In the wake of the unexpectedly terrificSilent Hill 2remake, there are more eyes on Bloober Team than ever before. Only time will tell if the Polish developer is able to convert this successful release into a long-lasting tradition of creative and financial success, but hopes are high. This is especially true following the reveal ofCronos: The New Dawn, a game that many believe will build uponthe strengths of theSilent Hill 2remake.
Cronos: The New Dawncertainly looks original. Though comparisons can and have been drawn between it andDead Space, mostly due to its specific flavor of sci-fi horror,Cronosis adopting a radically distinct approach with its narrative, which will hopefully inform its gameplay as well. Bloober has been tight-lipped about the game so far, but based on what’s been revealed, there will be some sort of time-travel element in the story, with the implication being that players will visit the same locations, separated by centuries or more. There’s a lot of promise in this premise, but there’s also a chance for it to be somewhat underwhelming, especially ifCronos: The New Dawncan’t nail the balance of distinct and familiar.
Bloober has some experience in the realm of alternate-reality world design, as2021’sThe Mediumfeatures a similar premise.
Cronos: The New Dawn’s Time-Traveling Will Be a Tightrope Act
Level Design In Cronos: The New Dawn Could Either Be Brilliant or Boring
One needs to look no further than the officialCronos: The New Dawnwebsite to get a general sense ofwhat Bloober is planning on doing with its setting. As users scroll down the home page, an image of a golden, sun-drenched city will slowly transform into a gray and ashen wasteland, the last vestiges of the most prominent buildings serving as the only reminder that this is, indeed, the planet Earth. The game’s reveal trailer and promotional copy specify that the player will travel between these two time periods through mysterious “rifts,” though not much has been revealed beyond that.
Switching between one world and the next could definitely be a cool novelty, but it has to have meat on its bones. If the future, post-apocalyptic version ofCronos' map is the same as the distant-past one, with little more than a shift to gray to signify the difference, then it will certainly be disappointing. On a more practical note, if the layouts of these areas are more or less the same in each temporal setting, then the experience of actually moving through the game world could be similarly underwhelming. Like with so many other things in the realm of horror video game design, attention to detail will bevital forCronos' successwith this system.
There’s Reason To Believe Bloober Will Stick the Landing With Cronos: The New Dawn’s Time-Hopping Setting
KeepingCronos: The New Dawn’s level design interesting through attention to detail will indeed be important, but one could argue that Bloober has already demonstrated excellence in this area with theSilent Hill 2remake.Silent Hill 2’s Otherworld is incredibly well-realized, offering a strange and twisted spin on environments that the player has already grown accustomed to. This isn’t done through outlandish means, either: Bloober uses subtle details like floor layouts and sound design to achieve a sense of uncanny horror in these areas. With the Otherworld, Bloober has proved that it can transform familiar settings like apartment buildings and hospitals into unsettling nightmares.
It’s not hard to imagine how similardesign strategies could benefitCronos: The New Dawn. Players will be tasked with exploring environments rather similar toSilent Hill’s Otherworld: familiar and mundane areas that have been transformed into something terrible over time. Rampaging monsters populating these spaces will be enough to make them thrilling, but subtler environmental and atmospheric details will be vital as well. If Bloober can continue the excellent level design on display in theSilent Hill 2remake, thenCronos' shifting environments will be worth exploring indeed.
Cronos: The New Dawn
WHERE TO PLAY
Set in a grim world where Eastern European brutalism meets retro-futurist technology, Cronos: The New Dawn lets you experience a gripping story that straddles the line between past and future.In the past, you will witness a world in the throes of The Change, a cataclysmic event that forever altered humanity. Meanwhile, in the ravaged wastelands of the future, every moment is a fight for survival against dangerous abominations that will test both your reflexes and your tactical thinking.You are a Traveler acting as an agent for the enigmatic Collective, tasked with scouring the wastelands of the future in search of specific time rifts that will transport you back to 1980s-era Poland.Harvester of SoulsYour mission is to locate key people from the past who perished in the ensuing apocalypse. Using your all-powerful Harvester, you can extract their Essences and have them accompany you into the future.Plan Every MoveIn a desolate world filled with ever-present danger, your survival hinges on your ability to strategize and plan ahead. The enemies you’ll encounter are nightmarish creatures, born from the remnants of humanity – defeating them will require you to make full use of your arsenal. During battle, quick decisions can mean the difference between life and death.
