Kameo: Elements of Power - Classic Xbox 360

Kameo: Elements of Power - Classic Product Details

Released on 13/10/2006

• Kameo: Elements of Power Preview

  Rare's console-hopping caper finds its final form on 360...

  Easily the boldest visual feast in the XBOX 360 launch lineup, Kameo at once dazzles and baffles with its neon-tinged sensory assault. Seemingly destined to be regarded as Rare's "other" next-gen title alongside Perfect Dark Zero, our first play with the likable pixie would suggest a graphically overwhelming, but also sizable and stylish Zelda-inspired adventure that deserves to stand on its own two feet.

  Like the company that created it, Kameo's console allegiance over the last few years has been convoluted and confusing. Beginning its life in the public realm as a mere rumour in the days of the N64, it eventually resurfaced as a GameCube exclusive. Then, in the politics that surrounded Rare's takeover by Microsoft we all lost sight of the then promising looking platformer, as they undertook the prolonged task of porting to Xbox. Somewhere down the line however the decision was taken to promote Kameo to next-gen status and so Elements of Power was pencilled in on the tentatively titled Xbox 2 release schedules. And now, at last, we have the finished article on the shiny new and very much officially named Xbox 360.

  Control the titular winged elf to regain what she lost, best the bad guys and generally leave the land with a warm fuzzy glow.

  Though the story of Kameo's development may be long-winded, the same could not be said for the game's own plot, which is more Jackie Chan Adventures than J.R Tolkien. Beginning in a Castle, the Tutorial sees Kameo attempting to rescue her parents, only to lose her mystical pixie powers by the end of the opening segment and be thrust back to her home in the Enchanted Kingdom. The resulting quest sees you controlling the titular winged elf in a journey to regain what she lost, best the bad guys and generally leave the land with a warm fuzzy glow.

  The central element to Kameo's gameplay is the main character's ability to magically morph into different forms. In a noticeable homage to N64 Zelda title Majora's Mask, the forms are readily accessed through the facia buttons, and each offers Kameo a unique ability that serves its purpose in both the game's combat and puzzle approaches.

  So what can you turn into? Well, our hands-on saw us able to transfuse into three forms; a spiky blue gorilla able to impale enemies on his back and carry them around; an armadillo version of Metroid Prime's morph ball that can boost up curved walls and flatten bad guys without a fuss; and a bright green, walking, boxing piranha plant able to throw jabs with the left and right triggers, or burrow underground for the most eco-friendly Tiger Uppercut you've ever seen.

  An adventure with epic scale, some dazzling visuals and a smile-inducing setting with some genuinely fun gameplay.

  These abilities seem to have been integrated into the game's puzzles with surprising skill. Most are based on movement and combat, so negotiating the environment and accessing new areas will require constant switching between forms. For instance, finding ourselves in a rusted, run down room, we were able to boost up curved walls and over fences as the armadillo Major Ruin before winding up Sonic Spindash style, then boosting up a ramp and over a wide chasm to the next area. Likewise, we also managed to fend off a group of trolls in plant form by burrowing underground and surfacing to uppercut some nearby spiked shells onto our floundering foes.

  The enemy quota in Kameo is more fantastical in appearance than it is in intelligence, and the various trolls inhabiting the gameworld on our playtest had a general tendancy to run straight at our heroine with little regard for their own wellbeing. We can live with that though; trolls are, after all, none too bright. Having said that, parking Kameo atop a slanted surface just out of their reach only to have them running continuously on the spot at the foot of the slope was a painful experience to watch on a next generation console. Anyone expecting advanced AI to Halo levels will be slightly underwhelmed by Kameo's comparatively dopey denizens.

  But it was never going to be about complex intelligence coding or pitting your wits against a stream of sneaky, super smart, ninja-skilled bad guys. It's an adventure with epic scale, some dazzling visuals and a smile-inducing setting that gives rise to some genuinely fun gameplay. It's a credit to Rare that, after an especially protracted development period, they've finally pieced together Kameo into more than a mere platformer. A compliment of genre styles that many developers would envy and fuelled by the visual clout of cutting edge technology, Elements of Power could well be a rewarding, though not revolutionary, leap into the next generation.

  Preview by: Mark Scott
  Preview Published: 01.12.05

  Published: 01/12/2005

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