Our friend Shrek makes a welcome appearance on our Xbox 360’s this summer in the form of Activisions game of the movie Shrek the Third. Having played the previous game this is one that we were quite looking forward too, Shrek 2 offered a good co-op game and had plenty of comical moments to keep you entertained, but would Shrek the Third continue from were this left off or take a different direction, if you want to know then read on and your questions will be answered.
In Shrek the Third you follow the story of the movie with a few bits of humour thrown in for good measure, it is a very easy game to pick up so after the short tutorial at the beginning you will find yourself flying through the levels without too much difficulty. Throughout the game you are able to take control of all the characters that you would expect to, with each of them having their own advantages, although Shrek always seems to be the most fun character to use.
The games combat is very simple but effective, most of the basic controls are assigned to the buttons but there are a few nice additions to the combat such as the combo system which prompts you to press triangle to grab the enemy and then attack him while he is still stunned, this at least takes away from just bashing the buttons to get through the levels. Lastly you are also able to use special moves by building up the energy you collect throughout the level and unleashing it at the appropriate time by using both trigger buttons.
There are quite a few levels to get through in the game although it is very easy, even at the most difficult setting, however with the mini challenges thrown in such as finding the hidden objects, it should take you a bit longer to get all the achievements than it will to complete the game.
Presentation wise Shrek the Third is a mixed bag, while the environments and characters are nicely drawn they do suffer from the occasional flaw such as the frame rate dropping and the camera going awol when you need it most. On a positive note the FMV sequences are very nice, for example the story is told by a puppet show in between scenes and this has been done well and injects a bit of style into the proceedings. The sound offers a good authentic feel although it is sometimes apparent that the real actors are not providing the voiceovers.
There are some multiplayer aspects to the game in the form of the minigames, one of these involves both players taking control of a tower each and trying to destroy thier opponents with a catapulte before thier own is destroyed and while these games are fun the enjoyment is short lived.
One of the most positive things we can say about Shrek the Third on the Xbox 360 is that this type of game seems to be lacking from the console, a platform/adventure game which is child friendly and appealing for all the family, therefore Activison may have found a niche in the market here that didn’t really exist before.
Overall Shrek the Third is a bit of a let down, the lack of a co-op mode really hurts the game no matter how much you want to like it, don’t get us wrong, it is a very fun game to play and includes some excellent moments, but it’s just that it is so much more fun when there are two people involved and it is criminal that unless you are playing the mini games you will be playing on your own.
