Shrek the Third

"Just another movie tie in"

I thought Shrek the Third was an alright movie. Not great but decent. The Shrek games really haven't gotten good reviews and while I did play the horrid original I had heard the third game wasn't too bad. Well, I rented it... Is it like all movie based games? Read on!

Shrek is to be named king so he sets out to find a kid named Arthur who is a distance cousin to Fiona. They run into some problems while they are away but what's worse is that Prince Charming had gotten all of the villains together to over take Shrek's kingdom and hold the princesses captive. It follows the plot of the film except it adds some depth that perhaps the film could have actually used. Sadly it still isn't all that interesting of a tale.

The graphics in the game are pretty decent. Character models look good. The world is fairly colorful and it almost looks like a living cartoon. The problem is that some of the areas feel under detailed. Kind of bland overall. The new areas that weren't in the movie really do feel generic in look.

The sound in the game is pretty good. Not sure if the actors provide their voices but they sound pretty close. The music was alright. Didn't love or hate it. Sound effects were pretty good but again nothing to write home about.

The game uses a very simple control scheme. You jump, attack, upper cut and well that's about it. You also use super moves but the game offers a hand little display for when to use it and what buttons to use. I had no real problems with the control except that you can't move the camera so there are times where it feels very awkward.

The game is your typical action adventure game. 20 linear levels filled with some hidden items to find that don't really do much. Collect money to buy "cheats".

The enemy AI is kind of dumb and the hit detection can be a bit iffy at times. Enemy variety is also lacking and some are either so dumb that they just shouldn't be there or some are mysteriously hard to hit.

The levels themselves are mildly interesting and the items are hidden fairly well at times. The problem is that they are just very shallow for the most part and it boils down to just following a path. When the game opens up a bit the camera causes some havoc so it's a double edged sword in this games case.

It is nice having the different characters to play as, even though they all kind of play the same. The special moves is a nice touch and while some are useless (Princesses) some can come in hand if it didn't take forever to get the meter up.

The game itself isn't overly long. The funny thing is that some of the achievements, while easy, may require a number of replays to find the items or just to get enough coins to unlock the other difficulties. Imagine this, a game where hard mode is cheaper to buy than easy... Doesn't make sense.

Shrek the Third may entertain the children. It's about as good as the movie which with some charms was still just alright. It's a decent rental or a quick achievement ranker. Either way I couldn't recommend buying this game unless it was dirt cheap, like the price of a rental.

Story - 7/10
Graphics - 7/10
Sound - 6/10
Control - 7/10
Game Play - 6/10
Replay value - 5/10

Final Score - 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/12/07