The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor follows the same plot as the film. The player controls either Rick O'Connell or his son, Alex, from a third-person perspective. The game combines platforming, puzzle-solving, and combat elements into its gameplay, and consists of six levels.
The game's platforming sections, have been compared to those of the Tomb Raider series, and allow the player to perform several acrobatic manoeuvres, such as jumping or shimmying along edges. The player must also evade dangers and traps such as rotating saws or falling debris.
During combat, the game allows the player to switch between gun combat and hand-to-hand combat. The player has a range of melee attacks that can be used against enemies, and can also evade the attacks of enemies. Gun combat features a lock-on system, and the player can use either pistols, shotguns or tommy guns. The game also includes puzzle-solving, in the form of hieroglyphic decoding.Additional unlockables, such as conc...