Bloober Team is no stranger to visually-stunning, intriguing horror games. But if you wanted something with more action, nothing the studio has made before – save for maybe the recent Silent Hill 2 Remake – has quite delivered in that area.
This is part of what makes Cronos: The New Dawn a very special title, especially for those of us who want to get into a Bloober Team game but don’t enjoy running and hiding from scary things as much as we do taking them on in combat.
Cronos has been on the radar of action-horror fans everywhere practically since it was unveiled. Much of that has to do with its unique take on combat, which initially looked like something out of Dead Space, but was later revealed to be a lot more interesting.
The core mechanic in combat is the ability for enemies to merge with each other, effectively evolving in real-time. This not only has the potential to turn up the difficulty of an encounter right as you’re in the middle of it, it also means you’re going to have to be a lot more mindful of where you take on each fight.
As seen in the latest gameplay deep dive, dead bodies can be absorbed by enemies you’re currently trying to fight, which adds to their health, and even unlocks new attacks. You’re seemingly required to lure enemies away from dead bodies they can potentially use against you.
It’s quite an unusual – but very tactical – approach to combat in a survival horror game. Speaking of which, Bloober Team explained that Cronos does feature some elements of resource scarcity, so you won’t be running around gung ho.
Earlier this year, we spoke to the game’s directors about a range of topics, including why the team decided to take its next project in more action-y route, and how it wants to blend the horror elements of its past games with that more interactive approach.
Cronos: The New Dawn still doesn’t have a release date, but it will be released at some point this fall on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.