Shrek the Third for Nintendo DS: Video Game Review

I don't know what possessed me to cough up $29.99 for the movie made video game (for the Nintendo DS) Shrek The Third. Usually movie made video games suck!
The cover was cute, and I'm always a sucker for eye candy. Plus there was only one copy on the shelf, leading me to believe that this game was hot and that if I didn't buy it then, I would be put on some sort of waiting list!
Storyline:
I was at first greeted by Donkey, and he went into a very long and boring explanation on what's going on and why you're here blah blah all that. I found myself pounding on the buttons to get the game to actually begin.
For the reviews sake though I went back to hear the story Donkey had to tell. It basically goes like this:
Shrek is sent out to seek an heir for the throne seeing how the king has fallen ill. Shrek of course finds Artie, whom is also Fionna's cousin.
On their quest back Donkey is accidentally turned into a parfait, and the kingdom is once again taken over by Prince Charming.
It is up to you to find fairy dust to heal Donkey, and also up to you to regain the kingdom back.
Pretty pathetic storyline, wouldn't you say? At least I thought so. I was really hoping the game play was not as bad as the storyline.
The Game:
You are controlling 3 characters from the very beginning of Shrek The Third, Shrek, Puss and Boots, and Artie.
The controlling is very strange though. Each character has it own special abilities unique from the other characters.
Shrek:
Can wail himself into enemies, and break through thick object with ease.
Artie:
Can use his little dagger to either throw or stab enemies with. He also comes with a shield to protect himself from hits.
Puss and Boots:
He can jump to extremely high places with ease, and crawl under things that the other characters can not.
You easily move each character through the 2D side scrolling levels using the D pad and using the stylus to perform special moves. In the game you simply tap on the picture of the character you want to control. Their photos are on the bottom right hand side of the screen. Tap on the character you need, and they become the active character you will be moving.
Got it?
Now it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what's happening next. The 3 have to work together to make it to the end of the board.
Yes in this strange new game play you will be controlling each character individually to move on to the next level. It's like an action puzzle game.
The game is very similar to Super Paper Mario for the Nintendo Wii when it comes to dealing with puzzle solving and using each character to move on and solve the puzzle.
Throughout the game you will be using Shrek to break walls, Puss n' Boots to jump walls, and Artie to throw his toothpick stick up at high levers, and at enemies.
This is where I encountered my first problem with the game. You must get each character to the end of the board in order to get to the next level. The game developers came up with an easy linking technique, this way you could have all 3 characters walk at the same time.
They thought it was easy didn't they? The linking of characters is deeply flawed though.
Every time I link up with the other 2 characters they fall from the link when I take a few steps forward. I guess they want you to move in slow motion, which is nearly impossible to do when a giant living tree is ready to stomp on you. If you do not link up, the other 2 characters will just sit there frozen and not move or follow you.
Having to constantly link back up every 10 seconds is just a pain in the rear, so I easily grew frustrated just in the beginning of the game, and ended up just walking each character individually, which was annoying.
Each world is filled with another puzzle, some difficult, some way too easy. In order to get through most lands you will need Shrek to knock over giant enemies or break walls, Artie to use his throwing dagger to activate levers, and Puss to jump up to high places. That's seriously pretty much it. Their moves and uses are limited and do not increase over time.
DONKEY!
When you are having a difficult time in battle you can summon Donkey who will help you using his magic. He can either freeze enemies making it easy to kill them, or he can levitate you. His power is limited though, and you cannot summon him every 5 seconds. The game though is so simple that you really won't need him.
You only run into about 4-5 enemies in each level. You can easily take them out by wailing into them using Shrek. The rest is all puzzle solving, and making sure you don't fall into a hole. Holes will kill you more than actual enemies.
Graphics:
The graphics in Shrek the Third for the Nintendo DS were actually pretty impressive, and looked very true to the actual movie, the lands were very colorful and inviting, and the backdrop scenery was pretty impressive as well. However many levels looked very similar to the last only with a different puzzle to solve. Therefore I cannot praise the graphics seeing how they were repeated a lot.
Sounds:
The characters are limited to grunts and oomph noises in the game. In the background you will hear cheesy medieval type music, but it's such a low hum that when you're into the game and thinking hard about what to do next, the noise is barely even heard. This is a good thing.
Multi-player Action:
Yes there is multi-player action in Shrek The Third for the DS!!!
If you can convince your friends to buy the game that is. Then you can nerd out and plan a 3 way Shrek gaming party. If you and 2 of your friends are within 50 feet of the wifi signal or a wifi area you can all link up and battle together.
I like this feature instead of having to link up with the characters on my own and having them unlink easily. *This type of game play can cause blood battles between kids, so monitor game play. Haha.
In multi-player you don't have to worry about unlinking. You all control a character, making things much easier (unless you have a little idiot in your group that sucks at the game). There are also a few silly mini games thrown in. But like all included mini games in DS games, they're all the same, but look different.
Replay Value:
There is really no replay value to this game.
The game is easily beaten in less than a day if you go at it all day. There are only about 20 levels, and each of them only takes a minute or so to complete (unless you're really, really bad at gaming). Once the game is beat there is honestly no reason to go back at it and give it another round. It's one of them games that land in the closet to collect dust after you have finished it.
Issues:
The game had issues from the start. The storyline was just garbage, and I have yet to see the movie. I truly hope the movie is not as cheesy as this game was.
On to my main issues though:
1. Linking technique does not work for longer than 10 seconds or 10 footsteps.
2. They used a new character from the third movie as a game played character. Many Shrek fans from the past would have surely rather of used gingerbread man, or Pinocchio as a third character. Seeing how I did not see the movie, all I got was a brief description in the game on who Artie was, and now I'm playing as him. Blah!
3. The non-stop switching of characters every 5 seconds is downright annoying.
4. Horrible re-play value
Was There Anything Good About Shrek The Third For DS?
Where there are cons, there are of course some pros. Although the cons outweigh the pros, I have to mention them.
1. The graphics were decent
2. Very little violence, so young children can play it without their parents freaking out. 6+
3. Multi-player
Overall Feelings:
At the $30 price tag Shrek The Third is seriously a game worth passing up. If you cannot find it for less that $15 don't even bother. Honestly they could have set the whole thing up much better instead of throwing in the ridiculous broken linking technique.
Recommended?
Only if the game goes on a major sale, other than that, no, it's not worth a purchase.