(continued from previous page) ...stylish combat. Using the same three hit combo over and over again will not net you much, but if you mix it up with power moves that send enemies flying into the air, you style will be better. If you manage to catch those enemies as they fall, and toss them into their equally malign brethren, your style score skyrockets.

Shrek the Third also offers players the chance to engage in the Castle Capture mini game with other players via wi-fi. This was difficult to test, as I don't know many PSP owners who have this game. Having said that, players are treated to a version of this game during the single player experience. For those of us old enough to have played Artillery or Scorched Earth in computer lab at school, Castle capture is basically a third person version of those classic titles, albeit populated with Shrek characters.

All is not necessarily well in the land of Far Far Away, however. The game does suffer from a few varied maladies. Camera angles are sometimes difficult to deal with. Changes in camera perspective can cause players to run off cliffs or head back the way they were coming from without knowing it. Level designs do not always easily convey how a player should proceed. The object areas and collision detection are not the best, either. In a few instances, during battles with larger-than-life bosses, it seemed to be almost impossible to land a blow. The large scale monsters seemed to have an area around them that would push players back, making it nigh-impossible to land the sort of blows that were required to defeat the villain.

In conclusion, Shrek the Third is a mixed bag. In my opinion, this game is excellent for what it is, especially if it's is grouped in with other games based on intellectual properties. These games usually spend too much on obtaining licenses, and hope that the IP will carry the title through to being a best seller. Shrek the Third differs by offering a game that is actually worthy of play, even without the IP. With each character conveying a somewhat different style of gameplay, players should find new surprises in each level. The game’s voices and dialogue, while comedic and entertaining at first, do grow old. The camera angles and level design could also use some tweaking to make them more user-friendly. The minority of younger players that have PSPs will most likely enjoy this title, as will Shrek buffs and those looking for a simple yet varied beat-'em-up. Those looking for game of the year, however, may want to rent this title or pass it up completely.