Kameo: Elements of Power

"An amazing experience, even for more violent gamers"

Before I start I should say that I am an avid gamer of around 15 years and my main interests are 3rd person action/stealth/horror games, first person shooters, and action/adventure RPGs (not turn based). I am more lenient toward graphics, sound, and tilt, and am much more interested in gameplay and storylines. I do, however, love good atmosphere in a game.

Kameo: Elements of Power (Kameo) is the story of the elves against the trolls. The trolls have stolen the ancestors and the elements and Kameo must regain them in order to save the kingdom and defeat her sister and the Troll king, Thorn.

This game is very good and a wonderful surprise to someone who usually plays more violent action intensive games. This was the first launch day title I played, (yes, even before Call of Duty 2) and I did not regret it. While certain things could have been improved upon, it was definitely worth my time.

Graphics: 10
Sound: 10

I usually like to do a separate section each for graphics and sound but the overall atmosphere in this game was so wonderful that I decided to combine them. I wanted to give each a 10, so I combined them for the simple reason that they work so well together and each one complements the other superbly.

The overall atmosphere in Kameo is amazing. You are in her world. There is never a time that you are not aware that it is a next generaton game. The graphics are stunning. Bright colors and environments that are absolutely breathtaking. This game really shows off the 360's power. From bright sandy deserts to snow covered mountains to lush greenery, this game will not disappoint graphics wise. Nothing looks realistic because it is an animated game. Don't mistake what I am saying for realism. The game is not intended to be that way. The sound in the game also makes you feel like a part of the environment and does not take anything away from the stunning graphics. The soft background music is barely noticeable but keeps the aura of the game intact and appropriately gets more dramatic or louder at the more intense times. To make myself more clear, I like game music to be like movie music; to set the mood during dramatic and intense times. But when the fighting is over and the mood is more relaxed, I want music that fits the atmosphere; it's noticeable but not overdone. This is exactly what Kameo has. Each environments in the game has a set mood and they all work perfectly. If only other games could do this more effectively, our gaming world would be a better place.

Story: 7

The story in Kameo is not its strongest point. She is trying to defeat the trolls that have captured her ancestors and the elemental sprites needed to give her the powers that she possesses. She battles through several different and well-varied environments fighting many enemies to try and defeat her sister and the troll king, Thorn. The story is interesting but not that in depth. It doesn't detract from the game at all but there are no plot twists or events that you can't see coming. I should mention that this game is obviously aimed at a wide audience, from kids to adults, so a less intricate and more childish story was definitely their intention.

Gameplay: 7

The gameplay in Kameo sounds great: use all sorts of different powers to defeat enemies and solve puzzles and advance through the different environments. This system is a lot of fun and the levels are great. It's hard to compare to another game and my comparison is going to throw a lot of people off, but it plays like Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. It consists of fighting some enemies using your various powers, and then platforming with combinations of the powers. You may be thinking what the hell, Kameo and Prince of Persia? But what I mean is that they both contain above and beyond styles of platforming that make it challenging in a non frustrating way. You are also responsible for figuring out the way to overcome these platforming areas on your own.

The problems that I have with the gameplay are that the controls hold you back. First of all, you assign powers to the X, Y, and B buttons and A is to switch back to Kameo. This is bad because it means that you can only equip 3 powers at a time. As the game progresses this becomes annoying because you need to constantly pause the game and insert new powers to be able to switch to. They needed a better way to switch so that it included more choices. Also, this means that the 4 main buttons are not for fighting or jumping. You constantly have to press RT and LT to perform moves. This doesn't sound that bad for the fighting powers, but when you come to powers that make you jump or roll, you have to use the same 2 buttons. So RT and LT become jumping, punching and shooting buttons. This makes the controls feel a little clunky. There was never a time when I had the controls mastered because of all the powers assigned to 2 buttons. They never got that fluid feel of some other games.

Tilt: 8

I tilted this game up a little because I realize that I am not a fan of this series nor of this genre really. So I have to allow for others who are probably going to like the game more than I did. The game offers little replay value. The world is fairly large and there are some hidden things to find, some of which include minigames that will add some replay. As for the story or fighting, I found that I wasn't really that drawn to play them again.

Overall: 8

Kameo delivers what it set out to do: produce a beautiful game that could take full advantage of the 360's capabilities and make it fun and interesting. While the game could be a little longer and maybe a little easier to control, it comes across as an amazing experience, even for someone who prefers violent action.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/21/05