Description
Video game adaptations of big movies, particularly kids movies, tend to get a lot of flak from more hardcore gamers and not without some justification. Not offering anything original in terms of gameplay is one thing but theyre usually quite shoddily made and with little real connection to the movie theyre supposed to be based on. Shrek The Third wont be winning any video game awards for innovation but it does at least look and sound like the film and is unlikely to disappoint anyone who simply wants to relive it from the comfort of their own joypad.
In predictable fashion the game is a third person action adventure in which you get to control Shrek, Donkey, Puss in Boots, Princess Fiona, Arthur and Sleeping Beauty. Each has their own subtle differences, from Puss n Boots double jump to Sleeping Beautys guide ability, but combat always comes down to just mashing the attack button as rapidly as possible. Everyone also has their own special move as well, from Fionas flying kick to Puss n Boots "cute puss" move.
Another inevitable aspect of the game is a series of mini-games, but most are actually quite good, particularly Castle Capture where you have to smash down an opponents walls and Ships Ahoy where you have to defend a beach from invading pirates. All can be played with a friend outside the game, which is more than can be said of the main story mode which is sadly single player only. The graphics are decent though and everyone looks like their movie selves, even if the celebrity impersonators dont sound like them. As a video game its a fairly average affair all round, but as a marketing tie-in it succeeds with flying colours.
Harrison Dent
