The most surprising thing about Shrek the Third is that it’s not a terrible game. It’s not a great game by any means, but it’s not terrible. There’s not really anything compelling enough to warrant a recommendation to anyone who’s not a fan of the Shrek films, but those looking to relive the movie once the lights go up and they return home will probably enjoy it well enough.

Shrek the Third takes the storyline from the film of the same name and builds a platform game around it. It’s the kind of platform game that wouldn’t get much of a look if it wasn’t tied to one of the big summer movies of 2007. You bash a bajillion basic enemies, smash a few breakables for coinage, and jump your way across numerous platforms. It’s nothing that you haven’t seen before and it’s certainly been done a lot better many times before. The game is also incredibly easy – even the hidden collectible items are either left in plain view or placed in the crates that you smash along the way – with the biggest challenge coming from the touchy jump controls and fixed camera angles. Now it may be easy to dismiss the ease of play as the consequence of this being a game designed for kids, except that this is an E10+ rated title that you spend a good portion of the time playing as an ogre that deals with conflict by bashing the snot out of everybody. Also the boss battles are a significant degree of difficulty higher than the rest of the gameplay and it can be difficult to determine what you’re supposed to be doing in each of these battles, so younger gamers may not have the patience to play their way through the entire game.

Shrek the Third does add some variety to the gameplay by putting you in control of some of the other characters in the movie. You’ll spend most of the time as Shrek, but you’ll also play as Fiona, Puss in Boots, Donkey, Arthur, and Sleeping Beauty. Each character has two attack buttons that can be mashed to dispatch most foes. Defeating enemies and breaking crates rewards you with fairy dust which is used to fill a special attack meter. Once full you can unleash a character-specific attack such as a Matrix-like slowdown of time for Shrek and Fiona or a hypnotic love trance that Sleeping Beauty can use to make enemies fight each other over her. However, since the game is pretty easy to begin with, these special attacks are more for variety’s sake than save your hide.

Shrek the Third does a good job in the graphics department in capturing the look and feel of the movie. Its use of puppet shows for the story-advancing cutscenes is pretty novel, and fits with the character of the film. The humor in the game is pretty hit and miss, but that’s pretty much the way it is with the film, too. So in short, if you’re more concerned with grooving on a Shrek vibe you’ll like the game, but if you’re looking for the gameplay to back it up you’ll probably want to pass.

In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 67%. Shrek the Third is best left to diehard Shrek fans or 360 gamers looking to pad their Gamer Scores.