As the
current crop of summer blockbusters vie for your hard-earned dollars this year,
it seems that the film industry has developed a nasty case of sequel-itis. The
trilogies seem very in this year, with the third entries in the Shrek, Pirates
of the Caribbean, and Spider-man franchises all cleaning up at the box office.
Unfortunately, these movies left quite a lot to be desired, not quite living up
to the lofty standards set by their predecessors.
Such is
the case with their licensed video game tie-ins. Spider-Man 3 certainly had its
ups (and some major downs), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End was a
letdown, and now Shrek the Third hits the PSP with a resounding thud. The game
is a simplistic, by the numbers action game that skirts by solely on the
strength of its license. Basically, if you buy Shrek the Third, you’re not doing
it for the gameplay.
Shrek the
Third follows the storyline of the popular film, putting you in control of Shrek,
Fiona, Puss, Donkey, and Sleeping Beauty at certain points when the story calls
for it. The story lightly mirrors the film without implicitly mirroring, and the
cutscenes are done through clever little puppet shows.
However,
the novelty behind Shrek the Third wears off quickly once you start playing it.
The game is a by the numbers brawler. As Shrek, you punch your way through
hordes of enemies. You do have some rudimentary combos that you can perform, but
these are simple two-button deals that every character seems to be relegated to.
The
characters have light elements to separate them from each other. For example,
Sleeping Beauty can glide while jumping (a la the Princess in Super Mario Bros.
2), Puss can double-jump, and Shrek and Fiona can go into bullet time by kicking
in their ogre meter after taking out a certain number of bad guys.
Aside from
these small differences, the gameplay in Shrek the Third stays pretty consistent
throughout. The game is a button-mashing fighting game through and through.
While there are some puzzles thrown in here and there to stir up the pot, these
aren’t taxing whatsoever and feel more like a chore than an engaging
brain-bender. It shouldn’t be difficult for anyone to go through Shrek the
Third’s storyline in under five hours. Aside from a two-player minigame playable
through ad-hoc (which couldn’t be factored into this review since my chances of
finding another person with Shrek the Third on PSP were, shall we say, pretty
bleak), the game’s replayability isn’t too terribly high.
Graphically, Shrek the Third isn’t a terrible looking game, but there are better
showcases out there for your PSP. The character models do a fine job of
representing their movie counterparts, and the environments are pretty decent.
However, the game’s fixed camera can be a huge pain. It would’ve been nice for
the developers to implement some way for the player to manipulate it when it
gets stuck in a wall, but it seems that it just wasn’t in the cards.
The sound
is a mixed bag. The score is pretty good and reflects the movie well, but the
voice acting is a hit and a miss. Some characters like Shrek are well
represented, while others (like Donkey) are pretty lousy imitations.
Shrek the
Third won’t dazzle you with innovation or engaging gameplay elements. This game
is banking on whether or not you’re enough of a fan of the movie to drop your
cold hard cash. But, take it from me, it’s just not worth it.
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Gameplay: 6.0
Repetitive
button-mashing combat and simplistic puzzles make for some pretty boring
gameplay, even if you’re a fan of the big green ogre.
Graphics: 7.0
Decent-looking
character models and environments are mired by a cumbersome nonadjustable
camera.
Sound: 7.0
The score sounds
pretty good, but the voice acting ranges from fairly accurate to way off-base.
Difficulty: Easy
Concept: 5.5
Just another ho-hum
licensed game.
Overall: 6.0
Shrek the Third
doesn’t bring anything new to the table.
