Shown from a third-person perspective, The Da Vinci Code gives players control using a combination of traditional camera angles and cinematic perspectives. The camera will automatically find the most dramatic angles during a scene, with the idea that they'll draw the most emotion from a player. That often means sometimes you're in control of the camera and sometimes you're not. The first cutscene sets the pace by bringing you in on the initial murder, showing a grisly death of a seemingly innocent man. From there, you'll listen to NPC characters, interface with art and objects and pick up clues to unravel the mystery.

To balance the puzzle and adventure side of the game, The Collective built a unique combat system it likes to call the "Struggle System." Similar to a wrestling grapple system, players will grab onto another character, and using a Simon Says-style button-tapping formula, they'll manhandle their enemies. It works like this, some bad-ass thug comes at you, and you grab them, holding onto their shoulders. A series of face buttons appear on screen and you must quickly punch them in the correct order. If successful, you'll watch as either Langdon or Neveu perform flip moves, gut punches, or throws to disable their opponents. You'll also find stealth attacks in the bag of tricks, in addition to the ability to push, defend, and dodge enemies. You can even distract opponents by throwing objects. Of course, the enemy is quite capable too. They'll fight back, throw items, throw you, dodge, and defend. To complete the package, players can hide bodies.