Shrek the Third Review

Costas Stephanides’s Review

Shrek, Donkey and the Cat are back (again)

Another sequel another mobile game. We haven't had a chance to see Shrek yet but by all accounts the film is more aimed at the adults than the little kiddies. I doubt there are manh parents who have time to play mobile games so it comes as no surprise that the game is very child friendly.

From what we've seen of the movie trailers, the game seems to follow the plot and there's a big spoiler waiting - you have been warned. In the game, you control Shrek as he travels with Donkey and Puss to find Arthur. The levels are platform based and are reminiscent of Prince of Persia particularly with the bouncing canopies. Even though you are controlling a big green ogre this does feel like a proper platform game. 1, 2 and 3 perform diagonal and vertical jumps and the longer you press, the higher you leap. You can even roll into a ball with bottom keys and get your sonic fix. To finish off, 5 is dash and is also the attack button which can be a three punch combo ending in a dragon punch. The platform levels are pretty fluid to play and hark back to the good old days with underwater levels and it even has pipes for Shrek to access secret areas; all that is missing is short, fat Italian.

The game tries to utilise all the main characters at some point; mostly through dialogue and witty jokes at the beginning of the levels. If you get bored of jumping around, you get the chance to control the dragon for a few shoot em up levels. It breaks up the game and is pretty good fun. These levels are horizontal scrolling where you battle against witches and flying trees (I guess you have to see the film). This part of the game is not quite as polished as the platform but it does break up the game.

There are 11 levels in total and it's fairly easy to complete on Medium. You have a health bar which can be replenished and you also get 3 lives and checkpoints. If you fancy a challenge, unlock the hard setting and try completing without any checkpoints - it's much harder.

Overall the experience left me wanting for more, which is not a bad thing, but other than repeating the game and trying to discover every secret part there isn't a great deal of longevity to this. It seems a game is only as good as its brand.