The Adventures of Tintin – The Secret of the Unicorn

The Adventures of Tintin – The Secret of the Unicorn (known as The Adventures of Tintin: The Game in North America) is an action-adventure, platforming video game based on the film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, which is based on the series The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 on 21 October 2011 in Europe, on 1 December in Australia and on 6 December in North America. 

The game was developed by Ubisoft Montpellier, working in collaboration with the producers of the film, and published by Ubisoft. A seaplane carrying Tintin (voiced by Adam Howden), Captain Haddock (Lewis Macleod), and Tintin’s dog Snowy is flying through a thunderstorm when it is hit by lightning and crash lands in a desert, knocking all three unconscious. The game flashbacks to the previous day, where Tintin and Snowy are looking around a market.

Tintin purchases a model ship, which another man tries to purchase from him, but fails. The man who sold it to Tintin brings him to a shipping expert, who tells Tintin that the ship is a model of the Unicorn, a galleon which belonged to Sir Francis Haddock. From a book given to him by the expert, Tintin learns that the ship (which was a part of Charles II‘s fleet) was on its way from Barbados to Europe when it was attacked by pirate Red Rackham.

Rather than allow the Unicorn to be boarded, Sir Francis scuttled the ship and fled. The game is a 2D platformer with puzzle elements, although there are several other level types; flying levels where the player controls a Beechcraft, driving levels where the player controls a motorcycle and sword fighting levels. The player controls Tintin for the majority of the game, although in some sections, Snowy can be controlled, and in the final battle, the player controls Captain Haddock.

Snowy has the ability to follow Tintin’s scent, as well as the scent of other humans and creatures, and can scare harmful creatures away with a bark. Tintin can punch enemies and climb ladders. Whereas Tintin can only attack using punches, Haddock can also use a sword to fight. The game also includes an offline co-op mode set in Captain Haddock’s nightmares, where Tintin, Haddock and Bianca Castafiore (each controlled by a different player, or by the same player at different times) must combine their unique abilities to complete each level.