The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (known as The Adventures of Tintin: The Game in North America) is an action-adventure video game based on the film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. The console version of the game was developed by Ubisoft Montpellier, together with the producers of the film, and published by Ubisoft. The mobile version was published by Gameloft.

Plot[]

Prologue[]

Tintin and Haddock are piloting seaplane CN-3411, attempting to navigate a thunderstorm raging above the Sahara desert – no backstory is given at this point. Though it succeeds in dodging damaging lightning strikes and avoiding regions promising instant death, the vessel is ultimately destroyed by a fatal lightning strike. Tintin is then shown to be lying in the Sahara desert, presumably in a state of unconsciousness.

The Flea Market[]

Tintin and Snowy are at a flea market in Brussels. Snowy has wandered away from Tintin – who is checking out a stall – and has been following scents, until he discovers a model of the Unicorn at an antique dealer's stall. Soon noticing that Snowy is missing, Tintin begins calling out to him. Snowy, hearing his voice, runs back to him; when he arrives, Tintin understands that there is something Snowy wants to show him, and follows him to the stall housing the model Unicorn.

Tintin approves of the model, and as Snowy shows increasing interest in it, he enquires of the stall's vendor how much it costs. The vendor replies that it costs 'ninety'. Tintin attempts to negotiate a cheaper price, proposing paying 'fifty' for it; they eventually settle on 'seventy' – according to the vendor, a bargain price. They are interrupted, however, when one of the Bird Brothers, Max, cuts in, asking for the model's price. The store owner answers, 'I'm afraid you're too late, Sir!', implying that it has already been purchased by Tintin. Max turns to Tintin and says that he will buy it off him for ten times as much as he paid the stall owner. When Tintin refuses, the man becomes frustrated and attempts to wrestle the model from Tintin. Tintin resists his tugging, and Max, growling darkly to himself, gives up and walks away. Tom, who was nearby and reading a newspaper, sheafs it and starts to follow him.

As Tintin ruminates out loud over these events, the vendor tells him that he knows someone knowledgeable about ships. Tintin accepts his offer to introduce him to them, and asks Tintin to follow him, leading him to another man across the road who is at a bookselling stall. The man sees the Unicorn model and instantly recognises it, bringing out and proffering Tintin a book about it titled 'The Unicorn. A Legacy of Failure.' The book features a brief overview of the Unicorn's history, with a cryptic illustrated instruction to twist a mast, and a photograph of Sir Francis Haddock on the final page. Tintin proceeds to buy the book from the vendor.

Tintin enters a nearby alley, followed by Snowy, and places the Unicorn model on a barrel. He studies the model and, studying the book he bought earlier, discovers that there are markings on the model's sails that match the book's illustration. Tintin subsequently discovers that turning each sail to a specific angle reveals an image of a unicorn's head when combined with the others; this breakthrough unlocks a compartment within the model ship's body, opening a panel at the bottom of its stern and revealing a long, slim minicasket. Taking this out and opening it up, a rolled-up scroll is revealed; removing the scroll and unfurling it, Tintin finds that it has a short poem written on it, along with two seemingly random numbers, and a unicorn's head symbol matching that needed to unlock the model. Tintin cannot make sense of the text, however.

As all this had been happening, Max – the earlier aggressive would-be buyer of the model Unicorn – had been convening with the henchmen of Marlinspike Hall, faithful butlers under his employ. He and two of them march up to Tintin's alleyway; Max hurriedly halts them before Tintin notices their presence. Max confirms to his henchmen that this is their target; he gestures for one of them, Nestor, to follow him stealthily into the alleyway, where they creep up to Tintin, who is still engrossed in the model ship. In a sudden violent shove with his back, Nestor simultaneously knocks Tintin to the ground and catches the model ship, sent flying by his attack. He runs back to Max, quickly hands him the model ship, and flees from the scene along with the other two attackers. Tintin gives chase, but is confronted by a series of five Marlinspike butlers in the connecting courtyard. Concluding the battle, Tintin reflects that his attackers have most probably gotten away. Next to him, however, Snowy suddenly flips over Max's hat, which had come loose in the melee; picking it up and proffering it to Snowy to trace its scent, he remarks that it is now up to Snowy to facilitate the next stage of the chase.

Marlinspike[]

Tracing the scent of Max's hat, Snowy leads Tintin to Marlinspike Hall, residence of the Bird Brothers, Tintin's earlier attackers. Investigating the property's front, he discovers a vine growing there that is capable of being used as a ladder; using it to scale the wall, he enters the grounds. Behind a tree some distance away, Allan and Tom observe his efforts. Tom asks, 'What do we do, Allan?' – to which Allan responds 'Nothing… for now.'

In the shrubbery of the property's park-like gardens, Tintin runs forward until he emerges at the front doors of the property. Deeming direct entry via them too risky, he asks Snowy for an alternative route; Snowy sets about this. A moment later, however, they overhear a muffled conversation between the two Bird Brothers through one of the barricaded French windows of the property. Tintin recognises the identity of one of the speakers; their conversation reveals that they too are hunting for the scroll, and are now aware that one of them is in Tintin's possession. They also state that they intend to put the model 'back in its place'.

Tintin continues on, following Snowy's barking. He comes to the back doors of the house, and is met with another impasse. Snowy, however, spots a rat in plain sight nearby, and alerts Tintin. Tintin, exclaiming in delighted surprise, reasons that following the rat will find a route inside the house, and suggests they follow it; Snowy begins tracing its scent. The rat ultimately leads them to a patch of loose dirt at a lower point of the property, after a journey including travel down an outdoor flight of stairs. Snowy starts digging; the ground suddenly gives way, and he falls safely downward into an underground tunnel, much to Tintin's consternation.

As Tintin cannot enter the small passage, Snowy continues on alone. Snowy – digging through patches of dirt, scrabbling up walls, and jumping between platforms as necessary to continue progress – is also forced to bark to frighten away rats that attempt to bite him. Above him, Tintin follows overhead, wading into a pond nearby to the site of Snowy's fall. Snowy eventually enters a cellar beneath the house: he walks onto and triggers a pressure plate within, allowing Tintin entry into the room via a concealed door. Tintin, before continuing on, gives Snowy the scroll he possesses, as a cautionary measure – if he is caught, Snowy most likely won't be searched, he concludes.

Tintin proceeds to infiltrate the mansion. In doing so, he has to jump across, hang from, and climb up platforms (sometimes moving ones), as well as gaps between them; hop up and down makeshift climbing frames; jump from great heights; crouch down low and travel through passages of reduced height; scale ladders; controlledly slide down rock faces; wade through water; pull carts and turn wheels to position moving platforms; hang from hooks; enter barrels, using them for sneak attacks; throw objects – such as glass bottles, paint cans, and beach balls – at items, such as wood panels, sandbags, and chandeliers, to trigger events (most commonly moving platforms or the breaking of barriers); and dive up vents/chimneys, using them to climb to higher points. He is also forced to fight numerous butlers and housekeepers, and utilises combat techniques such as punches, stealth attacks, and the throwing of objects; there are instances where he must defeat a set number of enemies to gain entry to somewhere. Some of the housekeepers use umbrellas for protection – to defeat them, Tintin sneaks up, launching a surprise attack from behind. He also collects golden crab trophies along the way, and heals himself using strategically placed first-aid kits. There are points where he must rely on Snowy's help to retrieve keys for locked doors; to do this, he helps Snowy enter narrow passageways. Snowy – scrabbling up platforms and barking away rats in his path – locates the object, picking it up with his mouth and carrying it back to Tintin.

Tintin's journey begins in the Crypt, a rocky underground area being used mainly for storage. He later enters the Hall itself, into wallpapered rooms with many hung-up paintings, marble floors, bookcases, and all manner of decorations; after a time, however, he catches up to the Bird Brothers and overhears them speaking of their intention to visit the Naval Room. To continue pursuit, Tintin travels down a lift and once again into the Crypt, which this time is in almost total darkness; using a torch to navigate his way and to burn insects in his path, he continues on. Eventually returning to the Hall itself, he soon locates and enters the Naval Room.

Upon entering the Naval Room, Tintin immediately notices a display case containing two model Unicorns, one of which he presumes to be his. As he is investigating further, the Bird Brothers enter the room from separate doors and advance on him, Max across from him, Gustav on the floor above (which overlooks the room). They tell Tintin he is withholding property from them; Tintin counters by explaining he is the rightful owner of one of the models. As the conversation progresses, Tintin becomes aware that three model Unicorns exist in total, built by Sir Francis Haddock as heirlooms for his sons - each with a scroll hidden in its mast, that there are three scrolls to be found in total. Tintin speculates that they lead to buried treasure, at which point Max Bird cuts the conversation off with 'That's enough! If you have the scroll, I want it!' Tintin, instead of complying, suddenly turns and runs towards one of the back walls, ducking into and disappearing through a hole in the panelling. There follows a stealth mission by Tintin to take down the Bird Brothers, who use their opened umbrellas as both weapons and shields. Tintin must get behind them and punch them over to neutralise them, or use a projectile to attack them similarly from behind; upon knocking out both opponents, Tintin receives the key dropped by one of them, picking it up and returning to the Unicorn display case to use it.

After he looks for both the Unicorns, (one of them is his) the Bird Brothers escape from Tintin, taking the scroll with them. Tintin follows, only to be chased by car. After Tintin is led to a dead end, the Bird Brothers think they have won. But just then, somebody knocks out the Bird Brothers. Tintin is about to thank them, when one of the men says that they have found the scroll. Behind Tintin, another man knocks Tintin cold.

After they drive away with the Bird Brothers' scroll and Tintin, Snowy decides to follow, after hiding from the men.

Karaboudjan[]

Snowy come to the ship Karaboudjan and enter it. Tintin wakes up and see he is in a cell. A man named Allan Thompson enter in the cell and force Tintin to say where is his scroll, but he refused. Allan decided to keep Tintin on cell and wait he talks. Snowy enter the cell and freed Tintin, they escape of the cell and goes to the control room where Allan was, on the way, he finds Captain Archibald Haddock, the former captain of the ship. Tintin arrived on the control room and confronts Allan. After a tough battle, Tintin beats him and takes the scroll of the Bird Brothers and a photography of Allan. He goes back to Haddock's room and asked if he is an ancestor of Sir Francis Haddock. He tells an story of the attack of the Unicorn by Red Rackham, he figured he was to confront the pirates and destroys the energy of the ship, which causes the ship sink. Tintin, Snowy and Haddock escape and fly on a seaplane, but Allan and his men escape too. Haddock said Tintin that Allan's boss was in the city of Baghar on Morocco, so they fly to Africa.

Bagghar[]

Tintin, Snowy and Haddock fly to Africa, but the plane crashed and fall on the desert. Two men approach them in a motorcycle with a side car. They are Allan's men, and plan to bring Tintin to the city of Baghar to meet with Allan's boss. Haddock knocks them unconscious and he, Tintin and Snowy steal their motorcycle and head to Baghar to continue their quest to stop Allan. In Bagghar, they discover that Omar Ben Salaad has the third model Unicorn and he is Allan's boss. After getting into his palace, they meet Bianca Castafiore, who is staging a concert there. Tintin finds out that Salaad wants to get the third scroll. After a fight with Allan, Tintin gets the third scroll and now has all the scrolls. Haddock tells Tintin that after the attack of the Unicorn, one of the servants of Red Rackham, Diego the Dreadful said "We'll follow you all the way to your accursed island in Brittany!". So Tintin and Haddock identified as Sir Francis' hideout and fly to the island of Brittany, in France.

Brittany[]

They land in the island, they find a way in on the caves. After they reach the castle of the island, Tintin confronts Allan again and beats him. He finds Haddock in a dungeon, they active two buttons in the ceiling and the wall opens. Behind the wall was a secret room that had old scrolls and a picture of Sir Francis Haddock. One of the those scrolls, have the Unicorn and and underneath it said "It is from the light that light will dawn". They put the three scrolls near the light from a candle and saw that the numbers were directions. When they try to leave the island, Allan caught Haddock and he told Tintin to give scrolls in exchange for the life of Haddock. Tintin gave the scrolls to Allan and he sent Haddock to the sea, but Tintin saves him. Haddock calculated the direction of the scrolls and found that they will give to Marlinspike Hall, He and Tintin left the island and flew to Marlinspike.

Back to Marlinspike[]

Tintin, Snowy and Haddock go to the Naval Room and they found a secret passage, but before they continue their way, the Bird Brothers, the butlers, some of Allan's men and some of Ben Salaad's men attack them, but they beat them and down the secret passage. Allan and his men, that they were halfway confront Haddock with swords, Haddock beats them and they free to continue their way.They found the treasure and a scroll of Charles II, Thomson and Thompson, who were there arrest Allan, his men and the Bird Brothers.

[]

Bosses (Tintin Mode)[]

Allan
William (Francis Haddock history level)
Diego the Dreadful (Francis Haddock history level)
Red Rackham (Francis Haddock history level)

Mini-Bosses (Tintin Mode)[]

Bird Brothers
The Cook (Francis Haddock history level)

Bosses (Tintin & Haddock Mode)[]

Red Rackham
Red Rackham's galleon
Red Rackham and his galleon

Mini-Bosses (Tintin & Haddock Mode)[]

Castafiore's head
Thompson's head
Sir Francis Haddock's head

Differences from the Film[]

It is evident that the game's main campaign is based on an earlier version of the film's story, as there are multiple factors that contrast with what the film possessed, which include the following, but not limited to:

The Birds Brothers from the original Secret of the Unicorn book appear and are still featured as antagonists, whereas in the film they were completely removed from the story's plotline.
In the game, Tintin learns about The Unicorn's history as well as the Haddock family's from the naval shopkeeper featured in Red Rackham's Treasure sharing a book about them at the flea market, whereas in the film, Tintin learns about The Unicorn himself at naval library and museum.
Sakharine does not appear at all in the game, neither as an antagonist or how he was portrayed in the original Secret of the Unicorn book.
Allan and the rest of the Karaboudjan crew still work for Ben Salaad like how they did in The Crab with the Golden Claws book, except unlike in the book or film, Ben Salaad wants to seize the three scrolls of the Unicorn models so he can get ahold of the treasure himself.
Haddock is never seen being drunken by alcohol in the game, instead it is just said he is heavily grounded on board the Karaboudjan.
The galleon flashback levels of the game take place at day like in the original Secret of the Unicorn book, whereas in the film the galleon flashback scenes take place at night.
Diego the Dreadful appears in one of the galleon levels, but does not appear in the film.
In the game, the Karaboudjan sinks thanks to Haddock heavily damaging it while reenacting his ancestor's events, while in the film it never does plunge.
Tintin, Haddock, and Snowy travel to Bagghar onboard a motorcycle and sidecar while being chased by goons working for Ben Salaad, whereas in the film they travel on camels and are never chased down.
A character named Mohamed, a resident of Bagghar, appears as a former shipmate and old friend of Haddock, similar to that of Captain Chester from The Shooting Star. However, he does not appear at all in the film.
The island of Brittany appears as a level and major location in the game, but did not appear at all in the film.
The final battle and confrontation of the game takes place at Marlinspike Hall rather than the docks, where it instead took place at in the film.
Thompson and Thomson only appear at the very end of the game, whereas in the film they appeared frequently throughout its story.

Reception[]

The PC, PSP, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii versions of the game received mixed reviews. Reviewing the Xbox 360 version, IGN wrote that "Tintin only has itself to blame for its shortcomings: for every exciting moment there's a turgid interlude which drags the overall experience down. While these distractions are more tedious bore than hair-pulling aggravation there's no doubt their omission would've made for a tighter and ultimately better game. By shoe-horning variety into the game it loses its focus, which combined with silly game design decisions – the dogfights really should've been left on the drawing board – and a handful of game-breaking bugs –Tintin crashed on more than one occasion during review – it's hard to recommend this to anyone other than diehard fans of both the comics and the movie." They awarded the game a score of 6.5 out of 10.

1UP.com described the game as "a frontrunner for Worst Game of 2011," and gave it a D. Eurogamer called the game "clever and deeply charming" but criticised the parts of the game that diverged away from its platforming core; "all of these interludes provide a little variety, but they're unconvincing in execution and a bore to play through." The co-op play was singled out for praise and described as "absolutely magnificent." Edge awarded the game 6/10 and raised similar points as the Eurogamer review. It also praised the quality of the graphics and level design.

However, the iOS and Android version received generally positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic they received a score of 84/100. Gamezebo gave the iOS version a glowing review, giving it a score of 100 and stating that "Gameloft's pulled out all the stops this time, and the result is a masterpiece of an adventure game, one that combines the point and click adventure elements with the best uses of an iOS device's attributes."App-Score gave the iOS version 9/10, also praising the features.