Shrek SuperSlam Preview

When the development team at Shaba Games set out to make Shrek SuperSlam, they had three goals in mind – make it funny, make it accessible for younger players and make certain it rewards long-time gameplay.

Oh, and make sure it was satisfying on the melee combat front as well. After all, that is precisely what Shrek SuperSlam is – a melee combat game featuring a wide range of characters – from the Shrek movies and other fairy tales, as well as some created solely for this game – in an array of battles in destructible environments.

As one of the developers on hand during the Activision media event held recently in San Francisco stated: we were “trying to get some comedy with our destruction.”

Simply translated, that means over-the-top antics, skills that are unique to each of the 20 characters, but fast-paced combat on a timer. It may be a straight-out timed fight in which players try to get the most slams (fill up that slam meter and unleash some truly visual and powerful attacks) within the time limit, or you may be challenged to simply have more slams than your opponent when time expires.

There is a story mode, but the real meat of the game is the mega challenge mode. There are 50 mega challenges and more than 20 tournaments that players can become involved in (and the game does have multiplayer options).

In addition, each of the game’s 16 environments have level-changing events (if triggered) that can alter the fight’s dynamic. Shrek SuperSlam is a button-masher of sorts, but the controls are responsive and once players pass the small learning curve, they should find a game that is both entertaining and a visual treat.

And graphically this game does a very good job at both conveying the fun feel of the movies that were the inspiration for it, as well as giving each of the characters a solid personality. The sound of the game was solid, but nothing that truly stood out.

This is a game that both younger and older players should enjoy, and would be fun at parties and in family playtime.

Look for Shrek SuperSlam to release on all three major home consoles on October 25, as well as the Nintendo DS and GBA. The PC version will be available at the start of November.