Cronos: The New Dawn

8/10

Unfairly cosigned as a knock-off Dead Space, Cronos is a marvelous third person survival horror adventure game that lives up to the anchors of the genre. Mixing the body horror and heaviness of the original Dead Space with the inventory management and key exploration of Resident Evil 2 & 3 ReMake, Cronos knows its influences and utilizes the best part of them to its advantage. On top of the standard survival horror elements, the game introduces gadgets and gear upgrades along the way that will modify the mechanics in each stage to allow for further exploration, tied into some spatial puzzle or maze. Starting out, the Traveler feels surprisingly underequipped to handle large groups of enemies, due to how massive the character is and how that translates into clunky movement, but as you progress and gather modules that turn your Shiftblade into different weapons the versatility in conflict encounters grows. Often you will be cycling weapons in large fights or fights with large Orphans as ammo can be scarce - basically loading up just enough between large fights to make you prepared for the next one. More forgiving than the ReMakes but less than Dead Space, you will be out of ammo on almost all your weapons at the end of fights and relying on ammo drops from enemies to keep you going in a fight. This progression is alleviated in New Game+, where the Traveler feels more fluid and can handle higher difficulties far better. The story of Cronos is where it shines. Time travel games always seem to garner massive discourse and create polarized fan bases. Bloober Team, known for revitalizing Silent Hill 2, are great at making time travel feel plausible within the world with a twisting plot that unveils itself to the player slowly, ultimately culminating in a finale that will feel emotional and revelatory. The device used where the Traveler is learning about their origin as the player is makes the narrative engaging and inclusive, having the player experience the narrative in a more true way instead of being told by the character or the world. The utilization of Communist Poland is a brilliant and engaging setting. Being direct history for the development team, the narrative utilizes the setting as commentary on current events, the 1980's marshal law period in Poland, and even epidemic outbreaks and lockdowns. The characters in the story actively engage with themes of isolation, betrayal, dissidence, rebellion, faith, and hardship. A perfectly paired emotional journey through a world destroyed by the hubris of man. Cronos is a sleeper hit, a must-play for survival horror fans.

Dead space with timetravel.

si

剧情云里雾里，通关感觉大概率有续作 果不其然

Could be janky or lack and the resource design could be questionable but overall very solid