I know quite a few people dislike the more lumbering combat, the need to flee, to reposition, to count your bullets and your prayers because you can't evade and your melee attacks are not really serviceable, but for me, that all is the hallmark of survival horror.

It is very intriguing to me that the developers compare this as being more like Resident Evil than Silent Hill, but traversing New Dawn, it is Silent Hill I am often reminded off, probably for good reason. Granted, my experience with Resident Evil is mostly with the remake of 4 and my ongoing playthrough of Biohazard, but Re4:Re quickly became more of a dark-y shooter than something properly horror. Or at least my taste of survival horror. It was fun, and it definitely had its moments, specially those where you controlled Ashley, but otherwise I rarely felt afraid or tense.

That tension and sense of fear is here in heaps and bounds, as it was in both Silent Hill 2 and in Dead Space. Some people might call it imitation more than elaboration, but I am not sure I agree. The game clearly has an idea of what it wants to be, and it sticks very much to that idea. There are plenty of encounters. Plenty of times where you face off, and yet that sense of dread never really leaves. That sense of nothing is scarier always accompanies you. The game hits maybe a more perfect balance on that front that Dead Space and maybe even Silent Hill 2, and that maybe, alongside its music and design, is what I love so much about it.

I quite heartily recommend it.

But I don't know if it's this one.

Don't get me wrong it has some things that I like. The setting really works for me. Nowa Huta is such an interesting place and that combined with the first three acts of the story kept my attention throughout. The combat felt clunky at first but like many other survival horror games it's something you get used to and end up appreciating to a degree.

But there's just too much in this game that I found disappointing. Having a compass without a map probably could have worked if each room and hallway were easier to differentiate. Absent that, however, it's easy to get lost in certain areas of the game where everywhere you go is basically the same biomass-infested corridor. They probably should have gone with a map.

I also didn't find this game very scary. I mean, it has atmosphere in spades to its credit. Outside of a couple jump scares however, I didn't feel that same sense of dread that other better survival horror games can elicit. Part of that is that the enemy designs aren't very original or scary. Additionally once you do get a feel for combat, it wasn't often that I felt like I was dangerously close to running out of ammo.

Above all of these disappointing aspects though is the way the story just kinda fizzles out about 3/4 of the way through the game. I had so many questions about how the virus started, who the pathfinder was, who the warden was, who the player character was, but none of the answers we got were very satisfying in my opinion. That last quarter of the game really drags as well. If they had ended the game after the abbey I probably would've given it 3 stars instead of 2, but alas...

Anyway, probably skip this one, but if they develop a sequel for this game I'd be interested to see if Bloober Team can improve upon these areas that I found so infuriating.

Cronos was the true test to see if Silent Hill 2 remake was a flash in the pan success or if Bloober really has evolved. In an interview, the said that every game they made before SH2 was simply them learning, focusing on atmosphere and storytelling as they taught themselves how to make games. But they felt they’ve entered a new era, where they can exit the walking simulator genre and enter modern survival horror.

For me, it passed the test. Cronos is unique, fun, and a solid modern action horror experience. It is heavily influenced by Dead Space, but I definitely see influences from their previous game as well. It’s a fun, linear, exploratory romp through a unique body horror landscape in an alternative apocalyptic hellscape (largely based on Krakow I believe?).

The setting, story, and atmosphere were quite unique. I definitely prefer the more nonlinear level design of classic survival horror (and I wish there was a map), but for a linear Dead Space type game I had a lot of fun regardless. Thankfully, there was at least some optional exploration and backtracking here and there, which makes a huge difference for me.

The story and dialogue and lore… it went way over my head. The cutscenes were probably my least favorite aspect of the game, partially because I had no idea what was going on, but also because they are so slowly paced. I felt the same about the audio logs and lore you find- I just didn’t care and it slowed the pacing down a lot.

But otherwise - amazing body horror enemies and environments. I actually loved the combat - so everyone that heard a Callisto Protocol 2.0 - nah, it’s way better. And the minor environmental puzzles (and even 1 riddle!) were lots of fun as well. I definitely prefer my survival horror to be nonlinear, puzzle-heavy, and including a map… but I enjoyed this game a ton regardless. I am totally on board with whatever Bloober puts out going forward. They have proven themselves to me.