Most movie to game conversions are laughable, in the past few years developers have made every attempt to break this curse with some genuinely decent conversions, from Lord of the Rings: Return of the King to Goldeneye 007. However, for every one good title there are a hundred appauling games ranging from Terminator: Dawn of Fate to Superman.
The original Shrek movie was another masterpiece from Dreamworks, combining humour, a great storyline and fantastic graphics. The game was the complete opposite. The original Shrek game (which was exclusive to Xbox) was extremely formulaic, repetitive and boring.
Reviews for the Shrek sequel have been really good and Activision are hoping that their Shrek 2 game will receive the same reviews. Shrek 2 is not a masterpiece but it is a thoroughly enjoyable game which any body can pick up and play.
The Shrek 2 game is based on the movie. Princess Fiona and Shrek have just gotten married and after receiving word that they have been married, Princess Fiona’s parents invite Shrek and Princess Fiona to a grand royal ball in their honour.
Messengers are sent far and wide to find the couple and invite them to the ball. However, Princess Fiona’s parents do not realize that their daughter has married an ugly ogre, Shrek. Shrek originally isn’t to keen on meeting the parents who locked his wife in a dragon’s tower but Princess Fiona and Donkey convince him otherwise.
Shrek 2 begins in Shrek’s swamp where player’s learn the basic controls. In Shrek 2 players are able to control four unique players, Shrek, Princess Fiona, Donkey and the Gingerbread man. Every character has different moves and it will be vital for gamers to choose the right character to perform an action.
Shrek 2 is an extremely easy game to pick up. Environments aren’t extremely overwhelming but are a decent size and four playable characters adds a twist on the traditional platforming genre. Gamers are not restricted to these characters and later in the game are able to play as Puss in Boots, Lil’ Red and the Big Bad Wolf.
Shrek 2 features all new levels which have been modeled to look as similar to the movie’s locations as possible. Similar in vein to an RPG your team (consisting of four players) is able to “upgrade” abilities. This includes abilities such as attack power, health or health regeneration abilities. These upgrades can be purchased using coins which are scattered throughout levels.
Everytime a goal is completing a picture is also taken to help gamers remember that moment in the game. There are a total of seventy screenshots in the game. Up to five bonus levels can be unlocked from these snapshots.
At certain parts of the game tasks will need to be undertaken by certain characters. This splits up your party and allows each character to show off their unique talents and help the entire party to complete the level.
A multiplayer mode has also been included as a co-operative mode. Up to four players can take part in the main game and the game will automatically detect the amount of players playing.
Control in Shrek has been improved upon although sometimes it can become hard to control some characters and get them to go where you want them to. In the original title camera work was a big issue. This has been rectified by objects becoming “see through” as the camera pans past them. A 3D platformer can be impossible to play if there are camera problems and we’re glad Shrek 2 doesn’t have this problem.
At times collecting coins and moving from A to B can become repetitive. The beginning of the game treats the gamer like a five year old but things thankfully start to become more intense as the game goes on with some real skill required to complete levels. Gamers will love the familiarity with Shrek and all the areas he visits.
Some of the environments can also be extremely restrictive. None of the characters can swim and an invisible barrier holds gamers from going past areas which aren’t accessible. This can become frustrating as it doesn’t help the game create an overall sense of freedom.
Graphics have been overhauled from the previous Shrek title. The characters look impressive and are easily distinguishable. At times some of the surroundings can look unrealistic and the graphics aren’t up to the standard of better platformers such as Jak II and Ratchet and Clank.
Realism and immersion is an important aspect of movie to game conversions and unfortunately the characters voices aren’t as good as they could have been. None of the people voicing the characters in the game voiced there characters in the movie which makes the game seem less authentic than it could have. The voice over actors have done a decent job but it is never as authentic as the real voice actors.
Shrek 2 is a surprisingly enjoyable game which has enough challenges and fun in it to keep most people happy. The tie-in with the movie is great, if you are planning to see the movie we advise you steer clear of this game until it’s release as a lot of the story is involved in the game. Shrek 2 only has a few drawbacks, mainly in control and restrictive roaming gameplay. If you’re a Shrek fan you will enjoy this game, it doesn’t bring any innovations to the platforming genre but makes improvements upon a few aspects.
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