A copy of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is sitting in the EFTM PlayStation 3 console, but is it good enough to have us dusting off the old Tintin series by Ellipse Nelvana, ready to watch after a good thumb exercise?
The short answer is yes – The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn will have Tintin fans engrossed by his every computerised movement. You’ll find yourself making mental notes of where the movie/game deviates from the original books by Herge (hint: in a hell of a lot of places) and watching in awe as Tintin performs his street-fighting techniques on 1940s mobster types.
We’ve played through the first level which includes the markets near Tintin’s Labrador Road apartment, where he finds the Unicorn model, and Marlinspike Hall. For those who are keen fans of the series, you will realise that these two events happen at the beginning and end of The Secret of the Unicorn book, giving you a good idea of how events are altered in the game/movie.
While it’s a frustration for hardcore Tintin fans, it gives the game (and hopefully the movie) a fresh lease while not completely ruining the flow of the story. The animation of Tintin, Snowy and the rest of the cast will more than make up for any story flaws.
Older fans of the series will have to remember that the game is something that needed to be developed for a wide spread of audience ages. You will get through the first level with ease – in fact, it’s almost impossible to kill Tintin. We finally managed to by falling off a cliff on purpose, but clumsy mobsters and easy jumps will make the game a breeze to get through. A few clumsy camera angles will add frustration, but get through these and what you have is a fairly standard but engrossing platform game.
While it’s not a mental challenge and won’t pose much challenge to hardcore gamers, it does finally do justice to the Tintin brand in videogame form, something which previous iterations have sadly fallen short at.
Often movie tie-in games can be a rushed mess. This is not, thankfully. If you’re a Tintin fan, you must get this game. It’s out tomorrow in Australia on Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PS3 and PC.
Price: $68
Web: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn game
Damian Francis has previously edited Australian T3 and F1 Racing magazine and wrote for GQ Australia and Men’s Health. Unlike Nick and Trev, he has no kids, no mortgage and no wife, but lives happily on Sydney’s North Shore with his girlfriend.
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