Tintin Reporter: Cigars of the Pharaoh (2023)

Tintin Reporter: Cigars of the Pharaoh (2023) 📷

Let’s start by showing y’all the trailers shall we?

And right away, the trailer tells you exactly what kind of game this is.

This is not trying to be dark, gritty, or edgy. It’s not pretending to be something it’s not. You’ve got bright visuals, classic adventure vibes, Tintin running around getting himself into situations he absolutely should not be in, and it all feels very true to the original style.

And honestly?

That’s already a win.

Because after everything we’ve been talking about with these other mummy-related things trying to be something else…

this one actually knows what it is.

If y’all are wondering why i’m reviewing these now, it’s because we’re getting a new mummy film that just released today by Lee Cronin, so I thought it’d be a perfect time to look back at some niche mummy, movies or egyptian movies.

If you ask me, I’ve never seen this much of a revival of mummies and archeology. But im glad its happened. First we had

This game

Then

Amenti

Then

Indiana Jones And The Great Circle

Then today we had

Lee Cronin’s The Mummy

Then in 2 years we’ll have

The 4th installment into thr Brandon Fraser Mummy film

Yeah I wasnt expecting this much of a revival of the Mummy IP and archeology but here we are. Granted its not always been a smooth ride because we did get Dial Of Deatiny and that almost put another nail in the coffin but still.

—

Non-Spoiler Plot Rundown

So you’re playing as Tintin, a reporter who somehow always ends up in the middle of something way bigger than he signed up for. What starts as a simple situation quickly turns into a full-on mystery involving ancient Egyptian tombs, hidden secrets, and a conspiracy that keeps expanding the deeper you go.

And once the Egypt section kicks in?

That’s when the game really finds itself.

You’re exploring tombs, uncovering secrets, solving puzzles, and slowly realizing that yeah… maybe opening that door was not the smartest move.

But unlike the horrjor stuff we’ve been talking about, this isn’t trying to scare you.

It’s trying to pull you into the adventure.

And it does that really well.

—

Gameplay

This is where the game really shines… and also where it slightly gets in its own way.

The exploration is easily the best part. Walking through tombs with a torch, looking around, figuring out where to go next—it actually feels like an adventure. You get that Indiana Jones feeling of discovery, that sense of curiosity pushing you forward.

The puzzles are solid. They make you think just enough to stay engaged without becoming frustrating. You’re interacting with the environment in a way that feels natural.

Platforming is fine. It does what it needs to do without getting in the way.

The game isn’t really about combat, and that’s a good thing. It doesn’t try to force itself into being an action game.

But then…

the stealth.

Yeah, I’m coming back to it.

Because every time the game introduces a stealth section, it feels like it’s interrupting itself.

You go from exploring tombs and solving puzzles…

to suddenly having to crouch, move slowly, avoid detection, and if you mess up, you’re restarting.

And it just breaks the flow.

It’s not that it’s completely broken—it’s just not fun. It feels like it belongs in a different game.

—

Characters

Tintin works perfectly for this kind of game. He’s curious, brave, and way too comfortable walking into danger like it’s just part of his job.

Snowy is great. Having him there adds charm, and honestly, he just makes everything better.

The rest of the characters do their job, but this is very much Tintin’s adventure. The focus is on the journey and the mystery more than deep character arcs.

—

Tone & Atmosphere

This is where the game really nails it.

It captures that classic adventure feeling of exploring the unknown, uncovering secrets, and stepping into places that feel ancient and important.

The tomb sections are the highlight. They feel immersive, mysterious, and actually fun to explore.

It’s not trying to scare you.

It’s trying to engage you.

And it succeeds.

—

Final Thoughts

This is one of those games that understands exactly what it wants to be.

It’s not trying to be overly complicated. It’s not trying to reinvent the genre. It just wants to be a classic adventure game about exploration, puzzles, and mystery.

And when it sticks to that?

It’s really good.

It just keeps tripping over those stealth sections that don’t add anything and end up slowing everything down.

If those were toned down or removed, this would’ve been an even stronger experience.

—

Final Rating

9/10

A really fun, well-made adventure game with great exploration and atmosphere, slightly held back by stealth sections that just don’t fit.

—

SPOILERS

Once you get deeper into the Egypt portion of the game, this is where everything really starts to come together.

The tombs stop feeling like simple locations and start feeling like actual layered environments. You’re not just walking through them—you’re navigating them, figuring them out piece by piece. There are traps, hidden mechanisms, pathways that loop back on themselves, and moments where you realize the place you’re in wasn’t just built for storage… it was built with purpose.

And the game does a really good job of slowly building that sense of “okay… something bigger is going on here.”

At first, it feels like a straightforward treasure hunt. You’re just following clues, solving puzzles, moving forward.

But then the deeper you go, the more the story starts connecting things. The ancient Egyptian elements aren’t just there for decoration—they tie into a larger mystery that starts reaching beyond just the tomb itself.

You start uncovering how everything is connected, how the past and present are overlapping, and it gives the whole adventure more weight than just “we found something cool.”

There are also moments where the tension ramps up a bit—not in a horror way, but in a “this could go very wrong very quickly” kind of way. Tight corridors, mechanisms triggering, things shifting around you… you feel that sense of danger without the game needing to scare you.

And this is where the game is at its best.

You’re fully immersed. You’re exploring, solving, uncovering secrets, and everything feels like it’s building toward something meaningful.

And then…

the game pulls you into another stealth section.

And it’s like hitting a wall.

You go from being completely engaged in the adventure to suddenly being forced into slow, stop-and-go gameplay that doesn’t match the momentum you had built.

It doesn’t ruin the experience…

but it absolutely interrupts it.

And that’s the frustrating part.

Because when the game is focused on exploration, puzzles, and mystery?

It’s great.

It’s exactly what you want from this kind of adventure.

It just keeps getting in its own way.

—

And yeah…

this is one of those games where you finish it and go:

“Man… if they just eased up on the stealth…”

this would’ve been an easy slam dunk. 😄