Cronos: The New Dawn Reminded Me a Lot of Another Horror…

Cronos: The New Dawn is indeed a new era for developer Bloober Team. After it started as a smaller indie studio producing a handful of mostly first-person exploration-based horror games to varying reception, Bloober was recently elevated to AAA territory after the widely-acclaimed Silent Hill 2 Remake last year. Not content to rest on this achievement, Bloober shortly announced that it was already hard at work on another survival horror game, this time a fresh IP titled Cronos: The New Dawn, which has just released to generally solid reception.

From its initial reveal and footage, Cronos: The Dawn's resemblances to Dead Space and Resident Evil 4–two horror game titans–were front and center. Bloober Team developers also made no secret of the fact that they looked specifically at those titles as building blocks for Cronos, and this is certainly apparent in much of its gameplay and presentation. But beyond those, I found myself noticing strong hints of another horror masterwork throughout, and one that I personally greatly enjoy.

Cronos: The New Dawn Gave Me Heavy The Thing Vibes in the Best Way

Cronos The New Dawn screenshot malformed biomass

John Carpenter's The Thing is a Beloved Body Horror Masterpiece

Many horror enthusiasts are no doubt familiar with John Carpenter's The Thing. Though it was largely a critical and commercial flop, having been mostly ignored and/or panned upon its original theatrical run in 1982, The Thing has since gone on to become one of the most revered and influential films of the genre. Based on John W. Campbell Jr.'s novella "Who Goes There?" Published in 1938, the paranoid nature of the tale, and particularly the practical effects in the film's depiction of the stomach-churning, shape-shifting monster are iconic. Kurt Russell and Keith David's performances are also standouts, as their characters deal with a nearly-insurmountable situation.

John Carpenter The Thing face creature on celiing

Carpenter's adaptation has found a place in the annals of body horror, and The Thing has cemented itself in the hearts and minds of fans the world over, myself included. The Thing is in fact one of my personal favorite flicks. In its wake, a number of horror video games have taken pages from it. On top of the above, Bloober also briefly mentioned The Thing as an inspiration for Cronos: The New Dawn, and its presence to me was crystal clear and incredibly welcome.

Nightdive's recent remaster of the 2002 The Thing game was a big success, becoming the studio's fastest-selling title yet.

Cronos: The New Dawn May Unabashedly Channel Dead Space and Resident Evil 4, But The Thing's Influence Was the Real Treat In My Eyes

Cronos New Dawn official pic monster on ceiling

When Cronos: The New Dawn introduced its enemies, known as the Orphans, the similarities to The Thing hit me immediately in terms of both their visuals and behavior. While they also resemble Dead Space's Necromorphs, that game itself drew from the former, and Cronos does so in its own great way. Once neutralized, these lumbering, vaguely human creatures with tentacled limbs don't necessarily stay dead. Killing one means its biomass remains in the open for others to absorb, and letting the Orphans merge in Cronos: The New Dawn results in them transforming into more powerful and grotesque variants that require greater firepower to take down.

Creeping through Cronos: The New Dawn's cramped sections composed of nests of tangled flesh where corpses dangle from every corner imparts the same sense of unease found in The Thing. At any moment, an Orphan could burst forth, or may be lurking just around the corner, about to merge with another body. Additionally, like the Thing itself, the Orphans have a weakness against fire, and this mechanic is integral in Cronos: The Dawn. It is one of the most effective tactics, and making sure you always have at least one flame burst on hand is crucial, lest they surround you or start to combine before you can prevent it. R.J. MacReady would certainly approve of this approach.

Cronos The New Dawn screenshot kneeling orphan

As a final touch, Cronos: The New Dawn features a fantastically atmospheric synthwave soundtrack, something that John Carpenter's films are also well-known for, having been composed by the man himself in many cases, as is the case with The Thing. So, while Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space's fingerprints are indeed on Cronos, I found myself appreciating its Thing vibes more, and would wager I'm not alone in that.