This looks so wrong!
Shrek SuperSlam is a four-player brawler, with a focus on providing a multiplayer experience. We were informed that there is a single-player portion to the game, but we didn’t get a chance to see it. Instead we took part in a couple of the multiplayer bouts. It looks like the game will have a formidable line-up of mainly characters that have appeared in both movies thus far, including Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Prince Charming and Puss-in-Boots. There were even a couple more fairy-tale characters that didn’t really play prominent roles like Humpty Dumpty and unicorn like animal.
The game itself played out a bit like the classical Power Stone. All four players were set out in an arena, free to duke it out. However, it hardly had the depth of the aforementioned game. The basic premise for Shrek SuperSlam is to beat down on your opponents until your “slam” meter filled up. Once the meter was full, you could unleash the characters “slam” attack. For example, Shrek destroyed the wind with a huge, green gas cloud, Puss-in-Boots charmed the characters in range and charged them and Prince Charming let loose some nasty fireballs. For each successful slam, you gained a point. For each slam taken, you lost one. The one with the most points at the end of the time limit was the winner.
Other parts of the fighting system include your usual weak and strong attacks, used on opponents to fill up the slam meter. The stages had a few tiers that often hid secret weapons. Weapons were stage specific, of limited use and regenerative. Each stage was representative of a part of the Shrek and fairytale world. There was the dragon’s lair, the tavern in the second movie, the beanstalk and there will be many more in the final version. Each stage also featured destructible environments and specialties, like a mine cart that a player would be hurled into if hit by a slam.
The actual game looks a lot better than this ... well, maybe not a lot
The game will probably hit a chord with kids, simply because it’s Shrek, but unless some of the flaws that were apparent are fixed, other players may steer clear. The fighting system, while simple, seemed to lack a bit of coherence and balance. It seemed that it was very easy for players to run off into a corner, away from the action and the controls in general were a bit loose and unresponsive. The characters need some balance before the final version is released as well. Prince Charming and Puss-in-Boots were extremely fast and had a distinct advantage over slower characters and Shrek was quite strong in comparison to some others. While Black Knight was strong, he was way too slow and Donkey seemed almost useless.
One endearing issue was that where a game like Super Smash Bros. is renowned for being intense and jam-packed with action, Shrek SuperSlam only managed to look like a mess. It was often difficult, to differentiate between characters, sometimes they got lost off screen or you’d think they were going one way but then your character would appear elsewhere. These were all signs of the stage at which the game is currently at, a relatively early one.
Puss in Ball
Presentation-wise, the game looks reasonable. In the very least, it manages to recreate the characters faithfully and the stages look like they’ve been well adopted from the movie. If the camera and a few other things can be tweaked properly, we’ll be in for a decent looking game. Due to the early build, we couldn’t get a proper indication of how the game will sound, but this is an area that can make or break the game’s atmosphere. Without it, the game didn’t feel very good. If it were to be done properly, it would add a lot to the game.
In all, Shrek SuperSlam will most definitely satisfy the kids. It may even make for a decent game that non-gamer parents may partake with some of the younger children. Though the game was still in the early stages and we are unable to get a true indication of how it will satisfy older, more sophisticated or discerning gamers. Unfortunately, these kinds of games can be either rushed or simply not up to the general levels that most of want. Though that doesn’t mean that the little cousin won’t want it.
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