Tintin has been a franchise that has never rooted itself deeply in America – that's probably because the story of a boy journalist and his dog, Snowy, originated in Belgium and always seemed to mostly be "that really great European comic Americans don't really care about". So unless you grew up watching some old Tintin cartoon episodes on Nickelodeon back in the 90s or had picked up the comics sometime in your life, the new Spielberg film will be a bold fresh experience for you. However, The Adventures of Tintin: The Game won't be. Why? Read on, faithful Tintin fans…

The Adventures of Tintin: The Game follows the movie plot fairly closely, with art design and animation matching the film and Tintin world pretty well. As you unravel the secrets of the mystery at hand (I won't ruin anything for those who plan on seeing the movie or want to read the comics), you'll work your way through level after level of basic side-scrolling platforming action. This will include all the old standby gameplay elements such as fighting off bad guys, solving puzzles, making jumps, and progressing the story one stage at a time. The Adventures of Tintin: The Game plays out in a wonkily controlled, erratic-looking, shaky platformer. Often times, The Adventures of Tintin: The Game reminds me of a platforming game in the 16-bit / 32-bit era that concentrated on graphics rather than fluidity, level design, and great controls. Actually, the more comparisons you make of The Adventures of Tintin: The Game to a legit 2D platformer like Symphony of the Night or Rayman Origins, the more pathetic it seems. The controls are far from on-the-dime; the level designs and challenges become repetitive (easy enemies, easy jumps... over and over again), with nothing that will make you hold your breath, make you think, or excite you as a side-scrolling platformer should. 

There are attempts to capture big action, Spielberg-style set pieces from the film within the game, but if you think you're going to get anything rivaling Drake's Deception, you'll be sad to know these elements fall pretty flat within The Adventures of Tintin: The Game. Gameplay overall is poor, with very few skills required to do pretty much everything, whether it's jumping, puzzle solving, or boss battling. It seems The Adventures of Tintin: The Game could be played with your eyes closed, but I guess this is good for kids, if they are the intended audience; however, I give kids more credit in having far better gaming skills than what is required in Tintin. The story mode unfolds with boring platforming stage after stage, with a few thrown together vehicle driving stages in between. With very few things to unlock or different routes to take through the main game - or even fun challenges along the way - Tintin's replay value is stunningly nonexistent. 

There are other modes – an offline cooperative mode that doesn't make much sense, as it takes place inside one of the character's dreams, becoming a messy fever dream of more of the same, but with the ability to play Captain Haddock alongside Tintin. Even though both of these characters are given different traits, it's not much to keep you coming back for more. One other mode, challenge, lets you play the joyless vehicle scenes specifically. 

The Adventures of Tintin: The Game isn't absolutely atrocious, but it doesn't redeem itself much in any aspect. It has nice character animations, great voiceover work, and that's about it. Those who are huge Tintin fans may enjoy a quick playthrough,; however, you may just want to go out and pick up the comic books, as they may just be a little more worth your coin than this uninspired and forgettable franchiser.

GameDynamo's Score for The Adventures of Tintin: The Game (PC)

	Score	Description
Graphics	75	The fluid animations and design to match the Tintin world are not enough to make this game break away from its dry gameplay.
Sound	75	Good voice work, decent score, but nothing we haven't heard before.
Gameplay	56	Fairly poor for a platformer, but not unbearable. Overall, the game isn't broken; it's just exceedingly flat and dry all around.
Play Value	42	With very little content and a breeze of a game, Tintin falls right into the franchiser demographic, leaving us with a forgettable game.
Final Score	54	A weak side-scrolling platformer that could have been so much more. We, Tintin fans, will have to wait for a legit video game realization of the Tintin franchise that is not focused on launching alongside its film to generate some extra bucks.

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