Cronos: The New Dawn appears to be a disgusting glob of Eastern European grime and alien flesh in new images developer Bloober revealed, and I can’t wait to play it.
“The setting of Cronos will let you visit 1980s-era Poland,” Bloober writes in its Steam update post. The game’s fictional district New Dawn “itself is a monument of Brutalist architecture. It was once a place filled with people and life, but when The Change occurred it turned into a hollow, barren wasteland.”
Accompanying concept art shows a stone street ruined by craters and fine sand. In the background, a murky, dark ocean sky casts blue shadows over dilapidated buildings that defy gravity and crumble upwards.
Though my life has thankfully not been the sci-fi horror experience Cronos promises itself to be, the sight of this melting district is a nostalgic image for me; when I visit my Bulgarian mother’s family by the Black Sea, the city I love to roam seems perpetually submerged in dust. There are chunks missing from the sidewalks, and I trip on the gaps.
In time, I’ve developed an appreciation for the embarrassing and profound sense of humanity disintegrating Soviet towns provide me with, which is enough to make me excited for Cronos. But, obviously, Bloober’s promise of “NIGHTMARISH ABOMINATIONS” is what takes my enthusiasm over the edge.
Under this title on Steam, Bloober includes concept art for what appears to be an enemy. Smeared in shades of oatmeal, the creature slumps toward the floor with its two human heads, arms reaching out of its thighs, stems of flesh making twisted patterns on the wall like a peeled orange’s connective tissue.
“The enemies you will encounter while roaming through the grim wastelands of New Dawn are born from the remnants of humanity,” Bloober says. “Navigating the world will require focus, a tactical approach and the ability to plan ahead.” I’m guessing that includes adding Cronos to my wishlist.