Bloober Team keeps going strong. The horror developer, known for the Silent Hill 2 remake with Konami, is working faster than most companies in today’s industry.
To be fair, the quality doesn't always last. I love Observer and Silent Hill 2 but I can either approve or disapprove of Layers of Fear and I also dislike Blair Witch. The good news is that Chronos: The New Dawn looks like it blends some of the best aspects of Observer and Silent Hill 2 into a science-fiction survival horror game that forges new territory for the studio while also doing what it does best.
At GDC I experienced a hands-on demo and chatted with game directors Wojciech Pieczko and Jacek Zyba about what to expect from Chronos how the game builds on Silent Hill 2 and what's next for Bloober Team.
Returning to Bloober: A New Chapter Unfolds
You play the role of the Traveler a representative of a mysterious group that is repeatedly sent into mid-apocalyptic Poland in the 1980s to extract people who could play a key role in humanity's future survival.
In these missions you will have to be on your guard at all times, and deal with zombie-like former humans who will fuse together into large, muscular monsters if you don't stop them with your keen wit and flamethrower finesse.
If that sounds action-packed, well, Pieczko and Zieba said Chronoz is more akin to Resident Evil 4 than Silent Hill 2, even though their team is working closely with Bloober's SH2 team.
We got a better start knowing that they had started to make [third] person survival horror and had built some tools. We could check out how they did it, and because of that we could make our prototype a little faster. says Ziba. but then could turn the game in a more action-oriented direction.
Of course, we're also looking at each other's games says Pieczko. We were the first to check out Silent Hill and they were the first to check out Chronoz.
Though I didn't get a chance to get my hands on Chronos, it was clear from watching Ziba play it that it was going to be something different from Silent Hill 2. I've written before that Silent Hill 2 is at its best when its controls are at their worst, when it doesn't allow you to lock on to an enemy in the shadows because knowing where your attacker is would reduce the terror. Chronoz seems to be a different kind of survival horror game - one in which precision and quick reactions are essential.
Although the directors know There are fears that their game will be compared to recent survival horror titles like RE4 and the Dead Space remake, but instead they compare the game to the same pizza with different toppings. As a pizza lover, I love this metaphor. Pieczko also revealed that their main enemy system has some uniqueness to it.
Of course, our merge system is what makes our game different from others. The enemy can also devour their fallen brothers or sisters. In order to evolve, to become more powerful, and to move the game towards a more strategic approach to combat, as you need to pay attention to what's happening on the battlefield Pieczko says. It is not just about shooting and accuracy. but also about changing locations checking what's in your inventory crafting and item management.
From what I have seen of the game it seems like it is important that you maintain your self-awareness. Two bodies lying close to each other can easily turn into a big wreck if you're not careful. The more bodies they add, the more intense the blows. If you haven't paid attention to your ammunition and you will find yourself in a difficult situation.
Bloober's New Dawn A Bold New Era Begins
After Bloober made Silent Hill 2 and The Medium watching Cronos made me wonder if the studio had moved away from the first-person story-driven games (sometimes called walking sims) that it started with. As a fan of Observer. I’d love to see a sequel. But does Bloober even want to return to that style?
I think Ziba believes the studio has outgrown that and sees third-person survival horror as its future.
We evolve with each of our games agrees Pieczko. And each game is bigger, more gameplay-oriented and we like that way. We are both fans of survival horror games, so [being able to create a new IP with Chronos] was a dream come true for us.
We'll have to wait until the game releases later this year to see if it lives up to fans expectations. If not, another Bloober game will likely be out soon.
0 Comments