Chronos is an Oculus Rift exclusive that depends more on solid, traditional gameplay than experimenting with virtual reality to put new twists on an action RPG. To survive, you need to excel at patient, calculated combat with major consequences littered between multi-faceted, Zelda-style puzzles. And while it could comfortably exist without VR, there’s nothing quite like a front-row seat to a giant cyclops fight, and that new perspective gives Chronos another edge.
It’s not a unique formula – kill the guards, then kill the boss – but there are hours of wonderment in getting lost in the sprawling dungeons that all present their own intricate maze of locked doors, curious runes, and even inter-dimensional travel. Each of the uniquely designed labyrinths requires careful memorizing and retracing, and things that make no sense initially all end up being satisfying pieces of one giant puzzle. Chronos carefully pieces together its different dimensions, requiring items from one to be brought into the next, which provides a constant alluring mystery: in what bizarre dimension will I need to use that small bag with the nonsensical description? And for what purpose?Combat has a rhythm that’s like an addictive dance.
Where the clever puzzle-based dungeons are very Zelda-inspired, the combat has the sword-and-shield charm of Dark Souls. I approached almost every enemy encounter by watching and waiting for my time to strike, as enemy attack patterns are a worthwhile timing-based puzzle of their own. Dodging incoming attacks in a very precise window grants you an arcane damage boost that you’ll absolutely need, since even the most basic enemies can kill you in a few hits if you’re reckless. It gives the combat a rhythm that’s like a kind of addictive dance, and I couldn’t wait to improve at it.“
Older and Wiser
And you have to improve at it, because if you don’t there are major consequences. It’s punishing in conventional ways, with infrequent spawn points and enemies that don’t stay dead, but the effects carry over into your next life. Each time you die in Chronos your character visibly ages by one year, which slowly alters your stats from a brute-force teen to an arcane-dependent adult. That adds an interesting forced evolution to the combat as you progress: you’re able to unlock a new skill every 10 years, so while dying and leaving the comfort of the stats you’ve intentionally built with every level-up is daunting, your capabilities increase to compensate in other ways.I ended the story with the exact same Iron Sword that I started with.
Most of the RPG elements are unfortunately slim, though. The only loot enemies drop is one of two components you need to level up your weapons, and the process is the same for every weapon. There’s a very small amount of those, too – the handful of weapons and shields you’ll stumble across do vary in speed and damage, but, for what might be the first time ever in an RPG, I ended the story with the exact same Iron Sword that I started with. The leveling system is equally lackluster, with separate XP-based level-ups allowing you to assign points to one of four attributes that never really seemed to make a difference. My stat-leveling choices were usually a shot in the dark, yet they always ended in success, which leads me to believe these decisions were never that important.“
The Walls Have Eyes
A separate issue is the way you view the action. Your face is the camera, so you have great control over how you look around, but because your viewpoint is fixed for each room you enter (like in old-school Resident Evil) rather than the usual over-the-shoulder perspective, it can present some uncomfortable neck-craning as you try to focus on the object or enemy that demands your attention.For the most part, though, Chronos uses the fixed camera creatively, rather than as a limitation. One of the most intense moments of dread I’ve felt playing any game was encountering statues that only move when they’re out of frame, and will kill you in one hit if they get too close. Through the Oculus Rift’s directional audio, you can hear the scraping of stone that signals their approach, but unless you physically look to the left or right to find them, there’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop that terrifying oncoming threat.
On the topic of murderous demons, Chronos’ story isn’t its strongest part, but it’s certainly not bad either. There’s a solid plot twist at the end that left me with some lingering questions, but it’s more of a respectable attempt that narrowly avoids taking itself too seriously without having the depth to back it up.
