Shrek and his band of merry misfits have been a staple in Hollywood animation for a few years now. Packed full with more jokes for the parents than the kids the movie pretends to be geared towards, Shrek has become somewhat of a cashcow for Dreamworks Animation Studios. With that said, it came as no surprise that Dreamworks had a 3rd feature length film based on the loveable orge and everyone's favorite donkey.

Coinciding with the theatrical release of Shrek the Third comes a game by the same name headed to all the major gaming platforms. In past years, a multi-platform release really meant a game was ported between the major systems with little to no difference. With consoles like the Wii and the DS having very unique controller options available to them, developers are actually tailoring these multi release games to take advantage of these unique features. Where does that leave the PS2 version of the game? With it being almost identical to the X360 version, it lands on the bad side of the X360 version. Fuzzy graphics, poor character models, and no 5.1 in game sound all contribute to the PS2 version showing its age in a bad way.

The storyline of Shrek the Third unfolds just like in the movie, so if you have seen the movie then there won't be any surprises here. In a nutshell, and I'm going to spoil it all here for you, Fiona's father dies and Shrek is set to become king. To avoid having to rule the kingdom of Far Far Away, Shrek sets out to find Fiona's cousin, Artie, the only other possible heir to the throne. While on his journey, Prince Charming returns to Far Far Away seeking revenge. As you play through the game, most of the time you will be playing with Shrek, Donkey, and Puss in Boots, but the game switches back to Fiona for plot progression.

Shrek the Third packs in a pretty impressive set of gameplay types and unlockables. The basic story mode is where you will spend most of your time and it is broken up into levels. Each level, in addition to making it through the level, has a list of quests for you to complete. These quests range from performing 5 finishing moves to finding a certain number of items littered throughout the level. At levels end, you are rewarded with gold coins for each of the quests you completed. These coins can be used to unlock costumes for the characters, game options to boost your skills, multiplayer levels, and a few other things. If you don't complete all the level quests, fear not as you are able to replay any level you have previously completed.

In addition to the Story Mode, Shrek the Third packs in a few extras in the form of Multiplayer and Minigames. The Multiplayer mode consists of a single game called Castle Capture where you are pitted in a head to head race to knock down the opposing person's towers with a catapult. Castle Capture, a game where you don't actually capture anything, is actually quite fun and is introduced in the Story Mode of the game. The Minigames that are included are Catacombs Leap, Frog Herder, Ships Ahoy, Shooting Gallery, and Shrekleboard. I quite enjoyed the Shooting Gallery and Ships Ahoy, but the rest were pretty mediocre.

Shrek the Third is a solid action adventure that you will probably tear through in a short time. Being able to replay levels is a good feature, but ultimately you won't feel like you need/want to. For this reason, Shrek the Third is strictly a rental. Despite the extra features, there isn't enough to justify adding this to your collection unless you are a huge Shrek fan then it might slide up to being a bargain bin purchase. Even then, the PS2 version is so far behind the other versions that you will want to pick it up on any console but this.

Jul 23, 2007 | 0 comments
Chris Rasco