Bloober Team is back with another horror project, this one titled Cronos: The New Dawn. The development studio achieved breakout success with Konami's Silent Hill IP (remaking the iconic second entry). Cronos is an original property, though it clearly takes inspiration from other titles like Dead Space.
You play as the Traveler, a mysterious operative sent to collect Essence while fending off Orphans, mutated humans affected by the apocalypse. As you might expect, the journey is not an easy one, testing both your combat prowess and resource management skills. Here's how to survive the nightmare.
Burn Enemy Bodies
Much like its inspiration (Dead Space), Cronos wants you to deal with enemies even after they've been killed. Orphans can merge with the remains of those you've previously dealt with, combining into a much deadlier foe. You can avoid this by using your Torch, setting the surrounding area ablaze, and disintegrating corpses.
Torch fuel dispensers will continuously feed you ammunition as long as you don't have any in your inventory or stash, so you can clear an entire room of bodies before moving on if you'd like.
Upgrade Your Inventory Early
You begin the game with a pitiful six inventory slots. Every item you pick up (excluding crafting materials) will shrink your available carrying capacity. Once you grab a weapon, ammo, and some heals, you're going to have to make some hard decisions about what you want to take with you.
Increasing your inventory size should be one of your highest priorities. Spend your first few Cores on upgrading your capacity, and you won't be forced to leave anything useful behind.
Make Use Of Quick Crafting
Crafting in Cronos is primarily done through a menu, but there's actually a faster way to access it should you find yourself in a pinch. If you have the requisite materials, you can make ammunition for a gun simply by holding the button it is assigned to. This allows you to quickly restock, even if an enemy is nearby.
You can do the same thing for patches by pressing and holding the healing button.
Look Out For Valuables
Valuables are unique items that you can find in the environment. They take up an inventory slot, won't serve any gameplay functions, but can be sold for lots of currency. Collecting as many as possible will help you purchase more weapon upgrades and alleviate the stress of enemy encounters.
Increase Gun Charging Speed
Speaking of weapon upgrades, we recommend investing in the charging speeds of your guns. While they can fire normally, holding the trigger will unleash a more powerful blast, letting you deal increased damage and conserve ammo. It's a good weapon enhancement for the early game, especially when bullets can be hard to come by.
Punch Enemies When They're Staggered
After unloading a few rounds into an Orphan, you may notice they stagger for a moment. This is the perfect opportunity to hit them with a punch, eking out a bit more damage while they're compromised. Just make sure to back away as soon as the animation finishes, otherwise they'll likely be able to strike back.
Seek Out Explosives In The Environment
It's one of the biggest tropes in video games, so yes, you can expect to find explosive canisters in Cronos. Use them to your advantage whenever possible; a single explosion can take out numerous enemies at the same time, preventing them from merging.
Don't Be Afraid To Stash Items
When you reach save points, you'll be given the opportunity to take items out of your inventory and store them in your stash. They can then be retrieved later in the game after finding another such area. It never hurts to craft more powerful items (like advanced heals) and pocket them for tough encounters later in the campaign.
You can also place weapons here if you lack inventory space or don't plan on using them.
