Katarzyna Petru
It will get stuffy in autumn — and not because of the weather. Bloober Team is back with an original project that not only combines Silent Hill with Dead Space but also isn't afraid to burden the player with decisions without clear hints. Because “Cronos: The New Dawn” is not just a psychological horror — it's a game that wants you to have something to think about after the credits roll. And someone to argue with.
Several endings. Zero labels
In a conversation with MP1st, the game director, Jacek Zięba, emphasised that while the title will offer several endings, there will be no straightforward labels of “good” and “bad.” The decision is up to you — you judge what makes sense, what is right, and what is terrifyingly selfish. “Even within our team, there were different opinions,” Zięba adds. And that says something.
Writer Grzegorz Like expands on the topic: the endings are meant to be more of a conversation than a conclusion. They should open up room for interpretation, leave space for uncertainty, and undermine what you have just done. This is not a game you will put down and forget. It is something that should grip you and not let go — at least mentally.
Silent Hill meets Dead Space in a PRL-style edition
Bloober showcased the first 35 minutes of gameplay and… it's hard to look away. We find ourselves in a post-apocalyptic settlement seemingly taken from the PRL after a nuclear winter. It's dense, dreary, and unpleasantly familiar. The first moments involve classic "bloober" wandering through abandoned corridors and gathering fragments of information, but when the silence is broken by the first enemy — it gets serious.
Combat does not forgive mistakes, and enemies can absorb other monsters if you don't dispose of their bodies. You need to think, plan, and utilise the environment. This is not mindless slaughter; this is a survival game. And although the protagonist is not as sluggish as Isaac Clarke, every encounter can still end tragically, especially at the beginning.
Time Anomalies and Equipment Upgrades
During the game, options for upgrading equipment using collected resources start to appear, and one of the more interesting additions is a weapon that manipulates time. With it, for example, you can create a path over an abyss or freeze an enemy in place. The further you go, the more the systems begin to interlock — demanding cunning from the player, not just reflexes.
As if that weren't enough, the story draws you in. Along your journey, you will encounter, among other things, the body of your predecessor. And this is not just a cheap trick to set the atmosphere — it's part of the narrative puzzle designed to keep you on the edge of your seat right to the very end. Or perhaps the endings?
