Okay, so here’s the deal. Picture this: Bloober, fresh off the glory trail from that Silent Hill 2 remake (everyone was raving, even my neighbor who hates everything), is diving headfirst into something a bit different. They’re cranking out Cronos: The New Dawn. Now, this is not your typical haunted house gig. It’s more like action-packed chaos with a side of horror. And I got to fiddle around with it. Try not to be too jealous.
Alright, so in Cronos, you play as this character, The Traveler. A gal trudging through nightmare zones, all thanks to some nasty virus turning humans into actual monsters. Fun, right? Your job? Scout for human vestiges, chart the uncharted, and carve a future for all those who dare to follow your footsteps. Sounds like a walk in the park? Nope, not even close.
There’s this dude, Wojciech Piejko (co-director, mind you), who goes, “We’re blending and morphing into something fresh.” Then, in a move that screams “watch and learn,” he stomps a sleeping monster, waking it up like hibernation’s over. Crazy part? This ghoul starts munching on its fallen buddies. One, two—eh, you get the drift. Every snack turns it into a snarling, bile-spitting beast. Can you hear my heart racing yet? Literally, it ingests like three corpses, and I’ve already used up my ammo keeping it at bay.
This hazard dance with resources? Yeah, that’s the soul of Cronos. You gotta know when to throw down or hold back. Maybe take bigger beasts for larger rewards. A gamble, sure, but hey, life’s a gamble, right?
But don’t go thinking you’re safe just cuz a beast stays in dreamland. Stockpile resources, but surprise! Backtrack and—bam—you’ve got enemies popping up, cooking up chaos with dormant bodies. And if you’re wasteful? Well, might as well light a bonfire with your hopes and dreams.
Now, the demo? We’re in Nowa Huta—Krakow’s once industrial powerhouse, now ground zero for plague shenanigans. The Traveler needs to pinpoint key personas from the past and yank ‘em via time travel. How? Digitizing their souls, of course. Bet you weren’t expecting that twist. Yeah, she’s a soul collector of sorts—limited capacity, though, so choose your guests wisely, or face the narrative consequences. Different souls have their own take on her journeys, making things rather interesting.
And let’s not skip the quirky bit. Around Nowa Huta, you’re not just bumping into creepy monsters. Meet the cats. Yep, domesticated furballs, locked up all around. Free them, and surprise—feline friends lend you a paw with some resource sourcing too. They’re modeled after Bloober staff’s own cuddly critters. Piejko casually mentions they even had to hold “cat auditions” to decide who’d make the cut. I can’t make this up.
Riding on the tails of Silent Hill 2, Bloober’s mixing their horror cocktail with a splash of action, potentially sealing their rep as top-notch horror maestros. Cronos: The New Dawn might just be the ticket. Or maybe not. Time will tell, but I’m intrigued, and maybe you should be too.
