Cronos: Lazarus finally lets me become the monster in Bloober Team's sci-fi survival horror

There's a moment within many survival horror games where the player goes from terrorized to terrorizer. From 2019's Resident Evil 2 to last year's Silent Hill f, the process of prey becoming predator is a satisfying transition that refreshes the gameplay experience and improves replayability. Cronos: Lazarus is a DLC seemingly built upon this premise, and the result is an action-focused experience that I'm desperate to dive back into.

Cronos: The New Dawn – Bloober Team's time-bending sci-fi scarefest – puts you in the role of the Traveler, as you explore a desolate Poland, investigating an apocalyptic event, intermittently traveling back to the 1980s to rescue select individuals. As you carve your path, you encounter Orphans, body-horror entities that were once people but now resemble something out of Dead Space.

Stand your ground

Cronos: The New Dawn's base game asks you to think about when to pull the trigger, as ammo is precious and foes are capable of swallowing bullets like a blue whale with a magnet in its ass, meaning the Traveler is a protagonist that's meant to survive the survival horror. Cronos: Lazarus focuses on the second word in the genre name, putting you in the role of the Warden and their delicious arsenal of firearms.

Playing as the Warden at Gamescom 2026, I spend much of my time in a behind-closed-doors build of the Lazarus exploring worn-out halls in the style of the original. Dark corners intimidate while twisted cadavers remind me of the vicious abominations that could catch me off guard at a moment's notice, if I wasn't aware what I'm up against. After all, I'm no stranger to the world of Cronos, so I fancy myself to handle what lies ahead.

So imagine my surprise when Cronos: Lazarus throws gangs of enemies at me all at once. As vile as they are voluminous, I unleash shotgun rounds and handgun pistols with speed and precision, determined to pulverize any and everything that dare charge towards me. It's at this point I forget to incinerate the fallen, with corpses on the ground merging with those that remain in motion to form wretched chimeras. However that doesn't save them from my firepower as I hold my nerve, stand and shoot, albeit the stress of them requiring more ammunition to disintegrate being a lot.

A developer then switches my build over to the demo available to the public at this year's Gamescom, and the momentum only increases from here. Once again playing as the Warden, I pull out my handgun and set about exploring a different but equally depressing area of cataclysm-stricken Poland. Once again I'm outnumbered by grotesque entities, but I'm moving through the crowds and dropping them like they're the opposite of frozen.

It's at this point I'm formally introduced to two of the Warden's abilities: Decoy and Teleport. The former allows me to throw out a holographic replica of the protagonist, distracting enemies while I run by or surprise them with gunshots (I prefer the latter). For larger enemies, this strategy is borderline vital, as they can make up the distance between us quickly no matter how much I keep moving away.

Teleport is less relevant to the combat encounters in this demo, presented as a means to cross gaps when the path is missing or obstructed. It's easy to use at the drop of a hat, so I can imagine there'll be encounters that benefit from its use, but the demo is short and there's only one serious challenge which comes at the very end.

An enormous Orphan, roughly twice the Warden's height, spews acid and runs at me while I spend every bit of ammo in their dome. I begin to wonder if I've misread the situation, as there are no signs of my lead's lethal intent registering. I take a firm strike and go on the run, zig-zagging my way around a relatively tight area.

Nothing presents itself as a better course of action than simply shooting this behemoth more, so that's what I do, sending every shotgun shell I have to get acquainted with its body. Torso, head, anything within range is pelted as the thing finally starts to stagger and wail. With only two shells left, the boss keels over, and the demo ends with a teaser trailer for the DLC, which is yet to have an official release date, but should arrive in 2026.

Cronos: The New Dawn won me over with its ability to induce fear, but Lazaus appeals to the primal, violent-loving side of my horror-soaked brain. Teeming with enemies all begging to be blown away by satisfying weaponry, the Warden is exactly the character I want to play as next in this terrifying world.

Make like Lazarus and rise again for your next scary adventure with our best survival horror games recommendations!