Tintin, or to give it its full name once; ‘The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn The Game’, is one of those games that will be marked as a miss opportunity, or at least marked as ‘would have been better as a download game’. The 2 player co-op mode is a standalone game that does not take place in same mishmash of book and film as the single player, but uses many of the same assets. Instead you must delve into the mind of Captain Haddock after he takes a knock on the bonce.
By setting the game in the surreal world of dreams Ubisoft are able to open the level design, but also fall into the trap of the game feeling like a series of moments, rather than a whole. This 2 player co-op game is drop in drop out local play only. You initially begin the game as Captain Haddock and Tintin. Inside the mind of 'The Haddock' are a series of doors that act as portals to new levels; Mario 64 style. Each level uses the core Tintin mechanics taken from the single player game, but with added co-op gameplay such as the ability to lift one another onto higher platforms.
The game mechanic takes the form of a 2D side scrolling platformer. The co-op levels are essentially a series of puzzles that you and a pal must ponder over to succeed. To aid you in your quest, each character has a unique skill set; Tintin can use a grappling hook, Haddock has the strength to knock down certain walls. After a few minutes you and your friend will be pottering along nicely, but you notice something; you can’t access all the areas within a level! This is because you unlock new characters with their own unique skills later in the game; Thompson and Thomson, Sir Francis Haddock, Snowy.
To fully complete the game you will have to complete each level as the main characters and then replay again with newly unlocked allies. This gives the game an extended LEGO freeplay feel, but lacks the joy of finding interesting and new places seen in that franchise, as the majority of out of reach places are obvious. What the freeplay mode does do is add real length to an already impressively long mode – to complete the levels and collect all the bonus items will take around 7-10 hours – not bad for an added extra.