Shrek 2: The Game – GC – Review

Shrek 2 the movie is due to hit the theaters in a few weeks, and Activision has released several console versions to precede the movie. Previous Shrek games have been somewhat less than stellar (and that’s being kind), so it was interesting to see how this latest version would fare with developer Luxoflux. I’m happy to say that this Shrek game is far, far better than all the others.

It’s hard to say what type of genre Shrek 2 fits, as it seems a mix of various types of games. It’s mainly a melee/party type game, with almost equally strong platform elements of jumping, puzzle solving and item collecting. The melee/party aspect centers around the party of four characters that players control throughout the game. While only one character is under the player’s control at any given time, the others follow the main character around in a pack, and can be changed instantly to the lead character with a push of a button. This is a very streamlined method of changing characters, and Luxoflux even designed it to where other players can pick up a controller and immediately become one of the characters, without having to change modes of gameplay. The same goes for leaving the game.

Shrek, Fiona and Donkey are the main characters, with Gingerbread Man, Lil’ Red, Puss in Boots, Fairy, and the Big Bad Wolf appearing later in the game, to swap out with each other. The first level begins with Gingerbread Man. Each character has his or her own special ability, like Shrek’s Ogre lifting, Fiona’s Time-Slowing talent, Big Bad’s Huff and Puff, and Lil’ Red’s Rotten Apple Bomb. Some of these are ever-present, and some are activated by collecting a special power-up. While some of the areas don’t require any one special character to traverse them, many can only be successfully negotiated by a certain character. There is a puzzle-like aspect to this, but of an extremely simple type, as each specific situation obviously points to the character needed, and if still in doubt, the mirror will tell players who is needed.

Again, this is a mix of melee fighting and platforming. From time to time, the group will face a mob of baddies, and have to duke it out. The fighting is simple, and all the characters automatically join in and fight independently. Sometimes the fighting takes place in a mini-game, which is optional, and can either be melee style, or will feature just one character in a Hero Time challenge. These Hero Time challenges are also part of the main levels, and are not optional then. In one optional Hero Time challenge, Shrek must round up several goons and throw them in the paddy wagon; in another non-optional Hero Time, Fiona has to match the falling buttons by pressing the matching buttons in a rhythm/button matching game.

The platforming is fairly simple, too, and mainly consists of jumping on ledges, or using mini-trampolines to bounce to higher ledges. Sometimes a character will need to use a special talent to hit buttons that are far away, or to kick open gates.

For each chapter, there are specific goals that have to be met, but the level can be finished without completing all the tasks. However, it’s not clear which ones have to be completed or not. Most of the tasks consist of rounding up items such as chickens, dwarves or thugs, and collecting things. And of course, there are the ever-present coins to collect. They can actually be used in this game to purchase special powerups in the leprechaun’s shop, a great idea.

As the main character moves around the screen, the others follow. Often when the direction is changed, the other characters get in the way by standing around in front of the main character, but this is just a minor annoyance, as there isn’t too much danger lurking around the corners in this game. A bigger annoyance is the at-times lousy camera view, which isn’t designed very well. The viewpoint can be turned a little using the yellow directional button, but nowhere near the degree it needs to be able to be turned. Trying to re-orient the view to be behind the character is often difficult to impossible in some positions. There is also no up or down movement, that I could find, anyway. This leads to many blind alleys.

The game looks very nice on the GameCube, with all the inhabitants looking just the way they should. Even the peripheral characters received a lot of attention as to detailed appearance. The stationary objects are crisp and clear, and offer satisfying effects when smashed to reveal coins and other items. The backgrounds aren’t quite as well-drawn as the objects, but are still of fairly high quality. The levels reflect different fairy tale stories, and the environments match the stories, with great lighting effects. The cheerful atmosphere of Far Far Away is especially appropriate, and gives off a cute, but slightly smug aura. The characters all have funny animations when they’re standing still, which will tickle most players.

While the voices aren’t the actors in the Shrek movies, they are still very well done. They’re probably as close as you can get to the real thing, realistically. The side comments and dialogue, while not quite as witty as the movies, still are pretty funny at times, and even when not, are not annoyingly stupid. The comments match the characters, and are believable. Most kids will find them humorous, and many adults, too. The music and sound effects are adequate, but nothing to write home about.

This game is clearly designed for younger players, and while offering a good gameplay experience, is not a difficult game to play. This is just how it should be, and Luxoflux clearly knew their target audience, which is refreshing in the field of mediocrity in movie tie-in games for children. Older players will enjoy the game, as well, but may find it too easy and too short. However, for a family it’s an excellent choice, as everyone can play. The only difficult aspects are the mini-games, which are short on instruction and will have players basically playing every time on trial and error. For instance, a round-up the chickens game doesn’t say where to put the chickens, and players will probably end up stumbling on the answer by guesswork. When Shrek is required to round up the thugs and put them in the paddy wagon, the wagon is hard to find, and some kids may have a difficult time figuring out how to throw the thugs into the wagon once found. However, the game offers many checkpoints, and unlimited lives, so the frustration is minimal.