Cronos was, for me, one of the best games released last year. The atmosphere, the pacing, the music, and of course, the action, slow, tactical, and highly strategic. In a sea of games where everyone strives to shoot as many guns as possible, Bloober Team opted for a different approach, drawing inspiration from the old, well-known, and universally beloved survival horror games. However, Cronos isn’t a blatant copy of those older titles; it brings so many new ideas and, above all, a unique atmosphere that sets it apart from the rest. Because of all this, I couldn’t wait to try Cronos Lazarus, and where else but at this year’s Gamescom, naturally. Since my appointment was the last one of the day, I enjoyed a “private presentation” of the game and chatted with the developers about how brilliantly they tailored the world around a real location in Poland, Nowa Zora.
Cronos Lazarus is another game I absolutely isolated myself from leading up to Gamescom, as I wanted to dive in and experience everything without any preconceived expectations. And I have to say, it totally worked.
Cronos Lazarus takes place before the original game, and you take control of the Warden, anyone who played the base game certainly knows who that is. Precisely because of this, the Warden is deadlier, more resolute, and drops those familiar one-liners that genuinely enrich the atmosphere in Cronos Lazarus. I’m not saying the Traveler from the original game wasn’t an interesting character, he absolutely was, but the Warden in Lazarus brings something totally different to the table, and I don’t just mean his personality and how he processes the events unfolding around him.
Even though there wasn’t a ton of story in this demo, we all know by now that Cronos Lazarus will better explain the connection between the Warden and the Collective, shedding light on everything that happened before the original game. The whole premise is incredibly cool, because naturally, returning to this world and seeing more of what made the base game great is always welcome. However, the Warden isn’t the only new addition to Cronos Lazarus. To be completely honest, I expected this to have the exact same pacing as the original game. But nope, that is not the case. Let’s be clear: this is the same engine, the same core concept, and the same mechanics, but everything has been “upgraded,” if I can put it that way.
The thing with the original Cronos is that it didn’t click with everyone. The survival element was perhaps a bit too “survival” for some players’ tastes. The way the Traveler progressed through the game felt slow and agonizing to many, and the weapon handling felt much the same. Just in my immediate circle, I know a couple of people who had complaints and concerns about the title simply because they weren’t used to that old-school vibe. They wanted something else from the game and never looked at what it actually was and what it was trying to offer players, focusing instead on what they imagined it should be, which is flawed right from the start.
But when you’re a development team, you naturally want your game to appeal to everyone, and Cronos Lazarus is, in a way, a “second attempt” or another chance for those players who didn’t gel with the original. Cronos Lazarus is a faster game, leaning much more into action than pure survival. The Warden himself is considerably swifter and more agile than the Traveler. This naturally opens the door for the game to be far more action-oriented than its predecessor. It means the Warden will have no problem mowing down multiple enemies at once with the fantastic arsenal he now carries. And, of course, with the brilliant new abilities that come with this character.
When I started playing, I had a very similar impression to when I played Resident Evil Requiem and switched from Claire’s campaign to Leon’s. You surely know what I’m talking about: Claire’s segment was a pure horror experience, packed with stress and fear lurking around every corner. But once you jump into Leon’s shoes, everything somehow feels “lighter and faster.” Ammo is abundant, weapons are everywhere, and the overall pacing is tailored for faster gameplay. That is exactly the case here. Even though the Warden wears the same suit as the Traveler, he is just tangibly swifter and more agile. On top of that, the Warden genuinely seems to want to dive into as many enemy encounters as possible, and he always has a witty remark locked and loaded after every skirmish. This is incredibly cool and totally different from what we saw in the original game.
Beyond all that, the shooting feels far more responsive, and I know this is going to please a ton of players. I didn’t see an upgrade menu, but I could feel that the Warden simply doesn’t miss; he slaughters everything around him with precise shots, completely lacking those moments where fear takes over and forces you to miss your targets, or rather, where your crosshair sways wildly left and right. Yet, despite all this, I wasn’t quite ready for some segments of this short session where you are literally mowing down more than 10 enemies surrounding you, all while chaining together some of the new abilities the Warden possesses.
There are two of them, at least in this demo. The first is a Teleport, you basically hold a button, aim where you want to teleport, and boom, you’re there. This is incredibly useful when a horde of enemies rushes you and you simply need a brief breather to reposition. The second is a sort of hologram decoy. The Warden can deploy a hologram that draws enemy aggro while you pick them off from behind. Both abilities seem perfectly fine, and when combined with that heightened mobility, the action-oriented gameplay, and all the other “QoL” improvements (for some, at least), it all comes together as a very nice package. I have to admit that, even though I adore the first game precisely for what it is, Cronos Lazarus is a lovely breath of fresh air, and honestly, I thoroughly enjoyed playing an action-oriented Cronos.
I think this is a highly commendable move by Bloober Team, because with this, they are literally saying: “We could have made it an action game, but we simply didn’t want to, because that wasn’t the point of the original.” And that is absolutely true, because the original should remain exactly as it is. Instead of “adapting” that game to cater to a different audience, their solution was to create Cronos Lazarus, and it is a very, very good solution.
Cronos Lazarus releases this fall on all platforms where the base game is available. For anyone who didn’t gel with the original Cronos, this is going to be a real treat. And for those who loved the original, this can serve as a highly engaging experiment and a fun little excursion into the now action-oriented world of Cronos.
