Unknown 9: Awakening Reviews
Despite a few interesting ideas, Unknown 9: Awakening is a bland and janky adventure with a generic story and dull combat.
Unknown 9: Awakening is more than decent, offering some fun combat and exploration with a cast of mostly likeable good guys and entertaining pantomime villains.
Mixed feelings for an adventure that has flashes of brilliance, but that fails to live up to the technical and some facets of the gameplay. If you are a big fan of the genre, you can give it a chance and maybe some facets surprise you.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
I really wanted to write about the positives of featuring more cultures in this genre, and about how cool it is to have a famous actor play the protagonist, but sadly the gameplay gets in the way of anything interesting. Unknown 9: Awakening is just a bunch of gaming tropes loosely tied together with boring and uninspired NPCs lazily lurching from set piece to set piece, as the poorly designed game creaks and groans under the weight of expectation.
An adventure with a strong emphasis on narrative, plagued by a far from optimal technical side but more engaging than you might believe.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Unknown 9: Awakening is an ambitious single-player action game that takes some bold swings with regards to its stealth combat, character arcs, and universe building. And though it’s sad that the lack of budget and inability to get out of its own way with lore often means it doesn’t always deliver on them, there’s still enough ambition and creative choices made here that players craving a linear cinematic story in the vein of Uncharted should at least check it out. Stepping into enemies to kill off others is repeatedly fun, the globe-trotting venture is big in scope, and Haroona herself has many attractive qualities. As the first piece of a wider universe, Unknown 9: Awakening has its merits; I just hope that its many rough edges are sanded off in time for a potential sequel.
Unknown 9: Awakening is a good debut from a first-time development team. This narrative-driven action-adventure has some rough edges but the beautiful locations, intriguing narrative, and well-written characters make it hard to put down. The gameplay doesn't evolve much but the entertaining stealth mechanics add a lot of variety to the skirmishes you find yourself in. Overall, this is a compelling new IP with lots of potential for future adventures.
Unknown 9: Awakening is full of originality, but suffers from some frustrating gameplay decisions despite the interesting mystery of its narrative.
All up, Unknown 9 Awakening is a competent title with some outdated and flawed designs, but with a larger universe and lore that is undeniably compelling. It’s well worth dealing with the rough edges if that idea excites you (especially at its reduced price tag!).
Despite some technical issues and a lacklustre final encounter, Unknown 9: Awakening brings a unique take on combat with an extremely well-acted plot that creates a story truly worth experiencing.
Unknown 9: Awakening is a thoroughly AA gaming experience. Like a lost gem from the Xbox 360 era, its charm and jank are intermingled in interesting ways, but its commitment to a unique cultural perspective and killer remixing of the stealth/combat loop elevate it above its slightly unpolished wrappings.
I really enjoyed Unknown 9: Awakening; I loved its pulpy globetrotting action tone and likable cast, and the combat and stealth were rather a lot of fun. The ability to remote control foes and turn them against their allies was a cool unique mechanic that, if anything, could have stood to be even more central to the gameplay. Despite some less-than-stellar boss fights and a somewhat shallow main villain, I had a very good time with Unknown 9: Awakening, and so might you. Hopefully it, and the rest of the Unknown 9 expanded universe, will find enough of an audience that we will see more of Haroona's story in the future.
The concept of a transmedia project, with Unknown 9: Awakening serving as an ideal entry point for new users, was intriguing. However, the video game ultimately falls short due to numerous issues. While the story provides a foundation for understanding the broader world of Unknown 9, its lack of creative flair and uninteresting characters.
Review in Italian | Read full review
If you enjoy linear action-adventure games, Unknown 9: Awakening is worth a try. The game has decent character development, and while its stealth system and melee combat don't quite meet current standards, creative ideas can be implemented through the main character's magical abilities. Unknown 9: Awakening could have offered a higher-quality experience with some better optimization of the mechanics, but in its current state, it can still entertain you quite well for about 8 hours.
Review in Persian | Read full review
I can't say that I didn't enjoy Unknown 9: Awakening. I liked some aspects of it, Haroona is a likeable character and the world manages to intrigue me. But mechanically and technologically, it's a game lost in time. It's as if someone suddenly discovered it in a drawer where it had been lying around since 2007. These days, action-adventure games like this are made better, funnier and more variable.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
In a dated way and with flaws in several aspects, Unknown 9: Awakening is a proposal delivered halfway and without much quality. There are positives to praise, such as the universe presenting and an interesting combat system, but the overall package is mediocre and below what it could be.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Unknown 9: Awakening is an ambitious debut title from Reflector Entertainment that is brimming with charm. It has a world worth exploring but fails to capitalise on that with a plot that leaves a lot to be desired.
Unknown 9: Awakening is the perfect example of having great ideas, interesting lore, and well-written characters that are randomly thrown to the wall to see if they stick together. The plethora of technical issues is so large that by the time the game gets going, one's investment is long gone.
Unknown 9: Awakening is a single-player adventure with enormous potential, mixing exhilarating gameplay and a mysterious universe. The game provides very memorable moments, but the average graphics and poor performance prevent it from being one of the most entertaining experiences of the year.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Unknown 9 suffers from technical hick-ups and gameplay-imbalances. Stealth is fun, but too easy for veterans. Handling and combat turn out stiff. Yet again, Unknown 9 can be satisfying and motivating and delivers a fresh setting.
Review in German | Read full review