You'll Get Ogre It All Too Quickly

The game version of the latest "Shrek" movie lumbers along. (Activision)

Activision's Shrek the Third video game falls short of the fun that Shrek 2 provided younger gamers a few years ago and fails to deliver a next-generation experience on Xbox 360.

Although computer-animated movies allow game developers more time to create Hollywood tie-ins than most live-action movies, elements of this game (including a less-than-perfect camera, frame-rate drops and sub-par animation and visuals) make it seem unpolished. The game looks as if it was developed on PlayStation 2 and then moved to other platforms, which explains why even the slightly better-looking Xbox 360 version is plagued with mundane graphics and glitches.

Designed for younger audiences, Shrek the Third is very forgiving (even on the most difficult level) and revolves around simple exploration and button-mashing combat as it follows the basic plot of the film. There are plenty of characters to play. Sleeping Beauty can charm people with her beauty, Puss in Boots freezes enemies with his cute puss, Shrek can hip-check opponents and Fiona knows kung fu like Bruce Lee. But it doesn't take long for the repetitive and easy platform gameplay to grow old. Fortunately, the 20 levels are spiced up with a half-dozen fun mini-games, including Shrekleboard (shuffleboard), Frog Herder (collect frogs), Catacombs (a basic platform game) and Shrekified versions of classic arcade games.

The Wii version, which hasn't improved on visuals from Shrek 2 on GameCube, does make good use of the Wii Remote (to jump and fight enemies) and Nunchuk controllers (to steer characters through the land of Far Far Away).

Only John Cleese reprises his role as narrator of the game, but the voice-alike actors once again give strong performances. Kids who enjoy watching the "Shrek" movies will get a kick out of this game despite its glitches. Even parents can enjoy the mini-games, which offer multiplayer options. I recommend getting the PS2 version, which has a better price and equal gameplay to the more expensive next-gen debut.

-- John Gaudiosi

Shrek the Third Everyone 10+; Xbox 360, Wii, ($50); PlayStation 2 ($40) Activision/7 Studios