Xbox 360 Game Review: Kameo - Elements of Power

Developer : Rare

Publisher : Microsoft

Genre : Adventure

Released on : November 7, 2005

ESRB : Teen for animated blood and violence

Micoroft's website says it is a blending the heady thrills of exploration and puzzle-solving with the adrenaline rush of real-time 3D battles, Kameo: Elements of Power is an ambitious title from the makers of GoldenEye and Banjo-Kazooie. The concept mixes combat action with creature transformations, letting the title's female star morph into monsters and use their special powers against others as Kameo searches out and battles ever-present evil.

kameo

It turns out to be a fitting showcase for Microsoft's Xbox 360. The game vaults you straightaway into a fairly challenging battle without putting you through a proper (and usually boring) introduction. You play as Kameo, a slender elf princess with fairy wings and the unique ability to transform into a variety of different, unusual creatures. The future of the world depends on Kameo, who must master her new ability to transform into various warriors and harness their elemental powers to save her family from Thorn, the evil troll king.

kameo 1

The opening level of Kameo shows off the game's breathtaking visuals and audio, as well as its distinctive mechanics. Provided you have some experience with other action adventure games, this one's easy to pick up and play, partly to the responsiveness of the Xbox 360's excellent but familiar gamepad and partly to the onscreen prompts which remind you which buttons perform which functions all the time. Controlling the action from a third-person perspective, you can make Kameo run around using the left analog stick, and you can freely rotate the camera using the right stick.

There's a lot of variety in Kameo like when you're in the Enchanted Kingdom, there's no danger. GAMESPOT says 'It's just you getting to flit around in a vibrantly detailed storybook world, talking to some goofy characters, finding hidden items, and so forth. The highly detailed game-world rewards exploration to a certain extent as you can find helpful items and other little secrets by straying from the beaten path. However, even though the game-world consists of big and open-ended areas, it isn't difficult to tell where you're supposed to go next thanks to the presence of a mini-map, in many cases'.

The badlands sequences make exciting interludes. Here the troll armies attempt to take down the shields protecting the Enchanted Kingdom and you'll be called in to aid the defence. Huge troll artillery pieces and the immense scale of the conflict combine to make for a sharp contrast to the solo action adventure sequences that the game mostly consists of.

The graphics, sound, gameplay is simply 'fantastic' in one word. It is a great value for money as well.

Conclusion - It is one of the very best of adventure games ever created. If you love adventure games, you can't afford to miss out on this.

Also read GAMESPOT reviews and MS's own details of the features.