The Adventures of Tintin: The Game is a video game based on the renowned comic book series published by Belgian cartoonist Hergé between 1929 and 1983. It is released as a follow-up to the 2011 Spielberg animated film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. The plot is inspired by events from several comic books, such as The Crab with the Golden Claws, Red Rackham’s Treasure, and The Secret of the Unicorn.
The game is a side-scrolling 2D platformer with small puzzle components to defeat monsters and progress to the next region. Tintin can sneak about, take keys, hide inside barrels, hurl objects, roll, grasp ledges, and jump to higher places. Fights are built on sneaky takedowns, but traditional melee combat is also available. Later stages’ guards are heavily armed, and the player must use materials from the environment, such as banana peels or wet paint, to dispatch them. There is a level boss now and then. Tintin can instruct Snowy to sneak between gaps or Haddock to stand on a pressure plate.
The Solo mode begins at a flea market in Belgium when Tintin, a young reporter, purchases a model ship. Soon later, a collector approaches and tries to buy it from him for ten times the price. Tintin is escorted to a knowledgeable person who informs him that it is a duplicate of The Unicorn, a triple-masted ship of Charles II’s fleet that its captain blew up during an attack by the Red Rackham in 1676. Tintin is curious about why the captain sank his ship and discovered a document inside the model, but the collector reappears and snatches the boat from him. He hunts down the collector’s residence with the help of Snowy, and from then, the adventure to discover The Unicorn’s secret begins. He eventually ends up on the SS Karaboudjan, where he encounters Captain Haddock. From there, they travel to Ben Salaad’s Palace, then to Bagghar, a fictional harbor city in Morocco, and eventually back to Marlinspike’s hometown.
The game is peppered with short sections that deviate from 2D platforming. These 3D sequences feature motorcycle chases, airline rides, scent-tracking with Snowy, diving, and on-rails sword fighting sections that take place onboard The Unicorn in the past. A separate Cooperative model featuring Tintin, Haddock, and opera diva Bianca Castafiore is available. Because each character has a unique skill, players must collaborate to complete these discrete sets of levels. Tintin employs a grappling hook, Haddock moves boxes and bursts through barriers, and Castafiore can double jump and break the glass. There is also a Challenge mode in which players compete against one another.
