Cronos: The New Dawn

Still, that's not to say what the team has done here is less than great in its own right. Cronos: The New Dawn is Bloober Team cementing itself as not just a studio obsessed with horror--it's been that for over a decade already. This is Bloober Team becoming a trusted voice in horror.

Cronos: The New Dawn is ultimately a showcase of Bloober Team's strengths; both the lessons it's learned from previous games and the major success of the Silent Hill 2 Remake. And crucially it's also something new, a game where you have to bring something of your own to it, to piece together and find meaning in its elusive story, and to devise strategies for survival. The end result is worth all the struggle.

Cronos: The New Dawn is a great new survival horror property and I hope we see more of The Traveller’s adventures in future. The clear influences from genre legends are combined with some original touches to make a game that feels familiar but also manages to innovate and surprise players too. The intriguing narrative, the enjoyable progression, and the challenging combat all combine to make an experience that cements Bloober’s place as horror specialists.

Classic survival horror fans will thoroughly enjoy the gameplay and design of Cronos: The New Dawn. The extremely grounded and heavy feel to movement and aiming mixed with puzzle solving and ammo/resource conservation is masterfully executed. The world and the atmosphere mix dreariness with vibrancy and the game offers unique dynamics for puzzle solving that haven't been seen in other titles.

Cronos: The New Dawn is an unabashed mash-up of survival horror's greatest hits, from Dead Space to Silent Hill, and its references make it a thrillingly familiar experience for fans of the horror genre. The only problem – which is, at times, significant – is a frustrating inventory system that can make combat feel more irritating than tense. Still, this is an atmospheric and uniquely introspective adventure for those who value a game's story as much as its action.

The scariest part of Cronos: The New Dawn is probably the frustrating combat, and while it boasts a selection of surprisingly cool puzzles, they're not enough to save the experience.

Cronos: The New Dawn isn’t perfect, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s a beautiful, brutal survival horror game that doesn’t always land narratively but really sticks to its guns and lands where it matters most. It’s bleak, it’s relentless, and it really sticks with you.

Cronos: The New Dawn is a fantastic addition to the survival horror genre, dishing out both survival and horror in equal measures. It can be overwhelming at first, but your confidence improves as you progress thanks to how The Bloober Team has designed the world and its environments. It also piques your curiosity in subtle ways, making you scour the world for snippets of information.