Developer: - Ubisoft
Publisher: - Ubisoft
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Apple iOS, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360
Type: Fixed cam 2.5-3D Action-Adventure
Mode: Single Player, Co-op
Release Date: - 21 October 2011
Trailers:
[youtube]lAHrqesp79M[/youtube]
Quick review:
So it was either this title or Payday: The Heist for the last weekend and I decided to give this one a shot. Completed it yesterday and turns out, it had exceeded my expectations! Of course the title has its share of flaws but Ubisoft managed to have pulled off a decent title. I'll sum up my experiences with the game.
As most of you may know by now, the title is based on the upcoming CGI-animated movie directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Sir Peter Jackson - The Adventures of Tintin and is based on 3 stories - The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure. In the comic series however, the latter two is unrelated to the plot of the former. Some of us have already read the comic series by now or might have watched the series which aired on Cartoon Network sometime during 2000. The plot revolves around Tintin, Snowy and Capt. Haddock who uncovers a riddle based on certain parchments left by Sir Francis Haddock, Capt. Haddock's ancestor which could eventually lead them to Red Rackham's treasure from the wreck of scuttled ship - The Unicorn. There have been however certain deviations from the storyline as described in the comic book and is definitely noticeable if one has followed the comic books and/or the animated series.
The gameplay which is fairly linear and straightforward involves the protagonist Tintin, his faithful dog Snowy and Capt. Haddock (who joins the duo at a later part of the story) and their adventures as they explore the levels to unravel the mystery behind Red Rackham's sunk treasure. The gameplay which largely involves platforming with a fixed camera angle, switches itself from 3D (similar to Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light) to 2.5D (similar to The Shadow Complex) depending on the circumstances. Tintin can crouch, roll, jump from a platform to the adjacent one and crawl through tunnels when prompted to do so. Combat is easy and simplistic in approach. It involves the use of environment such as hiding inside a barrel and using the cover to silently take down the unwary enemy or sneaking up behind them and knocking them down or throwing the several objects such as paint cans, bottles, a bunch of bananas, balls et al to take down the enemy. Dynamites may be used to bring down a wall to reveal a secret or a passage. The trajectory of the object is highlighted, can be varied and at times require the player to align it in such a way that the object thrown ricochets off the surface and hits the target. Collectibles in the form of Golden Crabs are strewn around the several levels and may be collected. Dark surroundings require Tintin/Haddock to use a flashlight but with the inability to move when the flashlight is used (WTF?).
In the course of Tintin's adventures, he is accompanied by Snowy from the start of the game and Capt. Haddock joins them later (recall the plot of The Crab with the Golden Claws when Tintin encounters the Captain for the first time onboard his captured merchant ship - Karaboudjan). Tintin can also commandeer the biplane (what looks like the Ar 196) from time to time. Navigation of the biplane is pretty simple, requires the player to steer clear of bad weather and use the turrets onboard to get rid of the opponents. Tintin and Haddock can also ride a motorcycle attached with the sidecar. When one of them rides the bike, the other one aids in clearing the way. What I am not sure is how a mere catapult can take down a small truck? Take a look at the trailer posted above which shows Tintin using what appears to be a shotgun! Now that is so wrong! Wonder what Ubi was thinking. Some sequences require Snowy to aid Tintin. For instance, Snowy can squeeze through a small hole to enter into a room and fetch a key or dig a burrow under the ground and tunnel through it to reach a remote location. Snowy can also help track down someone with his smell or footsteps. He can bark to scare away the bunch of rats hurling towards him. Some of the fast-paced chase sequences demands the player to act quickly and navigate Tintin/Snowy/Haddock through the path. Capt. Haddock re-enacting the battle sequences when Sir Francis Haddock had battled with the pirate Red Rackham was kick ass! It happens in multiple stages and during those sequences the player must control Sir Francis Haddock with some easy combat and QTEs.
Visuals look okay'ish. I recall when Ubi had developed the official game for Peter Jackson's King Kong, the game had some of the best visuals which reproduced the locales as depicted in the movie. But despite enabling AA from the game's options, jagged edges are still visible. There are not many options to tinker with other than the resolution, AA and v-sync. Well, this isn't RAGE so it is acceptable. That said the quality of the cutscenes look mediocre. Voice acting and character modeling definitely deserves a mention here. It appears that the characters have been modeled based on the movie and although Jamie Bell may not be the best match for the Tintin as we have seen him on the comics, Andy Serkis who takes the role as Capt. Haddock has done a fantastic job here. The Captain's alcoholic nature and his sarcastic comments have been enacted in its true form by Serkis. "Thundering typhoons! Billions of blue blistering barnacles" - we've got plenty of those in the game and many more!
The ending was a bit disappointing because the plot had drastic changes from the comic book. I am assuming the upcoming movie has a similar plot. Prof. Calculus who makes his debut in Red Rackham's Treasure was completely absent from the game! And so were the twin detectives - Thompson and Thomson. They did however make a cameo towards the ending sequence. The single player campaign was very short and I clocked roughly 4 hours and 30 minutes. There is an additional co-op campaign wherein the player can swap between Tintin and Haddock while playing through what appears like Haddock's dream sequences. Controls are auto-mapped for the X360 controller. The second player can use the keyboard as well.
Let me be very clear. This game is targeted fairly at the younger audiences and if you were expecting something hardcore in the leagues of the Tomb Raider or the Uncharted series, you will be DISAPPOINTED. Fans of the franchise are in for a treat and will love the game and appreciate it for what it is. Over and out!
Publisher: - Ubisoft
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Apple iOS, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360
Type: Fixed cam 2.5-3D Action-Adventure
Mode: Single Player, Co-op
Release Date: - 21 October 2011
Trailers:
[youtube]lAHrqesp79M[/youtube]
Quick review:
So it was either this title or Payday: The Heist for the last weekend and I decided to give this one a shot. Completed it yesterday and turns out, it had exceeded my expectations! Of course the title has its share of flaws but Ubisoft managed to have pulled off a decent title. I'll sum up my experiences with the game.
As most of you may know by now, the title is based on the upcoming CGI-animated movie directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Sir Peter Jackson - The Adventures of Tintin and is based on 3 stories - The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure. In the comic series however, the latter two is unrelated to the plot of the former. Some of us have already read the comic series by now or might have watched the series which aired on Cartoon Network sometime during 2000. The plot revolves around Tintin, Snowy and Capt. Haddock who uncovers a riddle based on certain parchments left by Sir Francis Haddock, Capt. Haddock's ancestor which could eventually lead them to Red Rackham's treasure from the wreck of scuttled ship - The Unicorn. There have been however certain deviations from the storyline as described in the comic book and is definitely noticeable if one has followed the comic books and/or the animated series.
The gameplay which is fairly linear and straightforward involves the protagonist Tintin, his faithful dog Snowy and Capt. Haddock (who joins the duo at a later part of the story) and their adventures as they explore the levels to unravel the mystery behind Red Rackham's sunk treasure. The gameplay which largely involves platforming with a fixed camera angle, switches itself from 3D (similar to Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light) to 2.5D (similar to The Shadow Complex) depending on the circumstances. Tintin can crouch, roll, jump from a platform to the adjacent one and crawl through tunnels when prompted to do so. Combat is easy and simplistic in approach. It involves the use of environment such as hiding inside a barrel and using the cover to silently take down the unwary enemy or sneaking up behind them and knocking them down or throwing the several objects such as paint cans, bottles, a bunch of bananas, balls et al to take down the enemy. Dynamites may be used to bring down a wall to reveal a secret or a passage. The trajectory of the object is highlighted, can be varied and at times require the player to align it in such a way that the object thrown ricochets off the surface and hits the target. Collectibles in the form of Golden Crabs are strewn around the several levels and may be collected. Dark surroundings require Tintin/Haddock to use a flashlight but with the inability to move when the flashlight is used (WTF?).
In the course of Tintin's adventures, he is accompanied by Snowy from the start of the game and Capt. Haddock joins them later (recall the plot of The Crab with the Golden Claws when Tintin encounters the Captain for the first time onboard his captured merchant ship - Karaboudjan). Tintin can also commandeer the biplane (what looks like the Ar 196) from time to time. Navigation of the biplane is pretty simple, requires the player to steer clear of bad weather and use the turrets onboard to get rid of the opponents. Tintin and Haddock can also ride a motorcycle attached with the sidecar. When one of them rides the bike, the other one aids in clearing the way. What I am not sure is how a mere catapult can take down a small truck? Take a look at the trailer posted above which shows Tintin using what appears to be a shotgun! Now that is so wrong! Wonder what Ubi was thinking. Some sequences require Snowy to aid Tintin. For instance, Snowy can squeeze through a small hole to enter into a room and fetch a key or dig a burrow under the ground and tunnel through it to reach a remote location. Snowy can also help track down someone with his smell or footsteps. He can bark to scare away the bunch of rats hurling towards him. Some of the fast-paced chase sequences demands the player to act quickly and navigate Tintin/Snowy/Haddock through the path. Capt. Haddock re-enacting the battle sequences when Sir Francis Haddock had battled with the pirate Red Rackham was kick ass! It happens in multiple stages and during those sequences the player must control Sir Francis Haddock with some easy combat and QTEs.
Visuals look okay'ish. I recall when Ubi had developed the official game for Peter Jackson's King Kong, the game had some of the best visuals which reproduced the locales as depicted in the movie. But despite enabling AA from the game's options, jagged edges are still visible. There are not many options to tinker with other than the resolution, AA and v-sync. Well, this isn't RAGE so it is acceptable. That said the quality of the cutscenes look mediocre. Voice acting and character modeling definitely deserves a mention here. It appears that the characters have been modeled based on the movie and although Jamie Bell may not be the best match for the Tintin as we have seen him on the comics, Andy Serkis who takes the role as Capt. Haddock has done a fantastic job here. The Captain's alcoholic nature and his sarcastic comments have been enacted in its true form by Serkis. "Thundering typhoons! Billions of blue blistering barnacles" - we've got plenty of those in the game and many more!
The ending was a bit disappointing because the plot had drastic changes from the comic book. I am assuming the upcoming movie has a similar plot. Prof. Calculus who makes his debut in Red Rackham's Treasure was completely absent from the game! And so were the twin detectives - Thompson and Thomson. They did however make a cameo towards the ending sequence. The single player campaign was very short and I clocked roughly 4 hours and 30 minutes. There is an additional co-op campaign wherein the player can swap between Tintin and Haddock while playing through what appears like Haddock's dream sequences. Controls are auto-mapped for the X360 controller. The second player can use the keyboard as well.
Let me be very clear. This game is targeted fairly at the younger audiences and if you were expecting something hardcore in the leagues of the Tomb Raider or the Uncharted series, you will be DISAPPOINTED. Fans of the franchise are in for a treat and will love the game and appreciate it for what it is. Over and out!
