Gamers love engaging in discourse about how sequels, remasters, and remakes have been filling up the market, and we don't get new IPs nearly as much as we should. And while I do love a well-made remake or sequel as much as the next guy, it's impossible not to be significantly more excited about new IPs and franchises. And that's why the first week of September 2025 felt so incredible, since we got not one, but two new IPs on the market — Rogue Factor's Hell is Us, and Cronos: The New Dawn by Bloober Team.

Both games have dared to show up with original ideas, unique worlds, and a single-player focus — all things impossible to dislike. Having reviewed Hell is Us earlier this week as well as having spent one frightful night and tension-filled day playing Cronos, I can tell you that each game does a lot of things right, and they both stumble here and there. Still, the question to ask here is where your money should go. After all, big releases come with big price tags. So to help you decide, here are three reasons you could pick Cronos to play this weekend, and four areas where Hell is Us goes the extra mile to get your money.

Cronos: The New Dawn nails atmosphere like nothing else

Careful your grip doesn't break your controller

What makes Cronos: The New Dawn special is just how quickly it swallows you whole. This is survival horror the way it should be — dark, tense, and dripping with dread. The beautiful, ruined town, the menacing factories, and the claustrophobic corridors make the game unnerving at every single step, presenting an oppressive horror tone that feels very close to the classics like Dead Space 2 and Resident Evil 4.

You're going to be fighting immensely grotesque monstrosities, dealing with a terrifying city stuck in a rift through time, and exploring tight, dark, and damp hallways and rooms, all while counting every single bullet and resource. The tension in Cronos: The New Dawn simply never lets up, and you're never comfortable. If you want to disappear into a bleak, terrifying atmosphere for 15 hours straight, this is where Cronos easily outshines Hell is Us.

Hell is Us has denser, more rewarding combat

Hell is Us' combat blows Cronos out of the water

One of my biggest and only complaints from Cronos: The New Dawn, is how it barely does anything in the combat department. It's a fairly standard point-and-shoot affair that we've seen hundreds of times, if not thousands. Hell is Us, on the other hand, wins the fight by a football ground's margin, and then some. The combat is richer, more complex, and far more rewarding. Instead of cycling between one small weapon and a couple bigger ones, you've got relics, boons, devices, buffs, and weapons that evolve with you. Every encounter in Hell is Us genuinely feels like a chance to experiment with a new set of skills, abilities, or tools.

By comparison, Cronos can (and did) feel barebones. Point, shoot, repeat. Does it work for what it is? Absolutely, but it doesn't evolve much at all across its runtime. In Hell is Us, however, the combat system is deep enough to sink into, master, and keep finding new things to play around with, even hours later. If gameplay density is what you're after, Hell is Us absolutely blows Cronos out of the water.

Cronos is definitely more accessible and pick-up friendly

It's exactly the kind of game you can gift someone without worrying

It is the simplicity that Cronos: The New Dawn has in its linear exploration, combat system, and storytelling, that make it such an accessible game. If you like horror games, it would be impossible not to like Cronos. Hell is Us, on the other hand, really demands a lot from you. It wants your patience, attention, and, in my case, even your notepad. Cronos? Not so much. You can slip into this game without needing to commit an entire day or evening to figure out where you're supposed to go, or what inventory item does what. There are no obtuse puzzles that demand creative leaps or scribbled notes in Cronos, and the ones there are, are just so terribly easy that they might not have been there in the first place.

That's what makes New Dawn easier to pick up and actually enjoy over a weekend without any huge investment vis-à-vis time or attention. It's the thrills of a well-made survival horror title without any homework, and as such, can easily be the better choice when it comes to digestibility. The story is easier to follow, the gameplay is incredibly simple to learn and get down, and there isn't even a difficulty setting here.

If you want exploration, Hell is Us is the only choice

Cronos simply doesn't have anything to offer to explorers

This is where Hell is Us really separates itself. No map, no markers, and no hand-holding. In this game, it's just you, your instincts, and the world in front of you. It's not open-world technically, but it's still a semi-open-world game with huge towns and sprawling areas for you to explore and get lost in for hours. Heck, it feels more open than most games that loudly call themselves open-world, and you'll have to explore every inch of its towns and cities, piecing together clues and following threads without being spoon-fed at all. There are no objective markers here, and no map, either.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again — Hell is Us takes the right pages out of the Elden Ring handbook when it comes to its map design and approach to storytelling and exploration, and it does a damn good job of making those lessons its own. I found myself scribbling in a notebook for everything I needed to remember or every NPC I needed to circle back to.

Cronos, meanwhile, plays it safe with very straightforward exploration and quick, cookie-cutter puzzles. They exist to break up the pacing, and are over before they even begin. Meanwhile, Hell is Us challenges you to engage with its towns, villages, fields, and mazes, think critically, and remember and retain what you saw and who you talked to. That's what makes its moment-to-moment exploration loop so much more rewarding and engaging.

Even on the same engine, Cronos looks more impressive

Both Unreal Engine 5 titles take different approaches to their visual design

While not by a huge margin, Cronos: The New Dawn is easily the better-looking game of the two. Both games are built on Unreal Engine 5, and whether its lighting, or shadows, or environmental detail, Cronos is the more polished title. Still, that's only understandable, since at any given time, Bloober Team's title is rendering small, cramped spaces, while Hell is Us gives you tremendously huge architecture to explore without any breaks or secret loading screens.

Both games suffer from a lack of enemy variety, though, but the grotesque environments in Cronos, along with the terrifying enemies and stingy resources, come together to deliver an experience that leaves way more of a visual impact that will last for longer. The '80s Polish setting flourishes thanks to the team's stellar art design, and there's simply no denying that, visually, Cronos: The New Dawn is an absolute tour-de-force.

Hell is Us dives into heavier storytelling

The game explores themes of political turmoil and human conflict

I found the story and narrative in Cronos: The New Dawn plenty mysterious and engaging, but boy, it couldn't hold a candle to the tale being spun in Hell is Us. This is a game that digs deep into war, fanaticism, and human misery. The political themes are uncomfortable but poignant and all too relatable, and the world itself paints an uncomfortably real picture.

In fact, the narrative of Hell is Us seeps into every single gameplay element, too. The towns you unlock and explore are teeming with misery to remind you of what this world is going through, and it makes sense only slowly, bit by bit, as you gradually learn the history of the country of the Hadea and its ancient power struggle. It's fantastic storytelling, and for its narrative experience alone, I do wish that I could see Hell is Us win a Game Award this year in December.

Which game should you spend your money on?

Well, Hell is Us does give you more bang for your buck with its 50-hour adventure for a $50 price tag. On the other hand, Bloober Team's Cronos: The New Dawn retails for $60 right now, and the extremely linear survival-horror adventure will only take 15–16 hours to finish, with no strong case for replayability.

Cronos is a one-and-done playthrough, but Hell is Us has branching options, deeper combat systems, and reasons to come back for another run, like the one I'm planning for next weekend. There are too many loose ends to revisit and tug on in Rogue Factor's phenomenal adventure.

That being said, Cronos really does justify itself in the survival horror space, but purely from a dollar-to-game ratio, this is not a close comparison. Still, you do have all the elements you need to consider while weighing these two great new titles against each other.