| Unknown 9: Awakening | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gameplay & Story | Release Date | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
Unknown 9: Awakening is an action-adventure game by Reflector Entertainment where you play as a Haroona, a Quaestor-in-training. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Unknown 9: Awakening Review Overview
What is Unknown 9: Awakening?
Unknown 9: Awakening transports you to an alternate 19th-century world, where you’ll traverse dense Indian jungles and gothic cityscapes as Haroona, a quaestor-in-training. Armed with the unique ability to access a mysterious alternate dimension known as The Fold, Haroona and her allies must confront a dangerous splinter group of radical researchers.
These power-hungry usurpers seek to manipulate the powers of The Fold to alter the course of human history, and it’s up to you to stop them before it’s too late. Will your control of The Fold suffice?
Unknown 9: Awakening features:
⚫︎ Third-person combat and tactical stealth action
⚫︎ Expansive upgrade tree for Haroona’s powers
⚫︎ Vast, cinematic landscapes
⚫︎ Fully voice-acted cinematics
⚫︎ Collectible cards, letters, extractors, and secrets
For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Unknown 9: Awakening's gameplay and story.
 Steam |
 Playstation |
 Xbox |
Unknown 9: Awakening Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Creative World Building Solid Voice Work |
Story Doesn't Resonate Well Atrocious Combat, Worse Stealth Characters Straight out of the Uncanny Valley Overrun By Bugs |
Unknown 9: Awakening Overall Score - 52/100
Unknown 9: Awakening suffers from a clear disconnect between its mechanics, genre, story, and ambition as a AA to AAA title. On one hand, it hints at being a semi-decent action-adventure game with its visuals and okay world-building—forgettable, but at least functional. On the other hand, the combat feels flat, the stealth is clunky, the experience is rife with bugs, and the story is hard to follow, making it difficult to appreciate from any angle. Altogether, this results in a subpar experience that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone anytime soon.
Unknown 9: Awakening Story - 5/10
While Unknown 9: Awakening offers a competently written story, its world-building feels overly self-referential and difficult to connect with. Admittedly, I might not be the target audience, which could explain some of the disconnect. However, it's just as likely that the writing just doesn't quite hit the mark. Considering these factors, I find it hard to rate the narrative higher than a 5.
Unknown 9: Awakening Gameplay - 4/10
Unknown 9: Awakening falls short as both an action and stealth tactics game; the two pillars that define its core gameplay. The combat lacks the punch and dynamism you'd expect, while the stealth feels clunky and unrefined, leaving both aspects underwhelming and unfun. Grouped with a host of bugs plaguing its core controls, the game struggles to feel like a cohesive experience, let alone a good one.
Unknown 9: Awakening Visuals - 6/10
It's not entirely fair to call the visuals of this game bad, as the stage design is decent and the art direction, while somewhat unconventional, is admittedly eye-catching. However, what really drags down the visual experience is the lackluster animation and the character models, which unfortunately tumble straight into the uncanny valley. It’s hard to call a game pretty when I keep wanting to look away.
Unknown 9: Awakening Audio - 7/10
The audio in Unknown 9: Awakening doesn’t break new ground, but it's solid enough for a game in the AA to AAA range. The voice acting feels authentic and even captivating at times, while the music complements the game's world nicely. It won't blow you away, but the sound design is one area where the game delivers more competently compared to its other aspects.
Unknown 9: Awakening Value for Money - 4/10
It’s hard to justify Unknown 9: Awakening's $50 price tag when it lacks the level of polish you'd expect at that price point. There are far better games available in this range—many of which offer more value and refinement. Why risk your time and money here? You might enjoy the game despite its flaws, or you might walk away justifiably disappointed, but at this price, it's a gamble that's tough to recommend.
Unknown 9: Awakening Review: Clunky, Disconnected, and Not Worth Your Time
Based on its promotional material, this game initially seemed promising. A third-person action game with unique world-building and a cinematic one-take style? I was hooked. Having loved God of War: Ragnarok, you can bet I expected something similar when I fired up this game for the first time.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for those expectations to fade. What I hoped would be an epic experience turned out to be a massive letdown. Unknown 9: Awakening fell short in nearly every aspect—disjointed, unpolished, and ultimately underwhelming. While it’s not a complete disaster and is at least playable, there’s nothing worse than a game that leaves no lasting impression.
But that’s ahead of things. Get your bracers on and get ready for a headfirst plunge into The Fold as we break down exactly what makes Unknown 9: Awakening clunky, disconnected, and not worth your time.
Into The Fold of An Alternate 19th-Century World
Let's start with what the game is about before diving into its finer points, both good and bad. Unknown 9: Awakening is a third-person action-adventure game that adopts the one-take, over-the-shoulder cinematic style seen in God of War (2018) and God of War: Ragnarok. You play as Haroona, a brave young woman who can perceive and manipulate the energies of an alternate dimension known as "The Fold." Her role as a "Quaestor" grants her the ability to wield this power in various ways.
Set in an alternate 19th-century Earth, the events of the game unfold in an area that spans between Mauritania, India, and Portugal. It also takes place an indeterminate amount of time after the "Unknown 9"—a powerful cabal of near-godlike figures from ancient times—saw the ruin of their domain. So far, so good on the story, but what about gameplay?
Gameplay-wise, you’ll traverse a highly detailed, linear world filled with secrets, enemies, and narrative moments. The core mechanic involves using "Am"—the energy from The Fold—to solve environmental puzzles and either evade or combat foes in skirmish-style combat. It’s somewhat reminiscent of Horizon: Zero Dawn in terms of the balance between exploration and combat, but because it’s not open-world, it leans more heavily towards a God of War-like structure.
As Haroona advances, she collects skill points called "Anomalies" and gathers signs left by other Quaestors that improve her health and energy reserves. There’s also plenty of lore scattered throughout the game, along with parkour and navigational segments that help break up the combat sequences.
On the surface, the game’s structure and world seem solid, but it doesn't take long to notice a glaring lack of originality. While nothing about the core gameplay is inherently flawed, it’s hard to find anything truly remarkable about it. As we dig deeper, you'll soon realize that merely being forgettable might have been the game’s saving grace—because what lies beneath is far more disappointing.
Story Doesn't Resonate Well
You might have felt a bit overwhelmed by the information in the previous section, especially when I was outlining the game's setting and story—and that was intentional. That’s exactly how I felt when Unknown 9: Awakening bombarded me with exposition about things I hadn’t yet had a chance to grasp.
While overloading the player with backstory isn't necessarily a cardinal sin in storytelling, the problem here is the excessive gap between the setup and the payoff for each narrative element. On average, it takes so long to connect the dots that it creates a disconnect between what the game is telling you and what you’re actually absorbing.
What I mean is that the game’s world is vividly crafted and filled with creative world-building, but the way it’s conveyed feels off. Plus, the subject matter isn’t exactly the most relatable, which makes it harder to engage with. This combination results in a story that’s simultaneously too dense and too distant to connect with.
It's strange to experience a game where the narrative feels like both too much and too little at the same time, but that’s exactly the case with Unknown 9: Awakening. It leaves you floating between intrigue and indifference, never quite landing on either.
Creative World-building
That being said, there are moments when the game succeeds in conveying its world, and when it does, the story that emerges is actually quite grand—impressively so. While much of the narrative focus is confined to the trade routes between Europe and India, the broader world-building that underpins it is both impactful and intriguing.
The concept of living in the shadow of a grander epoch while coexisting with an unseen dimension adds a unique layer to the setting. Watching how these real-world locations have adapted to such extraordinary circumstances is fascinating as it unfolds on screen.
Admittedly, I’m no expert on the real-life 19th-century relations between the territories depicted in the game, so I can't judge it from a historical accuracy standpoint. But in terms of fantasy, Unknown 9: Awakening does a commendable job of selling its alternate reality, making these elements feel believable within its world.
Solid Voice Work
The vividness of the game’s setting is largely thanks to its capable voice cast. The Witcher's Anya Chalotra breathes life into Haroona, and the rest of the cast delivers performances that left a solid impression on me. While it may not be award-winning, that’s more a reflection of the high standard of voice acting in video games today than a critique of Unknown 9: Awakening's cast.
Sadly, this is where the praise ends. Despite the cast’s strong performances, the game’s deeper issues soon reemerge, and its execution begins to unravel once again once you peer into the cogs of its gameplay.
Atrocious Combat, Worse Stealth
Where better to start critiquing a game than with its core gameplay? Let’s dive into the combat first: it’s neither original nor enjoyable. It lacks the mechanical depth of Aloy’s precise archery in Horizon: Zero Dawn and the satisfying weight and intensity of Kratos’ swings in God of War, and yet, somehow manages to rip both off in concept. In short, it’s atrocious, delivering all the impact of a confetti cannon with as much originality as a bad stand-up.
As for the stealth and tactics, this is where Unknown 9: Awakening introduces something distinct from other genre titles. Haroona can manipulate Am to create shields, turn invisible, or briefly control enemies. On paper, these mechanics sound like a lot of fun, but unfortunately, the execution falls just as flat as it does in every other aspect.
One glaring issue is the input latency that plagues both combat and stealth. The game often responds sluggishly, making the reaction-based gameplay feel frustrating and imprecise. Enemies frequently move too fast for you to counter effectively, rendering your impressive array of powers useless. As a result, even stealth encounters often devolve into chaotic brawls—whether you want them to or not.
Characters Straight out of the Uncanny Valley
With all the lackluster gameplay, I at least hoped Unknown 9: Awakening would deliver a visual spectacle, especially given the AAA graphics teased in its promotional material. And in a way, it did—just not in the way I was hoping. While the environments look great, the character models are a different story. Think Mass Effect: Andromeda's infamous "butterface" situation, and you’re on the right track. It’s that bad.
At first, I assumed it was a technical issue, perhaps something with my PC setup. But after maxing out the graphics settings, the character models still looked like they tumbled down the uncanny valley, hitting every ledge on the way down.
From the lifeless "dead fish" eyes to the awkward Source Filmmaker grins, there’s no saving how off-putting these models turned out. It’s a jarring contrast to the otherwise well-rendered world around them and another notch on the proverbial belt for Unknown 9: Awakening’s attempt at failing every criterion.
Overrun By Bugs
Lastly, if you were holding out hope that Unknown 9: Awakening might at least play smoothly, despite its mechanical, narrative, and visual issues, brace yourself for one final letdown. The game is riddled with bugs—serious, game-breaking ones. I encountered my first bug during the tutorial, of all places, with two more cropping up shortly after in the same chapter.
And these aren’t just minor glitches or visual hiccups; we’re talking bugs that’ll leave you stuck to walls indefinitely or lock you into an endless stumbling animation until you reload a save. Sometimes, entire abilities will vanish, like the power to perform stealth takedowns, summon Am shields, or turn invisible.
It’s almost as if the game itself is telling you not to play it. After everything I’ve experienced, I’m starting to agree.
Just Plain Disappointing
And there we have it with Unknown 9: Awakening. As you can see, there’s much about its execution that’s preventing it from being a functional game, let alone a good one. It’s not without its upsides, as its solid voice performances, great world-building, and good stage design attest, but those were not enough to pick up the slack of the game’s other facets. Forgettable in every sense and regrettable by all accounts, this is one title that’s simply not worth your time.
Is Unknown 9: Awakening Worth It?
It’s a Coin Flip You’re Unlikely to Win
Unknown 9: Awakening asks a lot with its $50 price tag, but what it delivers feels like a gamble—and not one in your favor. While the audio design hits the mark, the gameplay struggles to keep up, making the overall experience not just frustrating, but beyond redemption.
At this price point, you’d expect a safer bet, not a polished exterior masking F-tier mechanics, a story that fails to resonate, and enough bugs to run Ubisoft for its money. For a near-AAA investment, this one just doesn’t cut it. Save yourself the risk.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam |
Playstation |
Xbox |
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| Price: | $49.99 | ||||
Unknown 9: Awakening FAQ
Why is the Game Called Unknown 9: Awakening?
The game's namesake comes from a group of powerful people from the game's setting called "The Unknown 9". True to their name, the Unknown 9 are always depicted as a group of hooded, faceless figures, and are regarded as demi-gods who used to rule to world.
What is The Fold?
The Fold is an otherworldly realm comprised of energy that inhabits the same space as ours. Only certain people can see and harness this energy, called "Am", allowing them to perform feats of strength, athleticism, and mysticism that normal humans cannot.
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Unknown 9: Awakening Product Information
 |
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| Title | UNKNOWN 9: AWAKENING |
|---|---|
| Release Date | October 18, 2024 |
| Developer | Reflector Entertainment Ltd. |
| Publisher | BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. |
| Supported Platforms | PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S |
| Genre | Action-adventure |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| Rating | ESRB T |
| Official Website | Unknown 9: Awakening Website |
