The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn Review

Film to game adaptations don’t usually get a very good rep. Often, and regardless of movie quality, the game tie-ins are average at best and very poor at worst. Exceptions do exist, but are rare, such as Chronicles of Riddick. The newly released Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, based on a movie coming to theaters in a few weeks, doesn’t quite escape that mind set. While it still comes across as a bit easy and dull for most experienced gamers, it should at least be quite a delight to the younger target audience, and fans of the main character in particular.

Whether or not you have seen the feature film Adventures of Tintin doesn’t hamper the enjoyment of playing through the Secret of the Unicorn campaign. At around 4 hours long, the game’s plot takes many of the same locations and action elements from the film, but does introduce a different villain and many new scenarios and outcomes. Tintin, a young journalist, and his dog Snowy come across a model of a Unicorn ship at the market.

Upon discovering that the ship’s secret compartment to contain a cryptic message, Tintin is attacked by a collector who steals the ship but Tintin manages to follow him home. There, he discovers that there are three ships that exist, all likely to contain one of the secret parchments. Having taken the second of three parchments from the collector’s home, Tintin is abducted and finds himself aboard a ship where captain Haddock is also held against his will. The two join forces and have an entertaining adventure together, visiting a number of environments and defeating different types of enemies along the way.

Secret of the Unicorn, for the most part, has players taking on levels in a very 2D fashion. It’s a platformer at heart, and plays to that role very effectively. Controlling Tintin (and occasionally Snowy), you can navigate the game’s linear platforming levels, occasionally stopping to defeat enemies or solve puzzles. There are a variety of puzzles included, involving objects with different physical properties – balls which bounce off walls, vials of green explosive liquids, dynamite, and fire torches. The only function with all objects in the game is to throw them, thus their spawn location is often strictly limited to when they may be needed. Puzzles are never particularly challenging to experienced players, though youngsters may have a good time trying to solve some of the later tasks with changing item effects such as lighting/extinguishing torches.

Combat in the game is comparatively simple, with no ability to block and characters only having three bars of health – thus getting hit just three times resulting in a checkpoint restart. If you’re able to approach enemies from behind, a special attack knocks them out in one hit. Certain enemies can only be defeated by objects or parts of the environment (ice) which are, conveniently, located in the same room. Needless to say the action works well enough, as enemies usually come in small numbers and are easy to avoid thanks to the balanced level design with hiding locations. When it comes time for boss fights or larger enemy numbers, players will need to exert some effort and use the items provided on the level in order to succeed. Once again, the game caters well to players of all ages, but boss fights do require a fair share of skill in order to succeed.

The levels themselves consist of classic sidescroller setups, with a linear path forward, minimal backtracking and a few hidden paths which lead to a collectible. There can be a number of floors on a level, with the player able to climb up and down in certain parts of the game world. The enemies can do so as well, and this often introduces a dynamic aspect to the isometric 2D world. It’s not quite the same as something like Donkey Kong, but some design elements are very similar to that particular sidescroller.

Overall, the game is relatively easy and almost anyone can pick up and play this adventure. Some of the set pieces can actually be quite thrilling and memorable. Between the platforming, there are some sections where players can explore a small section of the environment in a more traditional third person view. Here, small and linear environments and an uncontrollable camera present very limited appeal. There are vehicle sections too, which can be both player-controlled and on-rails, including aerial combat and motorbike chases. These sections are just as basic in their implementation, and take place in often uninspired environments.

Aside from the campaign, the game also features a worthwhile offline coop experience and some challenge levels. There are three types of challenge types, all with a number of difficulty stages. Players aim to basically beat the target score by playing various minigames taken from the main campaign, such as flying with precision. It’s a rather shallow feature and won’t take much of your time. On the other hand, the cooperative mode is much more engaging.

Set inside of captain Haddock’s mind, the offline coop section of the game can be quite wondrous. Taking cues from the universe of Tintin but without being tied down by the movie, allows the levels to become quite imaginative. Mostly based around platforming, the game’s strongest offering, the design in coop is rather well made and adds significant value to the overall package. Taking on the roles of Tintin, Haddock, or another few characters, players race across levels to defeat bosses, collect coins and also utilize unique character abilities to solve puzzles. While most games offer their cooperative modes as little more than a rehash of the campaign, Secret of the Unicorn takes it up a number of notches and provides a surprisingly lengthy amount of good fun.

Those who are looking forward to what seems to be a wonderfully animated feature film may be disappointed in the game’s lackluster visuals. Some of the cartoon style is there, but otherwise it isn’t a very good looking game, with low resolution textures, basic animations and tons of poor collision, particularly noticeable in cutscenes and character interactions. It comes across as a bit unpolished, and doesn’t quite have the artistic design necessary to redeem the dated visuals.

On the other hand, standout voice acting is easily one of the best features of this title. We are still digging around to see if the game’s characters were voiced by the same folks as the movie, but either way, all of the roles are wonderfully voiced. The dialogue is decently written, but it’s the passion which the voice actors bring that adds much enjoyment to the whole experience. The background tunes are quite decent as well, though not particularly memorable. Secret of the Unicorn also boasts 3D visuals and Kinect support, though these features were not tested for the scope of this review.

When it comes to movie adaptations, you could do a lot worse than Secret of the Unicorn. Not only will the game provide respectable value and entertainment for seasoned players, fans of Tintin and those underage will be absolutely thrilled. An entertaining campaign matched with a stellar coop experience and tons of costumes to unlock means that the game will provide many hours of entertainment for its target audience. Simplified gameplay and subpar visuals though can’t always be redeemed by excellent voice acting and good value for the price. Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn strikes a respectable balance between being accessible and entertaining, without insulting the intelligence of seasoned players too much, and can be fully enjoyed particularly in a family setting.