| Kameo: Elements of Power review |
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There’s something about Kameo’s game world that doesn’t seem quite right, like Rare have denied us the full picture, delivering merely a snapshot of an epic experience. View an old GameCube video and the game appears much more open, free…adventure-like. Zelda, by Rare.
What’s been delivered on the 360 is a game of delightful imagination, sensational graphics and music, intriguing combat and smartly integrated puzzles. What hasn’t been delivered, and something which is painfully obvious, is that sense of adventure in a fairytale world.
Curiously, the structure remains unpredictable and neatly paced (despite the bizarrely placed training), but it is also so rigid and confined. This isn’t so much a fault of the game, and it remains enjoyable, but if Rare were able to deliver that little bit more then Kameo could have been something very special indeed. The world feels so epic in scope and imagination that to be confined so tightly is a shame, and a missed opportunity.
Regardless, Rare have managed to deliver a worthwhile game that flexes the Xbox 360’s muscles perhaps more than any other day-one release. Though it begins slowly, the hero of the title leaves her hometown of the Enchanted Kingdom in search for the ten legendary Elemental Warriors, while rescuing her ancestors so she can eventually overthrow her crazed sister Kalus and defeat the King of Trolls, Thorn.
The story, it must be said, is not the game’s strongest point.
One thing that has remained from the original GameCube blueprint is that Kameo can morph into the different Elemental Warriors, each of which have their own unique skills, strengths and weakness. The entire game is built around this surprisingly well, and it doesn’t take long before you are forced to chain together moves from different characters in order to proceed. The most used of these would be Major Ruin – basically Metroid Prime’s ball mode, feeling exactly the same – dashing off the edge of a platform, and then quickly changing to yeti Chilla, who can then grab onto any icy wall before climbing up. The integration of each warrior is particularly well accomplished.
Rare’s title swings from being platformer to fighter rapidly, to the point of frustration when trying to combine the two. Combat in Kameo is a mixed bag, usually failing when surrounded by enemies since, oddly, the game restricts character changes when close to another object or enemy. Also, the area attacks can take a second or two to fire, meaning that when things get busy it can be tricky get away cleanly. When trying to combine this with platforming it’s often a mad scramble to safety before spamming the danger zones with whatever weaponry is available.
What is nice about the combat though, is the feel of weight behind which warrior – Pummel Weed’s boxing gloves feel quite meaty, while Ash’s fire breathing is a satisfying way to finish off large numbers of enemies. By the end of the game you become so powerful that you can wipe out hundreds – yes, hundreds – of trolls without really trying. Each character is unique and in some cases quite charming, however there are balance issues and a few are likely to get left on the sidelines after their initial puzzle-introduction is passed.
The structure of progress has been handled well, providing plenty of imaginative puzzles and ways of exploiting the skills of each warrior. The game takes the genre status-quo of Town followed by Dungeon, but throws in an epic battle when travelling to the next area, and also a few minor dungeons that provide a one-off battle or puzzle. Most interesting about this structure is that it doesn’t always happen in a straight order; sometimes making you break off your town-based questing to help out in the epic war between Elf and Troll.
Unfortunately, Rare have spent so long developing the game that it shows signs of being uneven; over-developed in some areas, while at the same time lacking in polish in others. The game desperately wants you to proceed to the next area as smoothly as possible: save-points are abundant and automatic, hints are given endlessly and if you do die, you can restart pretty much in the same place, but with maximum health. There is nothing wrong with any of these as such, but it feels like the game is leading by the hand the whole time, even up to the final boss.
The controls are fidgety and at times unresponsive – as good as the Xbox 360 triggers are, they still aren’t ideal for rapid taps in order to attack. Especially bizarre given the two shoulder buttons are not used at all. The underwater controls could have been improved too, though this is only a problem during one of the dungeons.
Ultimately, though there are minor quibbles with Kameo that do the game no favours, they hardly tarnish what remains a very pleasant experience. Despite what others may have claimed, this is not Star Fox Adventures for the new generation, this is something so much more exciting - Rare back on form.
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System: Microsoft Xbox 360
Genre: Adventure
Developer: Rare
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Players: 1
Version: European
Reviewed: Dec 2005
Writer: Pete Johns
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Pros:
- Looks and sounds sensational
- Easy to play
- Character skills well integrated
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Cons:
- Combat can be fussy
- Complete lack of originality
- Ridiculous amount of hand-holding
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Kameo: Elements of Power Video: 8.4MB
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