Shrek is a bit of a Marmite franchise: you either love it or hate it, and this game’s certainly made me laugh and cringe once or twice. I should probably mention then that my co-reviewer’s reaction when he heard the subtitle to both the movie and this tie-in game was “The Final Chapter” was “is that a promise… really? – Have they got it in writing?” So if nothing else, the review should be fair and balanced -- just like Fox News.

In Shrek: Forever After – The Final Chapter The Game Shrek and Princess Fiona (in ogre form obviously) have settled down and become a domesticated dream family, living happily with their triplet ogrelets. Shrek gets bored with his un-ogre like existence and wanting to feel more like a "real ogre" is tricked into signing a contract with the smooth-talking Rumpelstiltskin. Shrek suddenly finds himself in a twisted alternate version of their happy ‘Far Far Away’ world in which ogres are hunted, Shrek and Fiona have never met, and the awful Rumplestiltskin (you’ll actually want to kill him) is King. Now it’s up to Shrek to sort out all of Rumpelstiltskin's mischievous deeds and restore peace and happiness. There- that’s the “plot”, so what’s the game really like?

The game promises ‘4 Player Fun For The Whole Family’ and it certainly delivers on that score—the same-screen view works quite well although sometimes the camera doesn’t pan out quite far enough when characters get too far apart which can add confusion (particularly with small kids and old men) but the 1 to 4-player drop-in, drop-out co-op play works extremely well for busy Mums and Dads who have to “go make the dinner” or “want to go and watch the football now”. All you have to do is press ‘Start’ on an additional joypad to join in, and press start again to leave the game whilst player one can continue on regardless—it’s a very user-friendly system that more games should incorporate. The entire game can be completed by one player (although there are a few extra puzzles that require 2 players to complete) but it’s a lot more fun with 2 or 3.

The puzzle parts of the game vary between extremely simple to cleverly crafty, and in a moment of genius the developers have included the Three Blind Mice to give you some tips of the current section if you get stuck – they need paying but as almost everything you hit drops money it’s never too hard to find enough to pay them and still buy all of the power-ups.

All levels involve a lot of comical, cartoony fighting that relies on simple 1,2,3 button presses of ‘A’ to make their character to unleash a powerful Witch, spider or guard-despatching attack. Pickups mean you can use extra-powerful attacks (press ’X’), or freeze enemies in place with a disco ball or rejuvenate the entire team’s strength by picking up health hearts. It’s simple, harmless fun but parents should be aware that there’s just about as much fighting as exploring and puzzling involved in getting through the levels.

All in all Shrek’s final adventure (“is that a promise… really?) is a good fun family game, and they seem to be few and far between on the 360 at the moment.