Hands-on with Unknown 9: Awakening - Unreal Engine injects life into Namco's ambitious transmedia gamble

Hands-on with Unreal Engine game Unknown 9; a woman walks through a street in a fantasy version of india
(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

Unreal Engine has been a boon to many AA developers this generation, whether running on the newer UE5 or the tail-end UE4 release, with games like Unknown 9: Awakening embracing the tools found in Epic's game engine to bring to life new experiences that could easily be left behind in the modern graphics arms race.

While Unknown 9 absolutely puts the tech front and centre - everything you do in the game is funnelled through VFX of some sort that beautifully illuminates the world - developer Reflector Entertainment also shrugs off the default art direction setting and aims to present an original, detailed and creative alternate 19th century vision of East India, and other rarely experienced video game locations.

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Editor, Digital Arts & 3D

Ian Dean is Editor, Digital Arts & 3D at Creative Bloq, and the former editor of many leading magazines. These titles included ImagineFX, 3D World and video game titles Play and Official PlayStation Magazine. Ian launched Xbox magazine X360 and edited PlayStation World. For Creative Bloq, Ian combines his experiences to bring the latest news on digital art, VFX and video games and tech, and in his spare time he doodles in Procreate, ArtRage, and Rebelle while finding time to play Xbox and PS5.

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