Bloober Team, creators of the Silent Hill 2 remake, unveiled the first gameplay trailer for their original survival horror game Cronos: The New Dawn yesterday.
The trailer showcases “The Merge”, a core gameplay mechanic where defeated enemies must be burned before they can be absorbed by other monsters, creating more formidable threats. This feature fundamentally changes combat strategy, with the trailer’s ominous tagline warning players: “Don’t Let Them Merge”.
Set in both 1980s Poland and a post-apocalyptic future, the game takes place in New Dawn district, inspired by the real-life Nowa Huta area. Players control a Traveller sent back in time by the mysterious Collective to extract key individuals before an apocalyptic event.
“Imagine this: a distorted mix of sci-fi, time travel, retro-futuristic dread, and body horror—all set against the gritty backdrop of 80s Poland”, said Jacek Zięba, Co-Director and Producer at Bloober Team.
Fellow Co-Director Wojciech Piejko emphasized the game’s strategic elements: “How do you fight them? Fire! Burn the fallen before they merge with living creatures”.
The trailer also revealed:
– A variety of weapons for combating “Orphans” – grotesque body-horror enemies
– Brutalist architecture warped by reality-altering anomalies
– New characters with hidden agendas
– A haunting soundtrack from composer Arkadiusz Reikowski in collaboration with Polish-Ukrainian folk band Zazula
Cronos: The New Dawn is scheduled for release later in 2025 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam, with an anticipated “M” Mature rating.
