Kameo: Elements of Power Review (no fat)

Game Description

Let's be honest, we've been exceedingly suspicious of Rare for years now, ever since they announced Kameo: Elements of Power. Two of its versions were canceled: first the Gamecube version, then the Xbox version, and the Xbox 360 version was announced. People actually placed bets on whether Rare would ever release it.

When it was finally obvious that it was going to be released, people started having the other share of doubts: will it actually be of any good?

Now that we finally have it under our eyes, let's have a look at what we expected and what we got.

Kameo: Elements of Power Gameplay

Come to think of it, Rare used to do some good N64 games. Kameo: Elements of Power brings back what they were famous for: a simple, interesting and fun gameplay, an original twist of an usual story and some surprises along the way.

The game opens with Kameo raiding a castle in a desperate attempt to save her family. This initial scene will render you a little bit confused, but the game does have its merits: the atmosphere is beautifully created from the very beginning. The scene itself is engaging and stands up from an artistic point of view, going beyond its actual purpose of a tutorial.

After the castle raid, Kameo will find herself stripped of almost every power. She will have to start her quest from scratch, fighting not just to recover her powers, but also against her evil sister, Thorn.

But who is this Kameo? The information available about her is not too much. She does not look too threatening herself, being a rather angelic presence in the game. Her ability to transform, though, is what makes her a competent and daring fighter. Kameo can take the shape of ten other Warriors, the Elemental Warriors, representing five elements: rock, water, fire, plant and ice. As you will move throughout the game, you will discover how to morph into each of these Warriors, and you will also be able to upgrade their abilities.

Each of these monsters is important in its own way. Solving some puzzles is difficult (or nearly impossible) for all but one of them, while other fights may be solved with more ease when using another character. As confusing as it may sound in prospect, the system is a good twist, making the game replayable and more diverse than you would expect. The side effect is that you will rarely use Kameo's "native" shape, which doesn't provide too much except for the (quite primitive) flying ability.

Kameo: Elements of Power – The Diversity

There will be four areas you will go through in your quest: a swamp, an aquatic land, a snow-covered village and Thorn's own base. Each of these areas is different in every aspect, and going through each of them will give you a unique feeling. A quick analogy could be done with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, where each planet had its own feeling, stories and theme.

There is an ongoing war in the game's world. You will have the chance of seeing it with your own eyes if, instead of taking the easy way of warping (you can warp from one way to another), you'll travel by foot through the Badlands. The Badlands is the scene of a raging war between the elves and the trolls, and you will sometimes get caught in the middle. You may be tempted to take the easy, warping way, but traveling by foot does offer you some practice. Rare could have done a bit more here, as you will encounter nothing but fighting in the end, with no ethical choices and no difficult decisions to make, but the landscapes (and the fun of fighting) are worth the time.

Nevertheless, the zones are well created. They are not rendered in the usual manner, involving one friendly enclave and the-rest-of-the-land where you are always in danger. Instead, you will meet both friends and foes, travel to safe and unsafe areas, in a very realistic and interesting manner, adding a lot of depth to the gameplay.

When you won't meet friends, you will usually end up with a fight. Fighting is both simple and fun in Kameo: Elements of Power. In fact, it feels quite a lot like an old-school action game, which is not a bad thing. The controls are simple to learn and use, and the fighting doesn't require you to remember a lot of difficult combos. Most of the fights will be carried with a meter that tracks Kameo's fight in terms of combos, kills and so on. Filling this meter will slow down the motion, to the point where you get to beat your opponents however you want, making fight fun, as simple as it is. And if you want to beat your enemies again, you can always use the magic mirror, that allows you to go back to a mission, for a higher score.

After finishing the game, you will unlock additional game modes, like cooperative mode. However, this makes the game's only serious drawback becomes obvious: it's just not the epic we were expecting.

Sure, you get to unlock a co-op mode, but even if you're not an incredibly gifted gamer, you'll still be able to finish the game in about 12 hours. The co-op mode is fun but chances are you won't have anyone handcuffed to finish the game with you. This doesn't affect the gameplay itself -- you'll still have a lot of fun going through the game -- but it does affect the overall image of the game.

Kameo: Elements of Power - Rare Art

Many held their breath when it came to the graphics part of Kameo: Elements of Power. They can be relieved: it looks and feels good. The landscapes are nicely rendered and the effects, while good, don't slow down the game. If you look closer at the graphics you'll see that they don't exactly push the Xbox 360 to its limits, but no obvious defects are present. The design is a bit too fragmented though, and the landscape changes a bit too abruptly.

The audio side is not too bad either. The voice play feels real and clear, balanced by an excellent music. At times, those with a musical ear will recognize some chords from Final Fantasy, but not in the plagiarizing sense of the word.

Kameo: Elements of Power Price

The game retails for $49.99. It's worth it if you're not put off by the rather short action.