| VGLN.com
PS2 >> Reviews
>> article
Shrek 2
by Jolex Del Pilar
Tuesday, June 15 2004
Can the game possibly match the hype presented upon it by the movie? Find out in our review.
 |
|
|
Title:
Shrek 2
|
Platform:
PS2
|
Publisher:
Activision |
Developer:
Luxoflux |
#
of Players: 1 - 4 |
Genre:
Action/Adventure
|
Origin:
United States
|
Expected
Release:
May 2004 |
Grapevine:
Shrek 3 is in pre-production and is planned for a 2006 release date. |
Shrek 2 was a huge success at the box office when it arrived in theatres. The combination of light hearted quips combined with likable characters was a hit with both children and adults.
As is the habit of our fine industry, success at the box office usually means a game is coming down the pipes that will be looking to capture some of that same success.
Let me first start off by saying that Shrek is one of those licenses that seems to naturally fit into the "movie to game" conversion formula. Most CG based films seem to retain their look and feel a lot better than non-CG films when they eventually make their way into the video game medium, for obvious reasons.
I first saw Shrek at the Microsoft Press Event at E3 this year. The video trailer that was shown had bits and pieces of the action of the game, and even showed a little of its multiplayer mode. Believe or not, I was slightly interested.
About 2 weeks later, I get the PS2 version in the mail, and put the game to the test. If you can imagine it, Shrek 2 plays a lot like Double Dragon, or Final Fight from consoles past. It's a fighter that has you going through stages (usually locales from the movie itself), and defeating common enemies, mid-bosses, and eventually stage bosses. The move sets are fairly limited but different for each character. For instance, if you pick Shrek, expect his moves to reflect his massive strength. If you pick Puss and Boots, expect his fighting style to reflect his increased agility, and speed.
The game as a single player adventure is merely average. While the 10 or so stages are all varied, and definitely have their own charms, playing this game alone is just not the way it was meant to be played. In fact, if you think about it, Double Dragon and Final Fight were sort of this way as well. As a multiplayer game, Shrek 2 begins to shine.
As the levels progress you get quests that need to be completed throughout the level. Whether it be a simple puzzle to activate a switch that opens a door, or a quest that needs to be fulfilled for the King of Never Never Land, they all require some sort of team work. In single player, the friendly A.I is just atrociously stupid and will usually fight with the intellect of a 3 year old. So missions involving things like "defending the princess" will be exceedingly hard. In multiplayer, problems like that are eliminated unless your playmates include toddlers.
The evil fairy god mother will hinder your efforts occasionally throughout the game.
The visual side of the package is great. Perhaps I'm a bit biased because I understand the great pains it takes to create a look and feel within a game, but I honestly believe Shrek 2 is a good looking game. The models are instantly recognizable, while the colors are vibrant and bold, which holds true to the look of the film. My only concern is that the camera is sometimes squirrely, but most 3D games have at least minor camera problems.
The voices in the game were taken straight from the film, at least that's what I figured. If they weren't, the impersonators that were hired to mimick Eddie Murphy (Donkey), and Mike Myers (Shrek) were spot on.
Shrek 2 is an above average game, especially if you have a couple of friends or siblings who are gamers. It's not an excellent game, but most games are not. For one thing, the game seems a bit short, around 4-6 hours of game time, maybe 8 hours if you're trying to complete each mini-quest. However the game will probably have a broad appeal as it's simple enough for younger gamers to instantly pick up, but complex enough to keep the interest of older individuals. Now if there was only a code to change Princess Fiona from an ogre to the "human" princess she was in the first film, everything might be perfect.
--- Jolex Del Pilar
|
