How far can you stretch the excuse that a game is designed for children? At a rating of E10+, Shrek The Third is just too simplistic. If a ten-year-old can handle Super Mario, surely they will be bored with just flailing a Wii Remote over and over.
The gameplay is braindead and repetitive: run up to bad guys and shake the remote. Sure, you can do a few special moves, but there is nearly no need to. Occasionally you have to do a jump attack (gasp!) or navigate a 15 second “puzzle.” A boss encounter with a huge ice dragon can be overcome by shaking the remote and tapping the A button, because you’ll win in a slugging match.
During a catapult minigame, you are told to hold the remote vertical to build power, and then flick it downward to fire. Yet simply holding the remote up will make the catapult fire automatically at peak strength, so you end up just turning the catapult a little to the left and the level finishes itself.
