Hand-Crafted Horror Awaits in Cronos: The New Dawn - New Combat Trailer Teases... A Lot, Physical Release Also Confirmed

As we ramp up towards release for Cronos: The New Dawn (we know it's at least out this year in US "Fall", so around the September/October mark, we suspect), developer Bloober Team has been unloading great snippets of what we can expect from its original survival horror joint. And while it is derivatively Dead Space-like, and unashamedly so, it's still teasing at making its own mark across a number of fronts. One of these being combat.

Have a watch of the devs playing coy in the video below, then keep on reading for our own read on known proceedings, with just a hint of positing given our love of, and expertise in, the genre.

Now, for our own take on things, the Dead Space stuff has already half been addressed. What we found interesting were the nuggets pertaining to "hand-crafted" combat moments and arenas, which is to imply there's nothing procedural going on, but in a horror game that would sort of be difficult to pull off, narratively, and Cronos is looking like a survival horror talkie (read: story-based experience). And that the game's UI and Menu presentation is very, very minimalistic. This could be because it fits, contextually, with an almost 'retro-future' vibe from the game's present-set future (the 'Travelers' do travel back in time, remember) or it could be hiding some design stuff that might spoil too much, too early.

If we can marry those two points above together, remember that Dead Space had one of the most innovative menu and inventory systems of all time (and still does) where there was no need to have a single separate screen or application overlay as it was all contextually tied to Isaac's RIG. Cronos does not appear to have such a system, however, the upgradeable enemy health display revealed towards the end of the video suggests we might get something of both worlds (ie traditional, and in-world contextual).

And on combat, the hope is that there's enough systems and systems-based opportunity for players to approach each skirmish, small, large, arena or boss, with a sense of agency and, dare we say it... engineering. The idea that Bloober is hoping that loadouts and playstyles will already do that is great, but we genuinely hope there's more environmental options, strategic planning based on the enemy type and on your own knowledge of the lay of the land.

Otherwise, so far, so good. 

This is effectively the next Dead Space we've all wanted, even after Callisto Protocol's less-than-stellar debut, but the hope is that the like-for-like is more homage than copycat and that, like Dead Space before it, Cronos: The New Dawn writes and sets its own rules for future games to equally be inspired by.

In addition to the above (and a day later, in terms of the announcement), it was revealed that Bandai Namco has picked up distribution duties for the game across Europe, the Middle East and, most importantly for our local readers, and us, Australia. This is also confirmation that well be seeing a physical release of the game, which is great news for collectors.

Bloober Team has granted Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe the license to manufacture, market and distribute the physical editions. This alliance strengthens Bloober Team’s presence in the premium physical release segment, responding to the growing expectations of collectors and genre enthusiasts.  

 In a world where physical editions of most media is diminishing in favour of digital and streaming options, this is a definite win for purists and further proof Bloober Team has full faith in its upcoming sci fi horror jaunt. Stay tuned for more as we have it.