Tintin Reporter - Cigars of the Pharaoh

Review

Hergé is one of the most renowned writers and artists of French-language comic books (The Adventure of Tintin). It’s staggering to think that Tintin's stories have been translated into 38 different languages, bringing joy to both children and adults since he was first introduced by the weekly publication "Le Petit Vingtième" on January 10, 1929. As I am a big fan of Tintin, I had to try it no matter what. So now, what do I think about this Tintin game?

Tintin Reporter - Cigars of the Pharaoh is an adventure with puzzles and racing (chasing) elements developed by Pendulo Studios and published by Microids on the 8^th of November, 2023. The game is also available on PS4/PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

In the Cigars of the Pharaoh, you will play in six different locations: the MS Epomeon, the Kih-Oskh tomb, a smuggling boat, the town of Abudin, the Indian jungle and Gaipajama.

In each location there are tasks to do that combine chasing (either being chased or chasing something), stealth, finding objects, and of course, puzzles. One aspect I particularly like is that at some point in each location, you play Tintin’s dog, Snowy (Milou in French) to either help Tintin or find Tintin. You’ll require some stealth early in the game, mostly to find a path to help Tintin.  There’s a sequence towards the end of the game that will be timed.

One of game’s weak spots is the camera rotation, which is a shame because you need to use it as Snowy in order to find your path.

The puzzles are well-placed throughout the game but average in terms of difficulty. The only one that took me a bit by surprise was the opening box at the Major House in the Indian Jungle. I liked was the stealth phases, especially the one where you have to follow Professor Sarcophagus through the jungle as you have to figure out the puzzle to make him go through a specific path; that was fun.

I had issues with the chasing sequences. From the start on board the Epomeon vessel, you have to chase a flying Egyptian manuscript, and you need to either click on a specific button or use the gamepad directional sticks following instructions. The issue was that more than once, while pressing the correct buttons or using the directional stick, it would not work, and I would have to restart from the last saving point. But the worst point was that the game would crash after reloading to the last save, which happened in every location in a chasing sequence; very frustrating. Another issue was disappearing terrain during a car chase in India; it was odd! And yes, I had the latest Nvidia Drivers for my RTX 4080 video card. Strangely enough, this issue didn’t occur in other regions. I also experienced a few glitches with the voice-over, mostly synchronisation. And to top it off, the cutscenes, which show illustrations between locations, didn’t run smoothly. To be fair, the developers are aware of the issues and trying their best to rectify them.

The developers succeeded in keeping the story true to the comic book, and I enjoyed the visuals and comic elements. Again, they had the right combination of phases (chasing, puzzles etc) at each location, but the execution let them down, I am afraid.

I think the game is worth playing, especially as the developers are committed to providing a good gaming experience. And yes, I did notice a few improvements during my playthrough. Would I replay the game once all the issues are rectified? Probably not. I did like it, though, and if I hadn’t experienced these issues, I would have given it a good 8 out of 10.

Review written by THE CPT FROGGY for Zeepond.com

Tintin Reporter - Cigars of the Pharaoh Steam Store page