Kameo: Gameplay Impressions

October 7, 2005 - Somehow I feel suckered. Like somebody sold me on the virtues of yoga, vegan food, or perhaps the next weight loss program. Of all the games shown at Microsoft\'s X05, nobody was trying to sell me on Kameo: Elements of Power. I had heard a few journalists really liked it at TGS. But with X360 games these days, I have to play every one to make my own decision. I can\'t go on looks or recommendations.

On day two of the show I walked over to the open Perfect Dark Zero kiosk, played it for 20 minutes, and then tried my hand at Kameo -- mostly because it was my job, not because I wanted to. For the next half-hour I was totally engaged in this game that I felt sure was for sissies, wimps, and lame-asses. Kameo? Whatever! That game\'s on its third system. It\'s old. I mean, who cares, right? It\'s just a platformer created for the N64.

Forgive me Rare, for I have sinned (but your last few games worried me). Kameo is the most next-gen game at X05.

The irony of this statement has quite a history. Last summer Rare showed me Kameo running on Xbox, and back then, Kameo was slated for the late summer 2004. Even before that, the game was originally planned for Nintendo 64. In assessing their corral of games last year, MGS decided Kameo was a great candidate for Xbox 360. Seemed like the wrong move to me, but it was the right one.



Compared to every other game on Xbox 360, Kameo stands out like an impressionist painting amongst black and white ink work. It\'s filled with beautiful, lush forests, faerie-like pastures, and mystical castles. It borrows from Zelda, Mario, Disney, what have you, but when you sit down a play it -- and again, I had no help or consultants pointing things out to me -- the gameplay alone is its most convincing quality.

Well, if it\'s a platformer, then isn\'t it all jumps, butt-stomping, and collecting? Not really. The first part of the provides gamers with Kameo, loaded with three elemental powers, Chilla, the ice monster, Pummelweed, the boxing plant with the nice punching combos, and Rubble, a rock character made of stones who can flatten trolls in a single roll. And then there\'s Kameo herself.

Each one is mapped to a button, Zelda-style. Each has a few basic moves, a special moves, and a signature move. The flower guy\'s move is a knock-out upper-cut. And by performing excessive attacks unhindered, you\'ll engage a kind of Bullet-time, slowing time down, enabling you to clean house without being touched.

Figuring out the character moves was relatively fun on its own, but what makes the game unique and interesting is mixing and combining the powers of each creature to solve puzzles, fight bosses, and maneuver through platform challenges. Each environment is created so that players can solve physical puzzles with one character, sometimes perhaps even two. The flexibility and the choice between characters compels you to use, and eventually to bond with, these goofy, wonderful elements.

Many folks might look at Kameo and instantly take to it. Others might love platform games, or they might just love Rare, so they\'ll be happy with Kameo. Me? I had to overcome Kameo\'s baggage, as well as my earlier perceptions (which, admittedly includes baggage in there too). What\'s different about it now than when I saw it last summer is a three-part answer.

First, Rare has done a superb job of presenting it to gamers. The section I played is in a relatively early one in the game, and each is explained perfectly. Help icons are well placed, save points are often, and the puzzles make sense. Second, the game is better balanced. Some of the challenges presented in the earlier build were either confusing or unclear.

And finally, each of the powers makes more sense in the context it\'s presented. All of these answers have one thing in common -- Rare\'s ability to harness its own ambition and to present the fully fleshed out ideas in a manner than makes sense to the gamer. The extra time its has helped a lot. In short, Kameo is now one of my must-have games for the Xbox 360 launch. What else needs to be said?

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/656/656995p1.html

This is just what I wanted to hear.

With this and nothing but positive impressions of PDZ it\'s getting easier for me to believe that Rare is going to make a comeback.

Hey that trailer is cool as hell.  I don\'t know much about this game but it\'s nice to see you don\'t play as that Elvin chick all the time.

Well, it\'s good to see that long development time isn\'t always bad news.

Rush rush ( EA ) publishers should take notice.

While I\'m not a platform game fan, i have to say that the game looks gorgeous.

[Evi]

Yeah, the trailer is definitely cool. The morphing looks fun.

Originally posted by THX
Hey that trailer is cool as hell.  I don\'t know much about this game but it\'s nice to see you don\'t play as that Elvin chick all the time.

Kameo morphs into different characters.  Last I read there are something like eleven different creatures each with their own moves and attributes.  

As a sidenote, if you guys are interested in music head over to http://www.kameosoundtrack.com and listen to Kameo\'s soundtrack.  It\'s amazing.  The CD will be out sometime in November.

Sounds brilliant

Somone is going to make fun of the art direction.

Kameo was originally intended for GameCube, not N64, right?

It was definitely a Cube title at one point, not sure that it was ever around before that.

-Dan

[Paul2]

i just read somewhere recently that Kameo was originally was made for GC, then it was moved to XBOX, and it was near completion when XBOX360 was announced.  Then they decided to move it to XBOX360...

I don\'t recall it ever being announced for N64. They were probably thinking of Dinosaur Planet which became Star Fox Adventures.

Kameo was on the back of the GameCube box.

We\'re smarter than IGN.

In other news, I\'m mostly excited about Kameo in regards to upcoming Xbox games. And King Kong. I\'ll have to go beyond PD0...

-Dan

more gushing over Kameo...

"Kameo: Elements of Power - Hands On" by Chris Leyton

Since the rather large sum that Microsoft paid for the services of Rare, the once untouchable UK developer has come under a battering with titles like Grabbed by the Ghoulies and the return of a certain bad-mouthed squirrel failing to set cash registers and gamers mind’s alight.

Coming late to the Xbox scene was always going to put pressure on Rare to deliver immediate results, however with the current generation slowly being squeezed to death the Xbox 360 presents a new canvas for Rare to strut it’s stuff and if Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo: Elements of Power are anything to go by then the good times at Twycross may be just around the corner.

Kameo’s development as a GameCube, Xbox and finally 360 title have been well documented, it would be easy for the game to have fallen apart throughout such tumultuous times, however Rare have maintained their confidence in the concept and having finally got our mitts on it we can safely say this is Rare back to their best!

Set amidst the timeless battle between the elves and trolls, Kameo features an incredible dollop of Rare’s trademark qualities; characters overdosed with charisma, humour by the toilet load and more importantly a thoroughly entertaining experience that puts a smile on your face. Players take the role of the titular Kameo, an elf with the ability to employ the unique powers of 10 elemental warriors from the five Elements of Power (Plant, Water, Rock, Ice and Fire) transforming into such at the touch of a face button. The brief X05 demonstration provided us with the opportunity to get to grips with Major Ruin the Armadillo, Chilla the ice-cold Yeti and Pummel Weed the pugilistic plant – possibly the greatest videogame character we’ve seen in a long, long time.

Although we only got to sample a small section of the various characters available it provided the opportunity to understand just how great the concept is. Each of the characters have up to eight distinctly different moves and attacks, whether it’s rolling around in a ball - ala Metroid Prime – with Major Ruin or launching into a flurry of fists with Pummel Weed. Each of the characters are mapped to a face button allowing players to seamlessly shift between each of them, however the real touch of genius is how Rare have incorporated this concept into the various puzzles throughout the game. Combo’ing characters is the solution to many puzzles such as rolling down a hill with Major Ruin, up the ramp to leap across a giant chasm and quickly switching to Chilla to grab hold of the wall at the other end. It’s something so brilliantly simple yet deceptively thought-provoking; ultimately it’s Rare being Rare, it’s just simply brilliant.

Combat in the game utilises the two shoulder triggers for a wealth of different moves based on the character, however each feels extremely satisfying and highly enjoyable; Pummel Weed literally launches into a barrage of fists which builds up a combo bar and activates an effective “bullet-time” effect ideal for building up those combos! The level of variety to be found in Kameo keeps you coming back for more, we’re just hoping that the lengthy development period has provided the scope for Rare to squeeze as much into Kameo as possible.

Of course luscious next-generation visuals also helps and having seen Kameo in many guises since its GameCube conception it’s good to see the game looking so good. Vividly detailed textures combine with a host of visual special effects to create a style that is simply out of this world. Not only that but the power of the Xbox 360 has afforded the team the ability to create all-new sections that simply weren’t possible on the GameCube or Xbox; one such example is the frantic battlefield featuring thousands of characters acting independently and providing some real fodder for Kameo to get stuck in whether it be atop a horse or rolling down the hill as Major Ruin just like a ten-pin alley!

An enjoyable balance between thought-provoking puzzles, highly enjoyable action and defining style and presentation isn’t enough for Rare it seems however, with confirmation that a two-player Co-Op mode is also available via splitscreen or Xbox Live.

Out of the many games on display at X05 this is one of the few that we could have sat and played all day long. It truly is Rare doing what they know best with gameplay to put a smile on your face and a cast of captivating characters to match.

Don’t be put off by the somewhat childish style, much like any Rare title this is just a deceptive mask that hides what’s shaping up to be one of the most enjoyable games for launch – if you’ve pre-ordered an Xbox 360 then make sure to add this one to the list.

Link



I can\'t wait to see what Rare does with a game built from scratch with Xbox 360 in mind.

Knowing Rare, you\'ll see that game when you\'re buying Xbox 3 in 2010.

Does someone from the UK have a natural tendency to gush over Rare? Some of the stuff he was describing didn\'t seem as brilliant as he was saying.

I\'m still hopeful that this\'ll be the game to get on X360, tho.

-Dan

Originally posted by Eiksirf
Knowing Rare, you\'ll see that game when you\'re buying Xbox 3 in 2010.

Does someone from the UK have a natural tendency to gush over Rare? Some of the stuff he was describing didn\'t seem as brilliant as he was saying.

I\'m still hopeful that this\'ll be the game to get on X360, tho.

-Dan

I hope Rare picks up the pace.  The other internal development teams than the PDZ and Kameo team have to be working on something.  

When you read about ICO that you would solve puzzles and chase black things with a stick did it sound brilliant to you?  The game is constantly referred to as one of the gems of this generation, yet it\'s simple.  I guess you\'ll need to play it to understand what it is he finds so appealing about the game.

Note: I don\'t think ICO is anything to write home about, but I understand what others see in it.

[Jumpman]

Me too; they never played Zelda so don\'t know any better.

And remember when no one cared about Kameo when it was on Cube lol.