Microsoft
(360) Kameo: Elements of Power
By George Damidas
Feb 1, 2006, 5 :42 am

Why, Kameo…why?  You give me a boxing plant, a rolling mound of rocks, and a chubby dragon to go along with a small rolodex of other forms that my main character can transform into, and yet you don’t give me the proper means to utilize them. You can be a cruel one, you know.

From the outset, Kameo: Elements of Power shows itself to be the kind of game that parents can play with their kids, with the over-the-top action and somewhat humorous and cute elementals, while also approachable by gamers who have done their jumping and attacking since the days when the worlds were flat and characters were mere pixels. Instead of being a light-hearted title mixing rudimentary puzzles with copious amounts of cartoon action, it proves to be a solid idea marred by poor design decisions that often allow for frustration to reign over enjoyment.

At its heart, Kameo is somewhat of a puzzle game. Although it’s a bit of a copout to say that and to not openly designate it so, that’s just what it is: you must choose which elemental to use at the proper time in order to navigate a variety of themed levels to rescue Kameo’s kidnapped family members and other elementals while battling hordes of Orcs and other enemies. Through the fabled Whatnot book, the elementals will be stored and trained, while also ensuring constant progression thanks to its tendency to dispense frequent bits of helpful information so that you don’t spend your time stuck in any one particular spot. The puzzle elements are soundly drowned out by the copious amounts of platforming action and the hand-holding Whatnot, but it does provide a bit more puzzle-related gameplay than the standard title by making above-average use of the elementals and their powers.

With vibrant worlds filled with snow-capped mountains and bug-ridden swamps, Kameo will have to solve basic puzzles to navigate around various environment-based obstacles and enemies. If the situation calls for a pummeling, she can transform into any number of elementals whose powers including throwing icicles, rolling into a ball with spikes protruding out of a hard shell and slamming into enemies, and use elastic appendages to smack foes around. With the Orcs rising up against the Fairies, a vast battle rages on as Kameo goes through the various parts of the world to save her kidnapped relatives and to achieve her full potential through the use of the elementals. You will actually get to go into the thick of battle – what you’ve been seeing in screenshots and videos for a while now – riding your horse through thousands of soldiers fighting it out.

Along the way, a soothsayer and your rescued family members will give you guidance, and items found throughout the world will be purchased or found to increase Kameo’s chance of success, including fruit that upgrades the elementals’ various techniques. The realms are also populated with various non-playable characters, but they’re often there as little more than comic relief.

Getting around is really where the elementals will shine. They will have to be used to climb up sides of iced-over mountains, roll through Sonic-like loop-de-loops, and travel underground to bypass low barriers.  The book is helpful throughout all aspects of the game, from boss battles to getting past relatively simple areas, so the game is rarely held up due to the barely useful mini-map or the sometimes obscure natural environmental triggers that are supposed to hint at what needs to be done. While the elementals are instrumental in combat, their ingenuity is displayed in the platforming elements. Violence is also minimal, with the most visual display being one elemental that tosses enemies into the air and onto the spikes on its back. Aside from enemies glowing when hit and the occasional bout of green blood spurting out, this one is definitely kid friendly.

That being said, it would seem that Kameo is ideal for children, and yet it isn’t. Instead of taking this design, fleshing it out, and really going somewhere with it, Rare tossed in some infuriating and strange bits. Simple portions of an area will suddenly require a mixture of luck and patience, which sits in stark contrast to the cakewalk that it was before. One example is when you have to use an elemental that balls up to jump onto crates, but for some reason the last crate is just a smidge too tall for it to be jumped onto like the rest, so you’ll now have to spend your time trying to ricochet yourself up on top of it.  What was a smooth, albeit fairly easy ride has now ground to a halt and you’re left to figure out how to properly time your moves to get around this asinine obstacle. Even if younger gamers have help, I wouldn’t expect those helping to be too thrilled with this part as they themselves will want to toss in the towel and give up.

There are also several times when ball objects (sometimes bombs and sometimes stones) will have to be rolled. The problem with this is that there is a buffer between the character and the object that makes moving them extremely aggravating. As you try to go behind the object to get in a better position, you will end up rolling the object in the wrong direction, despite the fact that there is a clear gap between the character model and the object. Since many of these moments are timed, it leads to frantic moments that are caused from poor implementation rather than clever design. The camera won’t be much help in easing the tensions either, especially when transforming or targeting as an elemental (further frustrated by a unwieldy auto lock system), due to the view shifting around.  Much time, especially in boss battles and in the end game, will be spent wrangling the controls to get back to the proper vantage point. Many of the problems come off as loose ends as they seem to be fairly obvious and seemingly left for the player to contend with on their own. One glitch that stood out was when all of the voices and music, which were very nicely done throughout, cut out a few seconds into the ending and didn’t kick back in until I started playing the game again; searches have provided no answers as to whether this is common, but by the lack of complaints it would seem not.

At around 9 to 10 hours, the game isn’t terribly long, but there are a good deal of hidden goods, a co-op feature and score rankings to encourage replay. Once was enough for me. That isn’t to say that the game was unpleasant, but I found the experience similar to seeing a movie that, while you didn’t mind seeing it and were kind of glad you did, isn’t something in which you would want to invest any more of your time.

Overall: 6/10

“I don’t really want to play it when I’m not, but I kinda have fun when I do,” is how I explained Kameo to a friend. The elementals are cute and are decently fleshed out, with background information and numerous upgradeable techniques, and the levels and enemies make appropriate use of them. The out-of-character design decisions and various hang-ups don’t help, and will make the last portion of the game really drag on.  Despite the nice production values and sound ideas, Kameo: Elements of Power comes very close to being run-of-the-mill.