “Cronos: The New Dawn” truly shines is its exceptional sound design. The monsters emit piercing screeches that are disturbingly fitting when their diseased bodies are struck by gunfire. The game leverages the PS5 DualSense controller effectively with its sound effects, and there’s a particularly intriguing audio effect that occurs after players have gathered some essences and remain idle.

In contrast to what one might anticipate, given the shine and finesse of the Silent Hill 2 remake, Cronos: The New Dawn has some remarkable aspects, but it’s not fair to judge it by the same standards. Although its narrative idea is distinctively unique and it showcases a few ingenious thoughts, Cronos: The New Dawn leans more towards typical survival-horror games, with certain pitfalls that prevent it from reaching the greatness of its influences or Bloober Team’s own Silent Hill 2 remake.

The game ‘Cronos: The New Dawn’ is set to be released on September 5th for PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and Xbox Series X. For this review, we received a PS5 access code from Game Rant.

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2025-09-03 18:44