Shelter 3 delivers the wildlife walking simulator experience, with a dash of danger on the side. The lush forests with hidden hazards promise a narrative that's teeming with life and death. Despite its strong premise and beautiful art direction, the slow pace of the game and the middling character of the animals in the journey weigh the piece down.

Shelter 3's environment may be pretty, but it's not enough to forgive a game that ultimately feels unfinished.

While currently lacking as a survival simulator, Shelter 3 is a good game for fans of relaxing puzzles. However, those who have enjoyed the challenge and high risk of past Shelter games may find the change in mechanics frustrating. Despite this, Shelter 3 offers a moving storyline, and a unique look at the life of elephants. With a few tweaks to improve immersion, mobility, and promote exploration, Shelter 3 could stand out against previous titles in the series.

Shelter 3 is hard to recommend, both to fans of the series and newcomers. At best, it plays like an half-finished, repetitive experiment that can be easily completed in an hour. Anyone interested in what the series brings to the table should instead try either of the previous titles for a more accomplished, realized adventure.

Shelter 3 has solid graphics, music and a story. The gameplay, however, is awful. This game manages to be very short and feel extremely prolonged at the same time.