Kameo

Kameo: Elements of Power
Developer(s) Rare
Publisher(s) Microsoft Game Studios
Designer(s) George Andreas
Artist(s) Mark Stevenson
Composer(s) Steve Burke
Platform(s) Xbox 360
Release date(s)
  • NA November 22, 2005
  • EU December 2, 2005
  • JP February 2, 2006
Genre(s) Action-adventure, platformer
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Kameo: Elements of Power is an action-adventure beat 'em up video game developed by Rare Ltd. and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was exclusively released as a launch title for the Xbox 360 on November 22, 2005, in North America and December 2, 2005, in Europe. The game was under development for four years and generally received positive reviews from video game publications. It follows the elf princess Kameo as she attempts to thwart the evil machinations of her sister Kalus and the troll king Thorn. A planned sequel for the game was ultimately canceled.[1][2][3][4] The game is also included in the Rare Replay video game compilation, released for the Xbox One in 2015.

Gameplay

Kameo is an action-adventure game in which the player assumes the role of the titular heroine Kameo.[5] The gameplay revolves around defeating enemies in combat, utilizing the ten different creature-like warriors that Kameo can transform into.[6] These creatures, known as the Elemental Warriors,[7] possess unique attacks and abilities that center around the classical elements, such as fire and earth.[8] As certain enemies can only be damaged by specific attacks, the player is required to often switch between the Elemental Warriors during combat.[9] Kameo also features environmental puzzles that require the use of the Elemental Warriors abilities, and the player may occasionally be forced to combine the abilities to traverse the levels.[10]

A scoring system is used for each action level, in which the player can amass points based on their performance during combat. Scores can be significantly increased through the use of multipliers.[11] By killing enough enemies in rapid succession, the player can enter Warrior Focus mode. This mode temporarily slows enemy movement, while granting an additional multiplier.[11] While in Warrior Focus, special enemies may appear that are not affected by the slow down, and provide an additional challenge for the player.[11] At the end of each level, the total score is calculated, and a letter grade is assigned based on the amount of points earned, with A being the highest, and G being the lowest.[8] Achieving higher scores can unlock new character skins, cheat codes, and making-of videos.[12] A cooperative multiplayer mode is also available, in which two players can work together to earn a high score for each action level.[13] The cooperative mode is presented in split screen format,[13] with both players controlling a separate Kameo.[5]

Outside of action levels, the player can travel to the Enchanted Kingdom, where they may receive training as well as new quests.[14]

Plot

In the game's prologue, the Elf Queen passes down the mystical Wotnot Book and the ability to become all of the Elemental Warriors to her younger daughter Kameo, but this causes Kalus, the first daughter, to grow jealous. In an act of revenge, she releases the ancient curse which held the evil troll king Thorn captive in stone by kissing him on the lower lip, allowing him to unleash his troll army upon the world once again. Working with Thorn and his army, Kalus kidnaps her mother, her two uncles and her aunt, then proceeds to torture them. The game begins with Kameo dashing to their rescue, only to be knocked unconscious by Thorn and left on The Mystic's doorstep. The Mystic informs her that the Elemental Warriors are now Elemental Sprites who have been captured by the Shadow Trolls. She now has to rescue and absorb the Elemental Sprites, save her family and defeat Kalus and Thorn.

After getting all of the sprites, freeing three of her family members (who also tell her more about her past, such as her really being an orphan that Solon, the Elf king found and brought back to his kingdom and his wife Theena as well as Solon being murdered by Thorn) and making her way to Thorn's Airship to save her stepmother, Kameo confronts the two villains and wins after knocking Kalus out with Chilla's ice spikes. Whilst unconscious, some flashbacks occur through Kalus' mind which reveals that The Mystic caused the death of Solon and Kalus' betrayal by tricking them into getting involved with Thorn in whatever possible way she could think of, revealing her as the true villain behind everything that has transpired. Kalus then regains her composure and attempts to avenge her father (as well as make up to everybody else) by attacking Thorn, but is no match for a simple punch thrown by the troll. Kameo quickly catches her stepsister and then the two of them combine their powers by hugging each other. They then charge straight towards Thorn and when Kalus gets a chance, she grabs hold of his head and once again kisses the king (this time on the nose) which turns the two of them into a stone statue. Before completely turning to stone, Kalus asks Kameo to apologize to the rest of the family for what she did. Then the statue slides off of the airship.

After that happens, the ship starts to explode and fall apart and Kameo is seen falling to her doom whilst unconscious. She eventually lands on something, which (by the time that the clouds have gone by) is revealed to be the top of a small blimp that her friends stole from the trolls which is heading straight for the Enchanted Kingdom. On top of that, Theena also survived the explosion and landed next to the now awake Kameo. With Thorn gone, the troll army is stopped, and once the camera is done focusing on everybody cheering down below as well as the blimp, the player then sees what happened to Kalus and Thorn. It's revealed that the two fell to the bottom of the sea, never to be seen or heard from again. After the credits, The Mystic's shadowy silhouette is seen as she laughs to herself.

Development

Kameo was originally slated for the Nintendo GameCube, and was set to be one of Rare's flagship titles for the system, along with Star Fox Adventures and Donkey Kong Racing. However, in September 2002, at an X0 event, Microsoft announced that they had purchased Rare for $375 million, and had acquired all the intellectual properties previously owned by Rare, including Banjo-Kazooie, Conker, and Kameo.[15] Kameo's future was put in question. It was decided that work would continue on the Xbox, and a planned release date of 2003 was given. After several revamps, causing repeated delays, Kameo was put on indefinite hold in late 2004. According to the Official Kameo Strategy Guide, approximately 20 copies of the first level of Kameo were printed on retail discs for future inclusion in the Official Xbox magazine, but these discs were then recovered and given to team members at Rare and Microsoft. Following this, rumours began that the game was once again undergoing a platform change, this time from the Xbox to the Xbox 360, where it was the first announced game for the system.[16][5] According to lead game tester Chris Chamberlain, the Xbox version was 80% complete before being moved to an Xbox 360 release. Since many of the development tools were not available on the new console, the team was forced to rebuild the game from the ground up, and either re-learn or create new tools entirely. The scope of the game had also increased, forcing the company to hire new employees.[17]

Release

The downloadable content (DLC) is not available in all Xbox Live Marketplace regions.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings80.85[18]
Metacritic79/100[19]
Review scores
PublicationScore
CVG9/10[20]
Eurogamer5/10[10]
Game RevolutionB-[21]
GameSpot8.7/10[5]
GameSpy[22]
GamesRadar[6]
GameZone8.9/10[14]
IGN8.4/10[23]

Critical reception was generally positive, receiving an aggregate score of 80.85% at GameRankings.[18]

Kameo's graphics received universal praise. Tim Tackett of Game Revolution called the graphics a "visual attack", lauding the character models, lighting effects, and visual filters.[21] David Clayman of IGN commented on how the extreme amount of detail in the environment felt overwhelming at times, but noted that certain levels did not completely utilize the console's graphical capability.[23] Computer and Video Games found the visuals to be "Kameo's real showstopper",[20] while Andrew Pfister of 1UP.com labeled Kameo "quite possibly, the most colorful game ever created".[24] Visual effects and sound design also received praise. GameZone called the Elemental Warrior transformations as "rendered marvelously",[14] while Tackett said that the music set an "appropriate mood without being overbearing".[21]

References

  1. ↑ Robinson, Andy (April 6, 2011). "Xbox News: A look at Rare's canned Kameo 2". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  2. ↑ Pereira, Chris (November 22, 2005). "A Look at Kameo 2's Realistic Art Style". 1up.com. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  3. ↑ Robinson, Andy (November 2, 2009). "Xbox News: Kameo 2 canned by Microsoft". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Kameo 2 canned by Microsoft". Computer And Videogames. November 2, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Kasavin, Greg (15 November 2005). "Kameo: Elements of Power Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 14 August 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  6. 1 2 Smith, Will (24 March 2006). "Kameo: Elements of Power Review". GamesRadar. Future plc. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  7. ↑ Satterfield, Shane (21 November 2005). "Kameo: Elements of Power Review". G4. G4 Media. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  8. 1 2 Pavlacka 2005, p. 10.
  9. ↑ Young, Andy (15 December 2005). "Kameo Review". VideoGamer.com. Pro-G Media. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  10. 1 2 Bramwell, Tom (22 November 2005). "Kameo: Elements of Power - Elementary". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  11. 1 2 3 Pavlacka 2005, p. 12.
  12. ↑ Pavlacka 2005, p. 107.
  13. 1 2 Pavlacka 2005, p. 100.
  14. 1 2 3 "Kameo: Elements of Power - 360 - Review". GameZone. 27 November 2005. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  15. ↑ Bouldling, Aaron (24 September 2002). "Microsoft Buys Rare". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  16. ↑ "Kameo: Elements of Power Video Review". GameSpot.com. November 7, 2005. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  17. ↑ "Kameo: Elements of Power Interview: Lead Tester Chris Chamberlain". Rare Gamer. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  18. 1 2 "Kameo: Elements of Power for Xbox 360". GameRankings. November 7, 2005.
  19. ↑ "Kameo: Elements of Power for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  20. 1 2 "Kameo: Elements of Power Review". Computer and Video Games. Future plc. 1 December 2005. Archived from the original on 13 November 2007. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  21. 1 2 3 Tackett, Tim (2 December 2005). "Kameo: Elements of Power Review". Game Revolution. AtomicOnline. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  22. ↑ GameSpy's Kameo review is divided into two pages:
  23. 1 2 IGN's Kameo review is divided into three pages:
  24. ↑ Pfister, Andrew (15 November 2005). "Kameo: Elements of Power". 1UP.com. UGO Networks. Retrieved 6 January 2016.

Bibliography

External links

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