Although I personally looked forward to the Bloober Team’s latest title, Chronos: The New Dawn, the lukewarm reception caught me off guard. Sure, not everyone will be hot for the same things, but with a Metacritic score of 77 at the time of this writing, I feel that this game was sorely overlooked. With a solid foundation of a true survival horror, I believe Chronos: The New Dawn is one of the strongest titles in the genre we’ve seen in recent years.
I believe one sizeable factor that perhaps dampened the reception for Chronos: The New Dawn was the fact that Bloober Team’s last title was the Silent Hill 2 remake. Their remake one of the most beloved titles in a legendary franchise was an epic undertaking. It not only was well done, but it drew in players that perhaps weren’t as familiar with this Polish indie developer. And I bet you’d garner more favor from gamers with a famous remake versus a brand-new IP.
I’ve heard the reference to Dead Space, and I can see the vague notion of it as a “spiritual successor”, but I feel Chronos: The New Dawn is unique in many ways. I can understand some of the complaints; however, each complaint can be addressed by what the developer wanted to accomplish. One such complaint was lack of enemy variety.
You play as the Traveler, and throughout your journey, you encounter and do battle with Orphans. They are fleshy abominations that seek to merge with other fallen Orphans to become more powerful and grotesque. There are only a handful of types of Orphans, from wall-crawlers to larger, beefier kinds. And then there are version that spit acid. I can acknowledge the lack of enemy variety, but I don’t think it always is a bad thing. When you learn the premise of the story, it makes sense that you meet only certain kinds of enemies. There was a pandemic, causing bodies to break down in such a way. With this pandemic as the inciting event of this post-apocalyptic event, I would honestly be confused if we had to fight an army of different enemies.
The movement and combat can seem slow and sluggish, but again, it works in theme. The Traveler is a mysterious being in a metal diving suit. You can’t realistically move fast, as much as a dodge mechanic would have saved me several times. In fact, Chronos: The New Dawn delivers survival horror with a capital “S”. I never felt like I had an excess of ammo or health, and I needed to make several difficult choices when I had the bare minimum to craft supplies. In a game where combat is required, it doesn’t feel like I could laugh maniacally while mowing down Orphans with a sea of bullets. Each encounter is critical, and fear stemmed more from whether I have enough to go on instead of the monsters themselves.
Lastly, while it’s not a psychological masterpiece like the Silent Hill series, there seems to be a great balance between the action-focused horror versus themes that mess with your head. The plot is drip-fed through environmental exploration. I was eager to brave the corridors for the sake of notes, memos, and audio recordings. While I could put some puzzle pieces together if I analyzed some of the tropes the Bloober Team leaned on, the world-building and story-telling were truly masterful.
Yes, Chronos: The New Dawn wasn’t a flop either. It was seen generally positive, but I sincerely believe it deserves more credit in the hall of fame of survival horror video games. If you haven’t played it yet, I recommend giving it a shot. Besides, you get to pet and save cats, too.
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