Bizarre.

First off, this is technically a sequel to the first movie - after their marriage Fiona has been kidnapped from Shrek's swamp by Merlin (not the Merlin from Shrek 3 though) and locked in Merlin's Dark Tower Fortress of Pure Evil, protected by a dark fog that can only be cleared by the power of doing good deeds. Yes, that's what Merlin's tower is actually called.
Nobody from the movie actually turns up in this game, save for three instances: A still of Farquaad is visible on the file select screen, Dragon shows up flying around one of the levels as a cameo, and Donkey appears on the cover of the later Gamecube port "Shrek: Extra Large".

The controls are incredibly wonky, with Shrek able to charge quicker diagonally but only on some controllers for some reason? His jump is far too low, and you'll be needing to use it a lot to position yourself given that his hitbox is... buttery. It sticks to the wrong things and slips off the right things.

Combat is also a low point with either no knockback or far too much knockback, and absolutely no feedback as to whether your punches and kicks are doing anything. I suppose at least the prospect of lighting your bodily fluids on fire could amuse a 5 year old though.

All of this is a shame, because the graphics can actually look nice at times, particularly in the more gloomy, murky areas - this game makes good use of bump mapping and deferred shading to get a dynamic lighting system that clearly just wouldn't be possible on other systems, seeing how the Gamecube version looks far worse.

All in all though, Shrek is a pretty bad time.

the graphics are actually really cool as this is the first ever game to have differed shading and shrek actually is fun to control, he zooms around really fast and can wall jump really snappily, its like a weird mixture of how mario and sonic control and it doesn't feel bad if you can get in the rhythm of things honestly. only problem really is the camera is butt and the world design is eh and you cant see shit half the time because the games too dark, mostly due to showing off those cool shaders and lighting that the xbox can do. The levels are also usually pretty cramped and don't take advantage of our ogre's bizarrely nimble control style. Very strange little game, but honestly I don't think its dismissable shovelware, but it's also not really the pinnacle of xbox games, even as a launch title.

While in no way a good game this game is the most hilarious game you can play in the Shrek franchise. The story is nonsensical not even relating to the movie, so much so i dont think a single character from the movie shows up.
The "gameplay" (specifically) the Xbox version is the most hilarious thing you will ever play, Shrek charging at the same speeds as Sonic the hedgehog, having the ability to kick people into orbit, and a ridiculously flaily jump. Most levels are broken beyond belief, but it doesn't make this a good game, just makes it a hilarious one, you need to own this if you never played it.

It feels like a random assets game with Shrek shoved in slapped together in about 4 months, with the shittest part being the main menu which feels like it's going to open to reveal a puzzle game or something. It's hilarious. Absolutely recommend this pile lmao

Shrek is the most relatable protagonist in all of media. Wants to be left alone, doesn't want to pay taxes, just wants to eat and drink and not have to raise some stupid shitty kid who calls you the N-word over Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Multiplayer that you still play in the year 2021.

Shrek is the example of what modern manhood should be. He is the greatest being to have ever been created.

I am Shrek, and I hope that one day, I won't have to pay child support or run from the law anymore.