Shrek: Forever After

He’s big, mean and green - and no I’m not talking about a member of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. <br />It’s Shrek, the ogre who takes fairy tales and turns them on their heads. <br />But the games for this movie franchise have not fared very well, and Shrek: Forever After doesn’t change that one bit. <br />In this game, you can play as one of the four main characters - Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, and Puss in Boots. Each character has an ability: Shrek moves heavy items, Fiona lights things on fire, Donkey kicks doors open and other objects and Puss In Boots climbs certain walls/surfaces. <br />These abilities let you get through the basic 3D platforming levels while beating up bad guys (using mind numbing button mashing and Wiimote waving techniques) and finding treasure chests and secret items. <br />Treasure chests give you money which you can use to level up your group - they can do more with an attack, collect more coins from chests, get more health and so on. <br />But the fighting stages in this game aren’t very challenging - so there’s no reason to buy most of the power ups. <br />And finding the secret items won’t give you anything at all; it’s just a waste of my time. To make matters worse, players can get through this game in about 4 hours - far too short for a game costing $50. <br />It would be even shorter if some of the puzzles in the game weren’t so frustrating. In a few puzzles, you have to move heavy blocks using Shrek, but it’s too easy for those blocks to get stuck because they’re just a hair off target. <br />Having a second player tag along adds some fun, but it doesn’t overcome the bland level design, the annoying puzzles, the short game and that $50 price tag that is Shrek: Forever After. SKIP IT