As a seasoned gamer with a penchant for immersive narratives and intricate gameplay, I found Unknown 9: Awakening to be an engaging blend of familiar elements that felt refreshingly new. The game’s nods to the early Assassin’s Creed series were a delightful trip down memory lane, with its shadowy cults, secret societies, and stealth-focused mechanics.
The process of waking up is linked to a fresh meta-universe, stretching across various mediums to convey a larger tale that combines numerous individual stories. This narrative unfolds through webseries, comics, a trilogy of books, and even a podcast with a scripted format, all serving the purpose of recounting the quest for the enigmatic Unknown 9.
In The Awakening, you assume the role of Haroona, a young lady who possesses the abilities of a Quaestor, having been taught to harness Am, an ancient force, from another realm known as The Fold through her Shade Bracelets. Initially, her mission is one of vengeance; however, it rapidly evolves into a struggle to protect mankind as Haroona becomes embroiled with Luther Goodwin and the Leap Year Society while she hunts for Vincent, the object of her wrath.
Right from the start, it’s clear where Unknown 9: Awakening draws its influences. Shady ancient cults, secret rival groups, a good measure of climbing, sneaking, and quiet assassinations… It plays and feels like an early Assassin’s Creed title, with both its pros and cons. A significant portion of the game involves hiding in tall vegetation or concealing yourself behind crates, waiting for guards to move on after they’ve discovered a dead body.
However, Unknown 9: Awakening stands out due to its incorporation of Shade powers. Characters like Haroona, portrayed by The Witcher’s Anya Chalotra, can delve into the Fold and control specific elements for various abilities such as telekinesis, invisibility, sensing life energy (similar to Eagle Vision), or even taking over enemies through “shadow-stepping” into them. These powers offer a variety of combat strategies, albeit making the character somewhat too powerful for much of the game.
In most cases, gameplay adheres to a predictable pattern, mirroring the Uncharted approach of vanquishing adversaries, then proceeding to advance, watch a dramatic sequence, or tackle a conundrum – often involving entering the “Fold”. Surprisingly few scene shifts don’t entail either forcing open a massive door or wiggling through a tight gap. This routine occurs so frequently that it starts to feel repetitive.
Fighting in this game can be exhilarating yet a bit chaotic, as the collision detection and hitboxes sometimes malfunction when you engage multiple enemies. However, there’s always a wealth of things to interact with, such as the enemies themselves, as you dart around using your Shade-step ability. You can build up to chaining three steps at once, and when you return to your body, all the actions performed during those steps occur simultaneously. For instance, you could move one enemy near an explosive gas tank, make another enemy shoot it, then have another enemy shoot the first enemy – all in a single instant. Unfortunately, it’s often difficult to appreciate the results of such intricate strategies due to the camera’s unpredictable behavior, which can be quite erratic even under ideal circumstances. However, there’s a hint of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden in its design, making it more enjoyable overall.
The plot is well acted if a little convoluted and nowhere near as original as it seems to think it is. Most story beats are signposted a mile off, but it’s well acted by a good cast. Chalotra is superb, while the actor behind Goodwin delivers his lines so naturally that you forget you’re playing a game. Sound direction is all over the shop, though, with dialogue triggering while characters are halfway through sentences so you’ll never know how they were going to finish some sentences. It’s not like God of War where they reassert their point; they just instantly drop one sentence for another and it’s always jarring, especially as you spend so much time in the company of NPCs.
Enhancing Haroona’s abilities, such as prolonging the effect of certain Shade skills, could be beneficial, but finding collectibles scattered throughout the game offers little reward. Additionally, there seems to be a lot of unnecessary space in the game design, with side paths leading to dead ends or rejoining the main path without any clear purpose. At times, it appears as though the game is over-designed for no apparent reason, and this can become frustrating when there are no objectives indicated. Often, you don’t realize you’re going astray until you encounter a solid wall or an area that cannot be traversed, with nothing to gather or pick up. Since exploring everywhere is necessary to find Gnosis Points for leveling up and special items to boost Health and Am, aimless dead-ends feel like the game is wasting your time.
The success of the expanded universe of Unknown 9 is yet uncertain. Frankly, after the excessive use of “secret ancient societies” in works like Assassins Creed, The DaVinci Code, Indiana Jones, and National Treasure, it seems that this theme has lost its originality and excitement for me. However, as a standalone adventure, Unknown 9: Awakening is quite good, featuring enjoyable combat, exploration, and a cast of generally likable protagonists and amusing antagonists. It may not be groundbreaking, but it’s engaging enough to hold your interest.
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2024-10-17 17:16