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In today's Opening Night Live, we saw a brief, somewhat cryptic look at a brand new game, Unknown 9: Awakening – which we can tell you is a 3rd-person, narrative-driven action-adventure game, set in the new transmedia Unknown 9 universe, and being built by game developers with a AAA background for PC and next-gen consoles. Unknown 9 as a whole is a "storyworld" being created by Montreal-based Reflector Entertainment, which is so far planned to encompass books, comics, podcasts and games, all set within a universe based on the real world, but built around historical mythology and conspiracy theories, and filled with shadowy organizations trying to uncover or protect dangerous knowledge. Speaking to IGN, Alexis Ottier (Unknown 9 IP Producer) and Tomas Street (Unknown 9 Narrative Director) say the storyworld has been inspired by the likes of The X-Files, The Matrix, Heroes, and Indiana Jones. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/27/unknown-9-awakening-cinematic-trailer"] Unknown 9: Awakening will be set around 100 years before most of the other Unknown 9 stories and, according to Ottier and Street, is "designed as an initiatory experience", offering background knowledge of the storyworld's lore and mythology. The idea is that Awakening will be a perfect starting point for Unknown 9, but will also illuminate and explain elements introduced in the universe's books, podcasts, and comics. Beginning in Kolkata, India, Awakening centres on Haroona, "a street-smart survivor that struggled to stay alive for most of her childhood." As we see in the trailer, she discovers the ability to slow the perception of time, and manipulate the energy of people's bodies. Ottier and Street expand on that: "Haroona has also struggled to understand her mysterious ability to manipulate the unseen. It is only when Haroona meets her mentor that she begins to consciously access the wholly mysterious hidden dimension known as the Fold… propelling her on a journey to unlock the mysteries of this new realm and the secrets found therein…" Reflector won't speak more about the gameplay itself beyond saying that it's "a 3rd-person, narrative-driven, action-adventure game", but Ottier and Street do hint at the story content, saying it contains "themes of self-discovery, redemption and the exploration of an unknown world, hidden in plain sight. It’s a journey into ancient secret societies, hidden dimensions and humanity’s forgotten legacy." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=unknown-9-awakening-screenshots-and-exclusive-concept-art&captions=true"] That story will interact directly and indirectly with the rest of the Unknown 9 storyworld: "Threads started in other products are picked up in another," explain Ottier and Street, "the game feeds into the comic, that feeds into the podcast, and vice versa. Some connections are direct, such as intersecting characters or artefacts. Others are more subtle, or even hidden. One thing’s for sure, players who want to keep following the journeys of Haroona and the cast of Unknown 9: Awakening won't have a hard time finding connections." Looking at Reflector's LinkedIn reveals that many of the lead positions on Awakening come from a AAA background, with many lead positions filled by ex-Ubisoft employees that have worked on Assassin's Creed, Watch Dogs, Far Cry and more. That should give some clue as to the quality of product Reflector is aiming for when we do see it running for the first time. Set for release on PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox One and PC, no release window has been set for Awakening, but if you want to start checking out the Unknown 9 universe, you can read the storyworld's first book, Genesis, right now. There's much, much more to come from Gamescom 2020 on IGN - check out our full Gamescom schedule to find out what else is on the way. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.
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