Cronos: The New Dawn | Review Thread
Game Information
Game Title: Cronos: The New Dawn
Platforms:
- Nintendo Switch (Sep 5, 2025)
- PC (Sep 5, 2025)
- PlayStation 5 (Sep 5, 2025)
- Xbox Series X/S (Sep 5, 2025)
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 80 average - 86% recommended - 49 reviews
Critic Reviews
But Why Tho? - Mick Abrahamson - 8 / 10
Cronos: The New Dawn is a lot of fun as a survival horror. While not terrifying, it is still stressful and does something unique with the genre.
CGMagazine - Marcus Kenneth - 8 / 10
Cronos: The New Dawn is a great step forward from Bloober Team. The combat, the brutality, and the underlying score and atmosphere really stick with you.
COGconnected - Stephan Adamus - 75 / 100
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Checkpoint Gaming - Luke Mitchell - 8.5 / 10
Cronos: The New Dawn is a strong new scary entry from Bloober Team, mixing well-worn tropes of the genre with some interesting sci-fi twists and a captivating, if somewhat confusing, narrative tying it all together. Balancing a restricted inventory while tackling waves of disgusting creatures makes for an intense time, and exploring the infected district in Poland is a memorable setting. Cronos: The New Dawn is confident in delivering what it set out to do; it's a new survival horror IP that has legs – and lots of other limbs – carrying it to spooky success.
Console Creatures - Bobby Pashalidis - 8 / 10
Cronos: The New Dawn is a culmination of over a decade of experience from Bloober Team. Through the years, the studio has risen to the challenge, and this trend continues with its newest franchise, which is a mix of some of the biggest survival horror games to exist. The campaign is brutal and challenges you to survive in a bleak, failed world where a virus has wreaked havoc in Eastern Europe, and the sci-fi elements present a fun twist on the formula.
DualShockers - Callum Marshall - 9 / 10
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Final Weapon - Saras Rajpal - 2 / 5
Cronos: The New Dawn is filled to the brim with potential, which ultimately falls short in how it executes all of its concepts. While there is a great story foundation and some interesting mechanics, the lackluster conclusion to the narrative, combined with irritating combat, frequent glitches, poor pacing of traversal, and repetitive gameplay scenarios, makes for a product that fails to capture the quality of other entries in the genre.
Game Sandwich - Augusto A. - 9 / 10
It becomes increasingly apparent as you play through it that Cronos is a passion project, one of those titles that a studio finally manages to develop after hitting it big with a commercially successful release. Following something like Silent Hill 2 with an entirely new horror IP takes a lot of confidence, but that bold move has certainly paid off, as Bloober Team’s vision and execution are tremendously impressive.
GameGrin - Jacob Sanderson - 4.5 / 10
Fantastic art direction can't save Cronos: The New Dawn from its boring gameplay, and awkward story.
GameSpot - Mark Delaney - 8 / 10
Bloober Team follows its Silent Hill 2 remake with an original horror story that is tense throughout, though sometimes too punishing.
Gameliner - Patrick Meurs - Dutch - 4.5 / 5
Cronos: The New Dawn leans on familiar gameplay but shines with its apocalyptic story, dystopian 1980s Krakow setting, and haunting synth soundtrack—held back only by clunky dodging and the lack of a proper map.
Gamer Guides - Ben Chard - 85 / 100
Cronos: The New Dawn is a fantastic new survival horror IP that brings its own spin. A story elevated by some fantastic environmental storytelling, impactful sound design, and challenging combat makes this a title hard to put down.
Gamer Social Club - Russell Segui - 8 / 10
Cronos: The New Dawn is born of the same vein as some of the more classic single player horror games, and while the game definitely plays like a lot of the more recent entries it’s still its own thing. It borrows from a lot of them for sure, but there is a really good story here. The gameplay is right in line with the most recent horror remakes we’ve been getting lately, all while being able to borrow from past versions of those games by being tough but fair.
Loot Level Chill - Chris White - 9 / 10
Cronos: The New Dawn is proof Bloober Team can make exceptional horror games, with terrifying monsters and some great ideas.
MonsterVine - James Carr - 4 / 5
Cronos: The New Dawn is a great survival horror game, utilizing its tough and grueling combat to complement the grueling and unforgiving atmosphere of Eastern Europe in the 1980s. It pushes the staples of the genre, like inventory management, to their extremes, without feeling overly difficult or unfair. The narrative won't blow you away, and it doesn't answer some of the more compelling questions its sci-fi story sets up, but you always want to learn more and find the next piece of information. It's not quite transcendent in the way some recent survival horror games have been, but it's a great time and absolutely worth diving into.
Output Lag - Michael Murphy - 8 / 10
While a bit too ambitious, Cronos: The New Dawn is a great new IP from Bloober Team that showcases the team's horror chops in a gory futuristic way.
PSX Brasil - Marco Aurélio Couto - Portuguese - 85 / 100
Combining a brutal setting, strong psychological elements, and engaging narrative, Cronos: The New Dawn represents another success for Bloober Team, although the repetition of objectives and limited variety in combat compromise the pace at times.
PlayStation Universe - Adam Byrne - 8 / 10
Cronos: The New Dawn is a confident, if somewhat slightly derivative effort which is the measure of a developer not looking to rest on its laurels or coast on recent successes. Kept in line by solid fundamentals and a story that hits the right notes, this is an easy recommendation for fans of similar games where the hospitality of the locals isn't as warm or as welcoming as you had once hoped.
Prima Games - Ali Hashmi - 8 / 10
Cronos: The New Dawn is Bloober Team’s best game yet and a clear showcase of their growth as a studio. Its mysterious world, grounded yet engaging characters, restrained use of horror and exposition, and striking visuals make it a worthy title among its contemporaries. The combat, however, can feel uneven at times, keeping it just short of true greatness.
Push Square - Aaron Bayne - 8 / 10
Cronos: The New Dawn is a brilliant addition to the survival horror genre. In a lot of ways it's derivative, especially when it comes to how it plays and how it feels. However, Bloober has injected enough charm, curiosities, and weirdness into it to make it not only its own thing, but something almost endearing. With impeccable visuals, an entrancing score, and a captivatingly dark time-travelling mystery, Cronos: The New Dawn is a delectable piece of sci-fi horror.
The Nerd Stash - Julio La Pine - 9.5 / 10
Cronos: The New Dawn is one of the most refreshing survival horror experiences of recent memory, thanks to its emphasis on player choices and split-second decisions, which shine even further due to its harrowing setting and gripping narrative.
The Outerhaven Productions - Jordan Andow - 4 / 5
Cronos: The New Dawn is a superb new IP from Bloober Team, taking inspiration from survival horror greats such as Dead Space and Resident Evil. With an eerie atmosphere throughout and excellent art direction helping to provide top-class environmental storytelling, all while being supported by weighty, impactful combat, Cronos: The New Dawn proves that the space of sci-fi survival horror isn't dead yet.
TheSixthAxis - Steve C - 8 / 10
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.
TheXboxHub - Gareth Brierley - 4 / 5
I was initially unsure of Cronos: The New Dawn, and after the first few enemy encounters, I had a feeling that we just weren’t going to get on. This is a hardcore game, and at times you’ll be left frustrated, annoyed, and want to cry. BUT when it clicks, when you beat an enemy or a boss, and when you make progress, Cronos delivers a brilliant feeling.
Twisted Voxel - Salal Awan - 8 / 10
Bloober Team's Cronos: The New Dawn is a confident new IP that builds on the studio's horror strengths with a distinct visual style and a challenging combat system. However, the experience is held back by technical issues, a clunky inventory, and unpolished combat mechanics that hinder its otherwise ambitious design.
Worth Playing - Chris "Atom" DeAngelus - 8 / 10
Cronos: The New Dawn feels like an average game coming on the heels of the amazing Silent Hill 2 remake. The reasonably fun gunplay is dragged down by a lackluster story and occasional moments of annoyance. It has a lot of cool ideas, but none of them quite hit the mark in the way I hoped. It's still a perfectly fun little survival horror romp but doesn't quite go anywhere above that. It's absolutely worth a shot if you're looking for something to fill the Dead Space-shaped hole in your heart, but it could've used a little extra punch.
Xbox Achievements - Josh Wise - 70%
The premise of Cronos: The New Dawn is that the past is grim, the future is grimmer, and the present is a mix of both. You play a lone woman who vent...
XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 9 / 10
Cronos: The New Dawn is excellent. Gorgeous graphics, smartly deliberate gameplay, an intriguing story, and incredible music create a new IP that is easily Bloober Team’s best.