Bloober Team has provided a first proper look at gameplay for its latest project, Cronos: The New Dawn, after a brief tease at the end of the initial reveal in October. The trailer has a very Dead Space-like feel, which shouldn't be too surprising given that this is a third-person survival horror game, but that's hardly a bad thing. There appear to be some other influences at play here, and there's one particular feature that seems quite terrifying.
The game takes place across two time periods, a decayed post-apocalyptic future and 1980s-era Poland. As a Traveller, you're sent back in time to rescue certain people before they die in an apocalypse. To do that, you'll need to battle creatures known as Orphans, which Bloober describes as "twisted, body-horror monstrosities born from humanity’s darkest nightmares." But you'll need to be sure to burn the bodies of fallen monsters. If you don't, that can spell a whole heap of trouble.
Living Orphans can absorb the bodies of their fallen ilk. This so-called Merging evolves the creatures. They become fast, stronger and tougher to take down, and they gain new abilities to boot. So yeah, you'll want to torch any Orphans that you take out.
There's a lot going on elsewhere in the trailer. Along with Dead Space, the action and visuals evoke games like The Last of Us Part 2 (if you know, you know), Returnal, Bioshock and Control — not least because of the shifting, fractured Brutalist architecture. The creature designs are reminiscent of those in last year's Silent Hill 2 remake, a game that Bloober Team just happens to be behind.
Those aren't criticisms in any way. There's nothing wrong with drawing inspiration from others and fashioning them into something new. Cronos: The New Dawn is looking pretty compelling, and it's already got a spot on my wishlist.
Cronos: The New Dawn is slated to arrive later this year. It's coming to Steam, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
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