Shrek 2 Remastered Reviews: A Rough Welcome on Steam

Two days after launch, the reception for DreamWorks Shrek 2 Remastered is split down the middle. Steam players have been hard on Aspyr's remaster of the 2004 co-op classic, while Xbox players are far kinder — and no critic has weighed in yet. It turns out that the game has some serious performance problems that are hurting its launch. Here is what players are saying, with review data as of November 12, 2026.

Steam Says "Mixed"

On the Steam store page, the remaster sits at a Mixed rating: 42% of its 499 user reviews are positive. That is a rough two days for a nostalgia remaster, which should already have an audience due to the popularity of its predecessor and the films that inspired it— and it puts the game well below the reception of Aspyr's better-regarded back catalogue like the Tomb Raider remasters. The review count is still small, so the percentage can move as more players weigh in.

Xbox Players Are Kinder: 4.3/5

The US Xbox Store tells a different story: the game holds a 4.3/5 rating, with 76% of reviewers giving it five stars. The complaints there are mostly about bugs and crashes rather than the remaster itself, which suggests the console experience is landing better than the PC one.

What Players Complain About

The negative Steam reviews focus on a few recurring problems. Cutscenes reportedly don't run at the new resolution, camera glitches and visual artifacts crop up, and some textures look barely touched — enough that several reviewers suspect AI upscaling. The game also ships without graphics options, and PC players report poor keyboard-and-mouse support and local co-op that doesn't always work. The loudest gripe is the online multiplayer, which requires an Epic Games account link on Steam — an extra account many buyers resent. Overall, it seems that the game is half-baked or it was rushed carelessly, which contributes to delivering a bad impression. In any case, if the developer puts some effort into fixing those problems the impact of the fixes should be enough to erase the majority of concerns, leaving the game as an interesting remake for the fans of Shrek.

No Critic Reviews Yet: Why

Metacritic still shows no critic score, with reviews marked "tbd." Review codes reportedly went out on launch day, so press verdicts should land in the coming days. The Metacritic user score sits at 9.0, but that's based on only six ratings — too small a sample to draw conclusions from. Shrek 2 Remastered is not a game that will appeal to a wide player base, at first glance at least. Therefore it could be receiving less attention than it may deserve.

Is Shrek 2 Remastered Worth It at $26.99?

It depends on where you play. Console players, especially on Xbox, are having a good time with the nostalgia, while Steam buyers are the ones reporting the technical rough edges. The 10% launch discount runs until November 17, so the decision has a deadline. If you're still game, compare prices and grab your Shrek 2 Remastered Steam key before it returns to $29.99. The split reaction echoes other recent nostalgia revivals — see our piece on Wolf Among Us Remastered price piece for a similar case.