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Posted on July 8th, 2005 - 3956 Reads

Rated Everyone Shrek 2 GameCube Review

-- Written by Clark Kent Nielsen



 Movies and video games alike spawn multiple sequels. With movies, the attempt is usually a step back from the original's quality and effect. Video games, on the other hand, have the advantage: sequels generally get better. While Shrek 2: The Movie wasn't as creative and magical as the first, Shrek 2: The Game certainly tops its predecessor. But you have to remember, Shrek: Extra Large was pure awful. Just about anything is better than that fiasco.

Shrek 2 reminds me of FFCC-- but without the expensive hardware requirements. The game is a simple brawler with occasional character-based puzzles and mini-games. The whole package is encapsulated in a team-driven atmosphere, one that can be played just as well with one person as it can with four. You see, no matter how many people join in, there will always be four characters on the screen. Those characters not directly controlled by a player aren't of much use (thanks to some stupid AI) until someone switches over to them. The characters differ from level to level to include Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Puss in Boots, the Gingerbread Man, and others. Each character plays slightly different and has one or two abilities unique to them. Shrek, for instance, can pick up and carry objects. Donkey's kick fells trees and gates. The Gingerbread Man jumps higher and can wield his candy cane like a boomerang. Thus, it requires the participation of every character in order to progress through the levels. Unfortunately, the puzzles aren't very creative. In fact, there aren't very many puzzles at all. As you move through the levels completing tasks and collecting items, you find that the mundane fighting takes precedence over everything else. There's always the occasional mini-game. Some of these take the form of what they call "Hero Time," a focus on only one character to complete an obstacle course.

If Shrek 2 featured a more refined control setup, this would be one sweet game. That's obviously asking too much. The characters are all somewhat sluggish and stiff and jump about as well as the ice climbers from that "classic" NES game. Attacks are limited to a single button. Tapping the button repeatedly throws the character into a three- or four-hit combo, but once you start punching in one direction, you can't stop or alter it until the character's finished. And what about the camera? Aye! The camera rotates around the group and zooms in and out, but does not pivot up or down. That's fine. When it works, it works really well. More often than not, it gets jammed on something. Shrek 2 is still easy to play, but these problems are... well... problems.

The AI is incredibly stupid. AI-controlled teammates will frequently die in battle and slack off during group mini-games. They also tend to lag behind, which makes it aggravating to proceed. This is why I would not play the game alone. But who you play with can also make this a frustrating experience. Is there no way to win?! When a character dies, they become immobile until the current situation is appeased. If everyone dies, or a character falls off a cliff or runs into a saw, the whole team has to start from the last checkpoint. While checkpoints are plentiful, there are moments when somebody is constantly dying, and the whole thing is just frustrating.

There is some saving grace to all this, however. If you didn't catch it before, let me mention it again: the entire game can be played cooperatively with up to four players! The game is surprisingly fun with more people, too. This isn't like Four Swords, though, where you are all secretly competing against each other. This is teamwork at its best, and a few of the levels in the middle of the game are so fun, I wouldn't mind playing them a second time. But Shrek 2 is a short experience. You could sit down and beat it in a day-- but that would only give you a headache. I doubt you will complete and find everything your first time through, anyway. Every level has seven special tasks, but it isn't required to meet them all to pass the level since most of the areas aren't 100% linear. Finishing everything goes towards opening up special bonus content. More mini-games? Well... yeah.

I'm usually very lenient when it comes to visual presentation, but the graphics in Shrek 2 kind of bugged me. The characters looked really washed out, like they'd been salvaged from the trash compactor over at Dreamworks. The entire game has this blocky haze which makes it difficult to fully "get into." The framerate has frequent hiccups, as well, and levels are made unbearably narrow by many invisible walls. Is it unplayable? No. The game works fine, but it's hard to overlook its shoddiness when the similarly designed Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles played so smoothly.

Meyer, Murphy, and Diaz weren't available for the game's voice overs, but the casual listener isn't going to notice the difference. The replacements do an adequate job in filling the roles of the main characters, though their random quips and jokes are truly uninspired. The sound effects are ridiculously low quality, too. The chirping of birds sounds more like a microphone being rubbed across a washboard. All is not lost, however. The music composer, whose work on Twisted Metal Black and Pitfall: The Lost Expedition was nothing short of excellent, created a unique and upbeat soundtrack for Shrek 2 that borrows from fantasy, adventure, and barnyard kookiness. The selection is really some great stuff, but you can't enjoy it to its fullest, because turning off the sound effects doesn't eliminate all the sound effects! Seriously, that's just uncalled for.

Final Comments: If Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles had taken this approach, that game would have been something truly special. Forcing four characters -- each with different abilities -- to work together is a brilliant setup. Giving all these good ideas to a Shrek game, however, is a serious mistake. Shrek 2's execution focuses too much on fighting and barely offers any creative puzzling whatsoever. The controls and graphics also make the overall package feel very stiff and sluggish. I'm sure younger kids will love playing this together, but if you really want a good four-player co-op game, you might just have to give in and buy some GBA/GCN link cables.

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