During the Xbox Partner Preview, Team Bloober revealed a brand-new game called Cronos: The New Dawn. While the trailer struck me as a bit odd, it definitely had a creepy, unsettling vibe, which I’m sure was intentional. Cronos: The New Dawn looks like it could be a big hit for Team Bloober.
So, what is this game about? It’s a sci-fi survival horror set in a world devastated by a cataclysmic event known as “The Change,” which has left the planet a barren wasteland. Sounds fun and right up Team Bloober’s alley.
This is where the player comes in. You’ll assume the role of the “Traveler,” who is tasked with finding time rifts that transport you into the past. Your mission? To locate key figures who died during the cataclysm and extract their essences. But here’s where things get creepy: once you find these individuals, you don’t just rescue them. Instead, you extract their essence, bringing them back with you to the bleak, hellish future. The trailer suddenly makes sense, particularly when we see a menacing figure wielding a strange claw-like tool—called the “Harvester”—to extract the life essence from an old woman.
After that eerie scene, we’re treated to some gameplay footage that reminded me of several other survival horror games, including Dead Space, The Callisto Protocol, and Control. This should be exciting for anyone who enjoys the genre.
Given what Team Bloober managed to pull off with the Silent Hill 2 remake, I’m eager to see how they handle world-building, environments, and gameplay here. I’m particularly curious to see if they can avoid the performance issues that plagued Silent Hill 2, especially since Cronos: The New Dawn is also being developed using Unreal Engine 5.
Overall, Cronos: The New Dawn looks promising, and my interest is piqued. I’m a big fan of sci-fi survival horror, and from what I’ve seen so far, this game seems like it could fit the bill perfectly.
Cronos: The New Dawn is set to be released in 2025 for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
