Shrek Extra Large

"Good laugh, one timer"

As action-adventure games go, this is a good one. Although action-adventure isn't my normal gaming genre, I still enjoyed Shrek: Extra Large. Well unless you have been living in caves in the middle of nowhere you should at least have heard of the movie Shrek. The movie was great, and the game that came there from was also good, with similar humor and similar graphics.

Gameplay 7/10

The game is semi-difficult, for those under 10 it should be hard, but those over 14 should find it easy to intermediate. It is fun to go through all of the missions. Anyway the game goes somewhat like this: You enter an area, something happens, you have 4 necessary missions and 2 optional ones, and you can always come back to do the optional 2.

Controls 8/10

Great controls, very easy to maneuver. Easy to learn how to play, and easy to get into and out of the game very quickly. You start with several moves, and earn a couple as the game progresses. The moves are easy to execute, 'nuff said.

Ambient 8/10

Great animations, funny fighting, funny lines, great quality. The sounds and music are perfect, they set the setting like no other music could. Any speech that comes in is funny, example, go hit somebody, they usually say something like ''Oh how rude'' in a very comical manner. Everything sounds as realistic as it could get, and the graphics are Gamecube worthy.

Story 6/10

OK, the story is cute (help this character go here/find this). The main story is fair, not what I would expect from Shrek, but it is enough to keep you going (Fiona captured by Merlin, beat Ice queen he will give her back).

Game Time 5/10

You could play this over and over again, depending on whether you found it funny, the only drawback is if you are very good you can finish the whole game in about 20 Hours (30 if you find all the secrets etc.).

Rent or Buy?

If you tend to play the genre action-adventure buy it if it is $30 or less, if you don't like the genre go with $20 or less, hate the genre? Rent.

Overall Shrek is best as a game that you play through once every so-often beating all the missions. I say it is best for those of age 8 or up, as any younger children will get extremely frustrated. Also watch out as it is very crude, Shrek is constantly farting/burping and you cannot pass the game without, you may find this offensive so be careful when buying this game.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/30/03