Cronos: The New Dawn - Full Review of Bloober's Survival Horror

Cronos is certainly a very important project for Bloober, because not only does it represent the launch of a new IP, but above all, it is the project that must confirm to the world how much good was done with Silent Hill 2 and, most importantly, that the Polish company is capable of standing on its own two feet even in the hunting ground "of the big players."

A heavy burden of expectations on the shoulders of a project that immediately surprised the public with a very intriguing art direction and narrative background. As the title suggests, Cronos deals with time travel and its manipulation. The inspiration comes from the necessity of the people of an unknown future Earth to return to 1980s Poland to retrieve the Essence of certain characters deemed important, in order to overcome a disease developed precisely in those years, which devastated the future of humanity.

The hopes of the human race rest on the Traveler, tasked with going back in time, thanks to a special chrono-suit, and discovering the origin of the disease, in order to help future scientists find a possible solution. A very fascinating theme, well-executed thanks to a good alternation between gameplay phases and cutscenes that help the player perfectly contextualize the themes and the dramatic nature of the narrative premise.

Time Travel and Pandemics: The Narrative Premise of Cronos

A dramatic intensity that closely resembles what was experienced just a few years ago with Covid, given that the letters and messages left by citizens speak of social distancing, isolation, and that sense of anguish and concern for the future, which in Bloober's title then escalated into something absolutely unpredictable and uncontrollable.

In the uncomfortable shoes (in every sense) of the Traveler, we will be called to explore an apocalyptic version of Krakow, entirely overrun by mutant creatures that will hinder our path, and a few survivors who can help us during our adventure. In particular, from some of them, we can extract "essence," which is a series of information and abilities that will have the dual task of facilitating our work and, at the same time, giving hope for life to the world of the future. Absorbing the Essences or not will also be our choice, as extraction could cause the subject's death. A moral choice that, therefore, will create narrative forks that will lead the story in different directions.

When Survival Becomes Strategy

Cronos's gameplay is typical of "modern" survival games, with a camera behind the protagonist and a skillful blend of action and puzzle-solving, which in this case is probably the least suitable term, as we will rarely be called upon to find the right key for the right door to open. But what will keep our brains active throughout the adventure is the constant management of a very lean inventory, both in terms of available space and the possibility of managing enough ammunition to always feel safe.

And it is perhaps from this design choice that the constant tension that will accompany you throughout the adventure begins. A tension created not only by the continuous evaluation of what you have available to face enemies, but also thanks to the representation of the game environments, which suggest that at any moment they could jump out "of the goddamn walls" to end your suffering. Most environments, in fact, are covered with "material" textures formed mostly by pieces of corpses, "pulsating" organic material, which could suggest (also thanks to an agonizing audio compartment) that there is always someone ready to attack you around every corner.

And this is where the real problems arise, because the combat phases rely on at least three fundamental factors. The first is the scarcity of resources we have already discussed, the second is related to our character's bulky suit, which does not allow for very rapid movements to evade enemy blows, and the third is the enemies' charming habit of being able to "aggregate" among themselves to form new and more powerful adversaries who develop new offensive capabilities, becoming increasingly devastating. To counter this characteristic, we have only one weapon: fire. We will have a flamethrower at our disposal that can incinerate the corpses of newly eliminated enemies, thus preventing those who would want to engulf them. Unfortunately, resources will, of course, be very scarce, so we will have to carefully consider where and when to use what we have.

Scarcity as a Reason for Living

Resource limitations are definitely the "fuse" that must ignite in the player the need to explore all game areas very carefully, not only in search of ammunition, but also useful materials for their creation, as well as health refills useful to help us in the most important moments. Exploration will also have the dual task of making us find new expansions for the weapons we possess (some of fundamental importance), and of making us admire the excellent work created by Bloober in bringing some real-life environments in Krakow to the screen.

The "New Dawn," the name of the fictional city where the game takes place, is in fact modeled on the existing "Nowa Huta", an industrial district of Krakow where in the 1950s the most imposing and important steel industries that served the Communist regime were concentrated. A regime that may have somehow influenced the concealment of information about the spread of the disease, but this, of course, we leave for you to discover. The decadent and corrupted environment you will find on screen is truly well-conceived and realized and contributes, along with an excellent soundtrack, to focusing on the game's mood.

Furthermore, the absence of a proper map (you will only have an indicator to guide you towards the objective) further complicates things, because it often forces you to rely solely on your orientation, obliging you to always maintain focus on your surroundings to always have reference points to follow. This is also where the discussion of our traveler's "temporal manipulation" comes in, as she has the ability to make micro-changes to the game environments, being able to modify the status of some passages that are restored to their original state thanks to a particular module in our possession.

Here, on the temporal manipulation front, we might have expected something more intriguing, while Bloober's approach seems to have remained on a more basic vision, even if absolutely in line with the gameplay's needs.

In Cronos, energy is the currency of the world around us, because the batteries collected during our journey allow us to exchange them at special rest points for other goods and resources. The "Safe Rooms" deployed within the maps are a clear reference to Resident Evil, as we can find the classic "magic chests" where we can store some items, and then retrieve them at a subsequent rest and save point. Inventory management is fundamental to Cronos's gameplay, because it always forces you into a strategic approach of carrying only the essentials, but with a keen eye on the items you can collect during the adventure, which can always be sold in the safe rooms.

In almost 20 hours of gameplay, Cronos severely tested our nerves, because it is a challenging and at times frustrating game, especially in the first part of the adventure. However, the excellent narrative plot and the novelties that gradually accompany our progression are elements that push the player to overcome difficulties and move forward, always suggesting new approaches and attack and defense strategies.

In short, Cronos is a complex and difficult game, but one that will win you over by offering proven gameplay, yet still capable of delivering the right emotions for survival horror lovers. And these are the two most important aspects of Cronos: staying alive in an environment of constant emotional tension, amidst strong emotions and thoughts that cannot help but return to what happened in our recent past. Well done, Bloober