I’m drawn to survival horror games, especially ones that follow in the footsteps of Resident Evil 4. I like games that lean toward action while still pitting the player against unspeakable horrors, with a sense of control and confidence.
Dead Space is the clearest successor to that formula, and while the remake didn’t do well enough for EA to continue the series, Bloober Team has taken it upon themselves to keep its legacy alive. Cronos: The New Dawn is proof of that, and it’s easily the studio’s best original game yet.
Exposition is for Cowards
In Cronos: The New Dawn, you play as The Traveler, an agent working for an organization known as the Collective. You’re dropped into the world with little to go on, and your first task is to locate your predecessor. The game skips a lengthy intro cutscene or unnecessary exposition, instead trusting you to piece together the world, what went wrong, and who your character is as you progress through the campaign.
Yes, that does boil down to reading notes, listening to logs, and talking to a few other characters, but it never piles on enough to disrupt the action. The main character doesn’t speak much, yet everything she says feels purposeful. The robotic delivery of her dialogue, her indifference in favor of the “Calling,” and her commitment to the mission give her a Judge Dredd-like quality. That said, I was completely absorbed by her purpose, her journey, and the lore of the elusive organization she serves.
It’s amazing how much mystery and restraint can create, and Bloober Team has done an excellent job of letting you piece things together while shaping the protagonist in the process. The world left behind after whatever apocalyptic outbreak is full of danger, mutation, dread, and misery, but the game punctuates that with moments of kindness, discovery, and reflection.
It’s in these moments that the game contrasts its grotesque presentation with a quiet desire to celebrate humanity. I may be rambling, but that’s only because I want to avoid spoilers and focus more on how the game made me feel on a human level. Yes, there are plenty of fascinating science-fiction concepts to dig into here, but the heart of the game shines when it’s trying to light a candle in its dark world.
If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It
Alright, let’s move on from the humanity and get to the meat of the experience: the combat. While Cronos: The New Dawn borrows liberally from other survival horror contemporaries, it is a bit on the challenging side. You don’t have a Plasma Cutter to slice through enemies and de-limb them, and not every shot to the knee will stagger them for a roundhouse kick. Instead, spacing is the name of the game.
Enemies hit hard and are not easily staggered. I was pretty mixed on the combat early on because it felt like nothing I did had much impact, and I was trained by Dead Space to focus on limbs. While you are still encouraged to aim for the legs, you will need to charge your shots if you want the enemies, or “Orphans” as the game calls them, to trip.
It is tough to interrupt their attacks, so you are better off keeping away from those or their incoming direction. You might get the impression that there is more than one way to deal with enemies, like going for melee hits and stomps, but what actually works at the end of the day is staying back, aiming for the head or exposed meaty shins, and charging your shots for that extra damage. Melee, in my experience, is pretty useless, and stomping enemies does not do much unless it is the final possible hit. Oh, and you don’t get ammo from stomping on dead enemies, which is a sin.
The combat did grow on me eventually when I found my rhythm and understood that spacing and strategic use are more relevant here. There are explosive barrels in an arena that you can use to take, and you can use this flamethrower-like weapon to ignite the ground and burn bodies.
Speaking of, the game’s main enemy mechanic is “merging,” which essentially means that enemies can get stronger if they merge with the remains of their fallen. Once they merge, you are going to waste a lot of resources trying to bring them down, so it is best to either burn the bodies or interrupt the merging process while it is happening.
The weapons are fun to use, and you improve their stats with the game’s main currency, similar to Dead Space and Resident Evil 4. The game gives you the freedom to reset your investment in a weapon if you find something better. All of these downtime sequences occur in the safe areas scattered around the game.
Overall, while I think the combat can feel tense and exhilarating at times, thanks to how limited resources are and the focus on spacing, I wish that the game offered you just a bit more control over how you can weaken enemies. Melee doesn’t have much value, and you’re largely shoehorned into limited strategies. It is a bit janky in its execution, and while I understand the effort to not overpower the character early on, it could still use more focus.
Excellent Presentation
Look, I’m a certified Unreal Engine 5 hater, and you won’t see me stop complaining about the performance or stutters, but Cronos: The New Dawn is a beautiful game with some very strong art direction. It is not just the high fidelity of the graphics, but the careful detail in every corner that brings its world to life.
As you explore abandoned apartments, you actually get the impression that people once lived there, cramped together during the quarantine of the outbreak. These places feel lived in and personal. Similarly, whenever you enter an area with a higher concentration of disease, the entire environment is covered with biomass that feels alive, as if it is breathing and putting you in constant danger. Quarantine camps show the results of the outbreak, and it can be quite uncomfortable to walk through areas designated to help people.
Enemies look a lot like Necromorphs, only more diseased and closer to their human origins. There is plenty of variety as well, and the merged enemies can be quite intimidating. They are gross in all the right ways, but a bit generic since we have seen similar designs in almost every other survival horror or zombie title. They serve their purpose, but do not really scare as much. And to briefly touch on the sound design, it is spectacular, and I agree with the game’s suggestion to play with headphones on.
Verdict
Cronos: The New Dawn is Bloober Team’s best game yet and a clear showcase of their growth as a studio. Its mysterious world, grounded yet engaging characters, restrained use of horror and exposition, and striking visuals make it a worthy title among its contemporaries. The combat, however, can feel uneven at times, keeping it just short of true greatness.
- Compelling world-building and characters that draw you in
- Dense atmosphere with small details that make each space feel lived-in
- Excellent art direction and scene composition throughout
- Resource management plays a crucial part in your combat and exploration decision-making
- Combat execution is a bit uneven forcing you to play a certain way.
Published: Sep 3, 2025 10:00 am