Shrek the Third
This game bucks the trend of movie tie-ins and kids games and manages to be fun!
Tags: Shrek 3 Categories: DS Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Jun 1st, 2007
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Shrek 3 (title page) | |||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Platformer | No | ||
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Shrek the Third is already breaking records for animated movies, and the marketing blitz is in full force. As with any summer blockbuster (especially those directed toward kids), there are video games in the works for all the major systems. The most likely to rapt your kids for that long road trip this summer, is the DS version of Shrek the Third. Basically a team based adventure game; it features Shrek, Arthur, and Puss in Boots. The player takes the role of Donkey who is imbibed with Merlin’s powers, and aids the trio along their path.
The game has a very impressive array of sampled audio, including a voice over with Eddie Murphy narrating the game. Although it comes at a price as the graphics are not as sharp as one would expect from a DS game. It isn’t that Shrek the Third is an ugly game, but everything has an odd blur too it. There aren’t any real cut scenes, as most of the story is told through text and static images, but you get the actual Shrek voices for the whole game, so it’s an even trade.
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The controls are a little weird to get used to, opting for the one hand/stylus scheme from Starfox, etc. The stylus is used for attacks, and party controls, and beyond the awkward learning curve they work rather well.
Shrek the Third for the DS seems to be part of trend of kids’ games, while still a majority of licensed properties, are beginning to gain some quality. The game is a basic side scrolling adventure, but the level design requires you to work with all three members of your party. Each member has a specific skill. Shrek can smash barriers, and knock down any ground enemies. Arthur has a shield he can throw, and is the only one in the party that can cross water. Puss is the only one who can jump, and has a decent attack.
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Most of the levels seem like obstacle courses, but figuring out how to get through them and move all three members along is most of the challenge in the game. None of the enemies ever do much damage, and there are health power ups every couple of screens. It’s fairly standard stuff for the genre and platform.
There is a lot of game here, and finding all the various hidden power ups, and items will take you some time. The design of the game itself makes it hard to make sure that you have explored every part of the levels. Shrek breaks a lot of the worst trends in games aimed at younger audiences, and parents can be happy that their kids have a game made for the age group that still manages to present the challenge of adult video games. I doubt that even adults who have a penchant to like animated movie would be too intrigued by this title, but if you can’t get enough of the green ogre, give it a try.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ A solid adventure title, that manages to be a challenge + Good audio |
8.5 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Graphics aren't great - Controls take a bit of getting used to |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| This is a decent game for kids, and adults who refuse to grow up. You may not want to go see the movie again, but the game can at least keep your kids entertained in their need for more Shrek and Co. | |
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Tags: Shrek 3
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Jun 1st, 2007 and is filed under DS Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
