The third installment of the popular movie franchise, Shrek the Third comes with its requisite game tie-in and, like most games built entirely on film rights, has been built with merchandising in mind. While the game is aimed squarely at younger audiences, the developers seem to have misinterpreted this as requiring a bare minimum to make the game playable. Unlike the movie which features the voice talent of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy to name a few, none of the cast are included in the game. This results in often jarring attempts at impersonation that at best has limited success and at worst is not even consistent from one line to another. Combat features a weak attempt at combination attacks but all too quickly the player is reduced to mashing the A button over and over until the opponents fall down. This in itself is not a problem as one can run past almost all opponents who are too dumb to give chase even if you are just around the corner. The music is bad and the attempts at humor are worse. If you are looking for a fun children's game with family friendly humour and engaging puzzle solving, get Lego Star Wars. [Andrew Ferris]