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The franchise gets some much needed street cred. The console game franchise has fared about as well as the GBA franchise. There is a decent game (Shrek by DICE for TDK), but it all falls apart from there. DICE tried to port the original Shrek to Gamecube (Shrek: Extra Large) with monstrous results and TDK added more injury to all this with the very sub par Shrek Super Party. Development duties for Shrek 2 were given to Luxoflux (the guys behind True Crime and the Vigilante 8 series) courtesy of new publisher Activision.
The game picks up immediately after the ending of the first movie. For those not in the know, the first Shrek movie ends with Shrek rescuing Fiona from marrying Lord Farquad. In Shrek 2, you need to get the approval of her parents so you travel to meet them. I’ll stop before I ruin the movie for some of you.
The reason Shrek 2 works is because Luxoflux has shied away from simply making a cookie-cutter game and instead focused on adding different gameplay modes to the game (True Crime anyone?). The movie’s storyline is your goal but the missions have you doing all sorts of things not just continuing and fighting.
You’ll play through the game’s decent-sized levels in a party of four. In these levels you’ll need to accomplish several fairy tale-influenced goals before moving on to the next one and advancing the story. You’ll meet the Three Blind Mice, Robin Hood, Little Red Riding Hood and other childhood favorites as you move along.
Speaking of the party, you can change control of any of the party members. Shrek and Donkey are always in your party but you’ll also be able to have Fiona or Gingerbread man or Puss ‘n’ Boots, and so on. The AI controls the other characters and they can fend for themselves as you take control of another character. Each character has their own special ability to make things more exciting. For example, Shrek is strong so he can throw things around, Donkey can knock things over, and Fiona can slow down time. Each character has a special ability although some are rather generic like Gingerbread Man (who can throw cookies) and Lil’ Red who throws apples. There are times where you can use various characters at once to move on. For example, Shrek may be able to throw someone up to reach previously unreachable places.
Each level also has a little mini-game called “Hero Time.” Here, you’ll control a character for the most part (although there are times where you control multiple characters). These minigames are simple things like pressing a button at the right time.
One of the best things about Shrek 2 is the multiplayer. Up to four players can play, each controlling a party member. Anyone can join in at any time, so if someone leaves, the AI will continue playing for them.
The game’s visuals resemble the movie’s art style. The various levels resemble some part of the movie and are filled with stuff to play around with. The character models are pretty good, and they animate rather well but they aren’t the tech-demo that the first Shrek game was for Xbox. Still, the framerate is constant, and there’s plenty going on so you won’t mind.
The game’s soundtrack has a very similar sound compared to the movie, which is a nice touch. The voice acting is not done by the Shrek 2 cast but it sounds close enough.
I would think that Shrek 2 wouldn’t appeal to that many people but given the movie’s sales, I don’t think that’s the case. As I said for the GBA review, if you’ve been shying away from the series, it’s time to pick up a controller and play as everyone’s favorite green ogre (not that you have many choices as there aren’t that many, green ogres…).
Disclaimer: This review is based on the PS2 version of the game. PGNx Media was unable to obtain a copy of the game for PC. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- May 27, 2004
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